More on Mexican Stem Cell Clinics

An emailer sent me some information about a stem cell clinic run by Dr. Ramirez del Rio in Tijuana, Mexico. From what I have been able to gather, both Dr. Ramirez and Dr. Morales are associated with the Steenblock Institute in California. I found two newspaper articles regarding this clinic as well. The reporters did a good job of representing multiple perspectives on off shore stem cell clinics in addition to sharing the testimonial of a family whose son with CP gained sight. Once again, these doctors, like the ones in the article about the Chinese clinic, claim to be using stem cells derived from umbilical cords. Of course, the Chinese claimed to use approximately 40 million cells in treating the child with optic nerve hypoplasia. From what I have read regarding the doctors associated with Steenblock, each injection is approximately 3 million cells.

This is interesting in light of US mainstream research done in rats which shows the superiority of umbilical cord stem cells in RP. Keep in mind the manner in which the cells are isolated and processed is critical as is the delivery.

As mentioned previously, Dr. Ramirez is associated with the Steenblock Research Institute. I scoured PubMed for papers published by this institute and found one. I found another co-authored by Dr. Morales. However, niether was from a peer-reviewed journal. I have noticed the doctors have decided to sell a book with their results. The problem is their results have not withstood a critical review.

Of course, there is a definite "in club" in academia, not so different from junior high. Like junior high, it helps to have a pedigree and money.

So, for argument's sake, what if you do happen upon something revolutionary and are not in the "in club"? In fact, if you are doing revolutionary work in humans, you are pretty much a pariah. What do you do?

It would be nice if the clinic had cooperated with the reporter's offer to test the cells. It would be nice if they had evidence of trying to work with the FDA, regardless of how difficult that may be for a group of outsiders. However, I also have to disagree with the comment made by one academic that a truly efficacious treatment will receive speedy approval by the FDA. That is simply just not true of a non-pharmaceutical therapy. Maybe that statement could apply to an off-label use of an existing drug.

I also disagree with the argument that if these treatments are legitimate then drug companies would be interested. Where is the profit potential for a pharmaceutical company in stem cells which are created by nature? There has to be something to manipulate and patent. In fact, if I were an influential player in a pharmaceutical company, I would be threatened by stem cell therapies. I would want to stall progress as long as possible in order to preserve my future market share for drug therapies, which requires gazilions in R and D funding. Maybe I would even actively support political factions which fuel ignorance by lumping adult, placental and umbilical cord stem cell research in with fetuses and embryos. Maybe I would do these things if the sole measure of my success as a human being was based on next quarter's EPS.

There is profit potential for the labs that process the cells as well as storage facilities. However, an IV can be placed by a nurse. If it does not involve complicated surgery, justifying over a decade of education, where is the incentive?

Jim Rogers, one of my favorite authors and a brilliant financier, asserts that in order to understand the vast majority of human history one must "follow the money trail." Systems and institutions have a vested interest in perpetuating themselves. People promote those who think like them. Therefore, change in establishments occurs very slowly.

So, what do I do as a patient who has a degenerative conditon and would like to enhance her quality of life? Pray....

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/health/20050613-9999-1n13stems.html

http://www.cerebral-palsy-web.org/news/news-0023.htm

http://www.ramirezdelrio.com/

http://www.stemcelltherapies.org/

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/health/content/local_news/epaper/2005/06/19/m1a_stemcell_0619.html