An editorial published in the April issue of Aesthetic Surgery Journal makes an urgent plea to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to expedite its oversight of companies and clinics offering stem-cell products and therapies and provides recommendations for accreditation and licensure of clinics offering these therapies.
Authors Robert Singer, MD, and Foad Nahai, MD, write on behalf of a multi-specialty task force developed to investigate risks and potential regulation of stem-cell therapies, “…perhaps no previous situation has held as great a potential for harm on a large scale as does the current drama surrounding stem-cell therapies. It is a drama that touches at the very heart of our human desire for immortality—or, at least, many people’s desperate need for hope at any cost.”