A terrific post - Thank you!
Thank you for posting this. A lot of this sounds like the sermons I preach on here. Everyone should take the time to read this article prior to committing to any company or doctor for stem cell therapy. It is practical advise. I do not agree with every bit of it, but for the most part I think it is one of the best guides I have ever read and I applaud Dr. Payne for taking the time to write it.
Here is an excerpt from his article. It is what I have been trying to pound into everyone for the past couple of months.
The first issue with respect to safety and any kind of stem cell treatment is disease screening. Of course, this is not an issue when it comes to use of autologous (A patient?s own) stem cells. But for allogenic cells or those that come from a donor, screening for major infectious disease-causing microorganisms such as HIV, Hepatitis A, B & C, cytomegalovirus, and so forth is imperative.
Most of the private stem cell clinics I have surveyed (since 2003) are careful to provide only cells that have been rigorously screened by a reputable independent laboratory. Some clinics that rely on cells from an affiliated hospital get their testing done in-house ? in a lab that utilizes the very latest & best disease screening technology.
For medical consumers, nothing can be taken for granted. Ask for a copy of the specific lab test results for the batch of cells you are slated to receive. You should see a lot # that corresponds to the vial(s) or IV bags that are to be used for your treatment. There should also be a company or department name and phone number. Call the lab and check things out. Look up the lab or department online or in a business or phone directory to make sure the address and/or phone # on your lab results matches that of the contact information in the directory listing.
Keep in mind that some foreign stem cell clinics get their cells from an in-house lab or independent one that imports cord blood or fetal material that was disease screened in the exporting country. For example, clinic x in Mexico gets their cord blood stem cells from disease-screened cord blood that?s imported into Mexico from America and processed in an in-house, but FDA standards compliant lab. In this instance, the clinic or its affiliated lab should be able to show the US disease screening certification that accompanied the UC blood that was used to produce the cells that will be used to treat a given patient.
Naturally, legitimate stem cell clinics and treatment centers are concerned about the quality of care they provide their patients. In this day of ultra-quick dissemination of information on the Internet, it doesn?t take long for a lousy clinic or provider to be exposed, cussed and discussed. This is good for patients and their caregivers, and also for the stem cell treatment providers too ? for it helps to keep them honest. If they fall off in terms of the quality of their therapies or care, word gets around fast and their revenue suffers (which, in turn, would tend to get their attention and motivate them to remedy their deficiencies). Many clinics that refuse to provide disease screening proof to their patients wind up having this show up on Internet web & blog sites ? making it easy for browsers to learn about their recalcitrance with a simple Google search. This alone can save time and effort when checking out a clinic or treatment provider.
Disease screening is one major issue.
