full page ads promising relief for
chronic pain arthritis and joint pain in
the form of stem-cell treatments you see
these ads they're popping up in
newspapers and online encouraging
patients to attend seminars and then of
course spend tens of thousands of
dollars in pursuit of a cure yeah but
some patients still channel to it does
not work and doctors warn these
treatments are not always FDA approved
tonight health reporter Haley Hernandez
hears from both sides of the controversy
and explains when stem cells can help
and where the science is still lacking
stem cells a buzz worthy treatment with
promising benefits as you might know I
care deeply about stem cell research dr.
Michael J Fox advocates for stem cell
research insisting a cure for
Parkinson's must be there Tarek el
Moussa treats his back pain with stem
cells and Kim Kardashian is a big fan of
stem cell facials it's true
stem cells serve as a repair system for
the body the breakthrough creating a
demand with companies offering stem cell
treatments costing thousands of dollars
I'm not a gambler but I thought wow what
I've read the research I've done this is
like
this is almost the only way I'm gonna
get help Joanna from The Woodlands says
she got her hopes up after seeing this
full-page ad for a seminar on the
benefits of stem cells thinking it would
offer a cure to her osteoarthritis pain
which is so bad she says most of her
life is spent in bed I was so
apprehensive yet then again very hopeful
but Joanna says it didn't work
I think it's shameful and disgraceful
that these stem cell clinics are coming
up all over the United States and
especially in Texas and they are preying
on people Joanna went to premier
physical medicine in Pearland the office
manager tells me the treatments are not
guaranteed it is a gamble as far as we
cannot for sure say this something will
for sure work or it won't but what we
can say is that we've treated thousands
of patients and we would rather under
promise and over deliver than the other
way around we always want to be
straightforward with people and let them
know what we can't expect if they follow
in our compliant the clinic brought
several satisfied customers to our
interview to share their success stories
my life was on the couch I've got my
life back I don't have to suffer with
the pain that I went through before
it's so much better he's he's pain-free
and that makes such a difference in a
person's life but medical experts
locally and with the federal government
are raising concerns the Centers for
Disease Control issued this warning in
September after a company called levian
left patients with a bacterial infection
during a stem-cell treatment the warning
reads in part some clinics may advertise
stem cell clinical trials that do not
have FDA approval while some may falsely
advertise that it is not necessary for
FDA to review and approve stem cell
therapy we don't understand how to
administer them how much to administer
whether or not they're gonna have side
effects whether or not they're gonna
have any benefit but there is promise
for the future of stem cell treatments
it can be used for healing potentially
Houston Methodist regenerative medicine
expert dr. John Cook warns not to get
stem cell injections outside of a
clinical trial but these four pearland
patients say it was a risk they're glad
they took the bottom line is stem cells
right now are experimental
they are not likely to work for everyone
and you're spending a lot of money for
the promise of better health
Joanna spent $30,000 I lost all hope
I lost all trust there are resources
where you can get credible information
on stem cells I've put them in this
article for this report which you can
find on click2houston.com under the
investigate section Haley Hernandez KPRC
Channel 2 News