East Bay Health and Wellness Center, which offers chiropractic and wellness services in Walnut Creek, Calif., caught the ire of local CBS affiliate KPIX 5 for the unconventional way it markets unproven stem cell treatments.
What you should know:
1. The center markets stem cell treatments as a catchall cure, KPIX 5 reports. However, the FDA has not approved stem cell treatments outside of clinical trials.
2. East Bay Health and Wellness Center promotes the treatments through free dinner seminars.
3. Prospective patients sign up for the dinner seminar and are then offered a free consultation after the seminar.
4. Audrey Moy, a retired consumer fraud investigator with the district attorney's office, signed up to undergo the free consultation. At the clinic, she met with a chiropractor and then the person who presented at the dinner seminar said she was eligible for an $8,000 stem cell treatment. Ms. Moy never met with a physician.
5. East Bay Health and Wellness Center replaced a previous clinic at the same address, Optimal Health Greathouse Chiropractic. East Bay Health and Wellness Center's chiropractors also were the chiropractors on staff at Optimal Health. Optimal Health faced several lawsuits from patients who underwent neuropathy therapy.