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Google eases ban on ads for stem cell therapies

/ Kevin McCormack / 2 Comments

What started out as an effort by Google to crack down on predatory stem cell clinics advertising bogus therapies seems to be getting diluted. Now the concern is whether that will make it easier for these clinics to lure unsuspecting patients to pay good money for bad treatments?

A little background might help here. For years Google placed no restrictions on ads by clinics that claimed their stem cell “therapies” could cure or treat all manner of ailments. Then in September of 2019 Google changed its policy and announced it was going to restrict advertisements for stem cell clinics offering unproven, cellular and gene therapies.

This new policy was welcomed by people like Dr. Paul Knoepfler, a stem cell scientist at UC Davis and longtime critic of these clinics. In his blog, The Niche, he said it was great news:

“Google Ads for stem cell clinics have definitely driven hundreds if not thousands of customers to unproven stem cell clinics. It’s very likely that many of the patients who have ended up in the hospital due to bad outcomes from clinic injections first went to those firms because of Google ads. These ads and certain particularly risky clinics also are a real threat to the legitimate stem cell and gene therapy fields.”

Now the search-engine giant seems to be adjusting that policy. Google says that starting July 11 it will permit ads for stem cell therapies approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That’s fine. Anything that has gone through the FDA’s rigorous approval process deserves to be allowed to advertise.

The real concern lies with another adjustment to the policy where Google says it will allow companies to post ads as long as they are “exclusively educational or informational in nature, regardless of regulatory approval status.” The problem is, Google doesn’t define what constitutes “educational or informational”. That leaves the door open for these clinics to say pretty much anything they want and claim it meets the new guidelines.

To highlight that point Gizmodo did a quick search on Google using the phrase “stem cells for neuropathy” and quickly came up with a series of ads that are offering “therapies” clearly not approved by the FDA. One ad claimed it was “FDA registered”, a meaningless phrase but one clearly designed to add an air of authenticity to whatever remedy they were peddling.

The intent behind Google’s change of policy is clearly good, to allow companies offering FDA-approved therapies to advertise. However, the outcome may not be quite so worthy, and might once again put patients at risk of being tricked into trying “therapies” that will almost certainly not do them any good, and might even put them in harm’s way.

When Google turns on you, you know you are in trouble

/ Kevin McCormack / 2 Comments

For years CIRM and others in the stem cell community (hello Paul Knoepfler) have been warning people about the dangers of going to clinics offering unproven and unapproved stem cell therapies. Recently the drum beat of people and organizations coming out in support of that stand has grown louder and louder. Mainstream media – TV and print – have run articles about these predatory clinics. And now, Google has joined those ranks, announcing it will restrict ads promoting these clinics.

“We regularly review and revise our advertising policies. Today, we’re announcing a new Healthcare and medicines policy to prohibit advertising for unproven or experimental medical techniques such as most stem cell therapy, cellular (non-stem) therapy, and gene therapy.”

Deepak Srivastava: Photo courtesy Gladstone Institutes

The president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Dr. Deepak Srivastava quickly issued a statement of support, saying:

“Google’s new policy banning advertising for speculative medicines is a much-needed and welcome step to curb the marketing of unscrupulous medical products such as unproven stem cell therapies. While stem cells have great potential to help us understand and treat a wide range of diseases, most stem cell interventions remain experimental and should only be offered to patients through well-regulated clinical trials. The premature marketing and commercialization of unproven stem cell products threatens public health, their confidence in biomedical research, and undermines the development of legitimate new therapies.”

Speaking of Deepak – we can use first names here because we are not only great admirers of him as a physician but also as a researcher, which is why we have funded some of his research – he has just published a wonderfully well written article criticizing these predatory clinics.

The article – in Scientific American – is titled “Don’t Believe Everything You Hear About Stem Cells” and rather than paraphrase his prose, I think it best if you read it yourself. So, here it is.

Enjoy.

Don’t Believe Everything You Hear about Stem Cells

The science is progressing rapidly,but bad actors have co-opted stem cells’ hope and promise by preying on unsuspecting patients and their families

Stem cell science is moving forward rapidly, with potential therapies to treat intractable human diseases on the horizon.Clinical trials are now underway to test the safety and effectiveness of stem cell–based treatments for blindness,spinal cord injury,heart disease,Parkinson’s disease, and more,some with early positive results.A sense of urgency drives the scientific community, and there is tremendous hope to finally cure diseases that, to date, have had no treatment.


But don’t believe everything you hear about stem cells. Advertisements and pseudo news articles promote stem cell treatments for everything from Alzheimer’s disease,autism and ALS, to cerebral palsy and other diseases.The claims simply aren’t true–they’re propagated by people wanting to make money off of a desperate and unsuspecting or unknowing public.Patients and their families can be misled by deceptive marketing from unqualified physicians who often don’t have appropriate medical credentials and offer no scientific evidence of their claims.In many cases, the cells being utilized are not even true stem cells.

Advertisements for stem cell treatments are showing up everywhere, with too-good-to-be-true claims and often a testimonial or two meant to suggest legitimacy or efficacy.Beware of the following:

    •       Claims that stem cell treatments can treat a wide range of diseases using a singular stem cell type. This is unlikely to be true.

    •       Claims that stem cells taken from one area of the body can be used to treat another, unrelated area of the body. This is also unlikely to be true.     •       Patient testimonials used to validate a particular treatment, with no scientific evidence. This is a red flag.

    •       Claims that evidence doesn’t yet exist because the clinic is running a patient-funded trial. This is a red flag; clinical trials rarely require payment for experimental treatment.

    •       Claims that the trial is listed on ClinicalTrials.gov and is therefore NIH-approved. This may not be true. The Web site is simply a listing; not all are legitimate trials.

    •       The bottom line: Does the treatment sound too good to be true? If so, it probably is. Look for concrete evidence that the treatment works and is safe.

Hundreds of clinics offer costly, unapproved and unproven stem cell interventions, and patients may suffer physical and financial harm as a result.A Multi-Pronged Approach to Deal with Bad Actors 

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR)has long been concerned that bad actors have co-opted the hope and promise of stem cell science to prey on unsuspecting patients and their families.

We read with sadness and disappointment the many stories of people trying unproven therapies and being harmed, including going blind from injections into the eyes or suffering from a spinal tumor after an injection of stem cells.Patients left financially strapped, with no physical improvement in their condition and no way to reclaim their losses, are an underreported and underappreciated aspect of these treatments.

Since late 2017, the Food and Drug Administration has stepped up its regulatory enforcement of stem cell therapies and provided a framework for regenerative medicine products that provides guidelines for work in this space.The agency has alerted many clinics and centers that they are not in compliance and has pledged to bring additional enforcement action if needed.

A Multi-Pronged Approach to Deal with Bad Actors  The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) has long been concerned that bad actors have co-opted the hope and promise of stem cell science to prey on unsuspecting patients and their families.

We read with sadness and disappointment the many stories of people trying unproven therapies and being harmed, including going blind from injections into the eyesor suffering from a spinal tumor after an injection of stem cells.Patients left financially strapped, with no physical improvement in their condition and no way to reclaim their losses, are an underreported and underappreciated aspect of these treatments.

Since late 2017, the Food and Drug Administration has stepped up its regulatory enforcement of stem cell therapies and provided a framework for regenerative medicine products that provides guidelines for work in this space.The agency has alerted many clinics and centers that they are not in compliance and has pledged to bring additional enforcement action if needed.

In recent weeks, a federal judge granted the FDA a permanent injunction against U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. and U.S. Stem Cell Clinic, LLC for adulterating and misbranding its cellular products and operating outside of regulatory authority.We hope this will send a strong message to other clinics misleading patients with unapproved and potentially harmful cell-based products.

The Federal Trade Commission has also helped by identifying and curtailing unsubstantiated medical claims in advertising by several clinics. Late in 2018 the FTC won a $3.3-million judgment against two California-based clinics for deceptive health claims. The Federal Trade Commission has also helped by identifying and curtailing unsubstantiated medical claims in advertising by several clinics. Late in 2018 the FTC won a $3.3-million judgment against two California-based clinics for deceptive health claims.

These and other actions are needed to stem the tide of clinics offering unproved therapies and the people who manage and operate them.

Improving Public Awareness

We’re hopeful that the FDA will help improve public awareness of these issues and curb the abuses on ClinicalTrials.gov,a government-run Web site being misused by rogue clinics looking to legitimize their treatments. They list pay-to-participate clinical trials on the site, often without developing, registering or administering a real clinical trial.

The ISSCR Web site A Closer Look at Stem Cellsincludes patient-focused information about stem cells,with information written and vetted by stem cell scientists.The site includes how and where to report adverse events and false marketing claims by stem cell clinics.I encourage you to visit and learn about what is known and unknown about stem cells and their potential for biomedicine.The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.