Over the past five years, the U.S. has seen a significant spike in the number of clinics advertising stem cell treatments, which claim to treat a range of orthopedic, neurological and autoimmune conditions, among others.
Recent months have seen an uptick in the number of lawsuits filed against physicians and clinics that offer stem cell treatments, almost all of which are unlicensed by the FDA.
Here are three high-profile stem cell lawsuits that Becker's has reported on in the past four months:
1. The state of New York won a $5.1 million judgment against a stem cell clinic and plastic surgeon Joel Singer, MD, for falsely and illegally advertising unlicensed stem cell procedures. The now-defunct clinic used its website, social media, newspapers and television commercials to advertise unproven stem cell treatments for several conditions, including neurological diseases, autoimmune diseases and orthopedic conditions. Patients were charged almost $4,000 out of pocket per treatment, with some paying more than $20,000 for multiple treatments, according to the suit.
2. The co-founders of the Stem Cell Institute of America are accused of marketing stem cell therapy to seniors by falsely claiming that it is an effective treatment for orthopedic conditions such as arthritis and joint pain. The Federal Trade Commission and Georgia's attorney general allege that the co-founders "promoted the false or unsubstantiated claim that stem cell therapy is comparable or superior to surgery, steroid injections and painkillers" and provided marketing materials and training to other providers that deceived consumers about the results of stem cell therapies.
3. Orthopedic surgeon Wade McKenna, DO, was awarded $7.8M after his business partner Neil Riordan, PhD, locked him out of a stem cell clinic they jointly owned and siphoned off assets to a competing clinic established at the same site. Dr. Riordan transferred Riordan-McKenna Institute assets to another company he owned and continued to operate the clinic at the same location using the RMI initials — but he removed Dr. McKenna's name and began operating as the Riordan Medical Institute. A jury reached a breach of fiduciary duty verdict, finding that Dr. McKenna was not fairly compensated for those assets and the revenue generated by Dr. Riordan's competing clinic.