New Website Helps Patients Evaluate Stem Cell Treatment Options
July 2, 2010
Clinics all over the world offer stem cell treatments for a wide variety of conditions, and there has been a substantial amount of discussion on this blog concerning use of stem cells to treat various retinal conditions. Consumers will therefore be happy to learn of a new website launched by the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) to provide resources to patients and their families seeking to evaluate the claims of providers of stem cell treatments.
The site was launched in response to increased advertising touting expensive stem cell therapies that play on patients’ hopes and fears, and often make exaggerated claims of efficacy, underestimate potential risks, fail to disclose methods, and leave out information on whether the treatment is conducted with regulatory oversight.
For starters, we recommend reading the top 10 things to know about stem cell treatments, which aims to correct some of the misinformation that is being widely circulated about stem cell treatments.
There’s also a patient handbook on stem cell therapies. Among other things, the handbook contains questions for patients to ask a stem cell treatment clinic.
Longer term, the site will feature lists of clinics and other service providers that claim to offer stem cell treatments. The lists will tell you whether the clinics do or do not provide the ISSCR with evidence that appropriate oversight and other patient protections are in place for the treatments they offer. If patients hear about a clinic, they can submit that clinic for review by the ISSCR.
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