Lawsuits Filed Over Junk Science Stem Cell Injections
Amazingly, clinics all over the country have popped up offering “alternative remedies” to common ailments that are believed to work better than accepted medical interventions. At best, the assumptions of stem cell clinics are unscientific and untested. At worst, they prey on the most vulnerable people looking for any reason to hope but actually cause serious injuries in the process.
In one case, a man received stem cell injections in his shoulders that were contaminated with E. Coli. The disease destroyed the tissue in his shoulders leaving him with limited mobility and permanent deformity. Sanitizing a needle seems like a basic precaution. But these are the sorts of mistakes that stem cell clinics are making.
What are stem cells?
Stem cells are undifferentiated human cells. They can become muscle cells, bone cells, cartilage cells, or anything else. The idea is to remove stem cells from the patient’s body and then inject them into a problem area. As an example, someone with no cartilage left in their knee may have stem cells injected in their knees to regrow cartilage. It’s unclear that injecting stem cells in the knee will result in the growth of new cartilage tissue.
To be sure, the medical community is opposed to this method. While stem cells may in the future be the trick to regrowing nerves that allow the paralyzed to walk again, that application is decades away from development. There is no established science to say that merely injecting stem cells in your knee will cause the cartilage to regrow.
Nonetheless, complaints arising from former patients of stem cell labs far outnumber happy customers which prompted the FDA to issue a warning on the unproven methods and science behind stem cell treatments.
FDA warnings
Self-reported data from stem cell clinics rely on patient testimonials as opposed to clinical studies. The science itself is dubious. While stem cells can become other cells, there’s no evidence that injecting stem cells somewhere will cause them to suddenly become the adjacent tissue. However, the risk of stem cell therapy goes beyond merely false claims of efficacy. At least 12 people who received stem cell treatments in the review that prompted the FDA warning developed severe infections that required hospitalization. Infections at injection sites usually don’t happen in hospital settings. The CDC investigated one clinic and found e. Coli in each of the stem cell samples to be used for patients.
Talk to a Miami Personal Injury Attorney
If you’ve been injured due to a bogus medical procedure, call the Miami workers’ compensation attorneys at Payer Law today to schedule a free consultation and learn more about how we can help.
Resources:
webmd.com/pain-management/news/20181221/fda-issues-warning-on-risky-stem-cell-therapies
azcentral.com/in-depth/news/local/arizona-science/2021/06/12/stem-cell-injections-cause-negative-side-effects-debt/5740305002/
