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Adding year-end urgency to the national debate over stem cells, a prominent UC Davis researcher is asking federal officials to send warning letters to hundreds of stem cell clinics nationwide that he contends are selling patients risky, unproven therapies.
Citing uncertainty over how the incoming Trump administration will handle stem cell use, professor Paul Knoepfler, a stem cell researcher at the UC Davis Medical School, said “now is the time” for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to finalize guidelines and send notices to clinics that are offering untested treatments.
His appeal was posted Sunday in an open letter to FDA officials on his stem cell blog, The Niche.
It comes as stem cell clinics have proliferated nationwide, promising relief for everything from autism to cancer. Earlier this year, Knoepfler and a University of Minnesota colleague identified 570 stem cell clinics nationwide that were advertising non-FDA-approved treatments for varied ailments. Of those, about 113 are in California, including Nervana Stem Cell Centers in Fair Oaks and San Diego.
Stem cells, which have the ability to regenerate and repair...