title: US stem cell clinics, patient safety, and the FDA.
abstract: Scholarship on patients accessing unproven stem cell interventions is dominated by research addressing 'stem cell tourism' to such countries as China, India, Mexico, and the Ukraine. However, clinics marketing 'adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell treatments' are proliferating across the USA. These businesses typically claim to operate in compliance with federal regulations, but careful review of their commercial practices suggests that such clinics are marketing unapproved and noncompliant biological drugs.
authors.affiliation: Center for Bioethics, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, N520 Boynton, 410 Church Street South East, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Electronic address: turne462@umn.edu.
authors.forename: Leigh
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Turner
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D061214:Patient Safety; D057905:Stem Cell Research; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration
keywords: FDA; United States; federal regulations; marketing; stem cell clinics