The hunt for stem cell miracle

[zar]

Panorama looks at stem cell treatment clinics in China and the Dominican Republic and asks if they are on science's new frontier or offering suspect promises of miracle cures?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi

[barbara]

The problem with lumping them all together is that there are clinics of both varieties in these countries as well as many other countries around the world. The time has come to separate the good from the bad and the media needs to understand this. Just because a stem cell clinic (or doctor) does not operate in the U.S. is no reason to treat it as suspect. On the other hand, there are those that would take advantage of the situation of the desperately ill and promise them anything. This forum tries to help by having members post their own experiences and also by having the monthly Ask the Doctor feature where we get to know the professionals in the stem cell business. These one size fits all articles just cannot do service to the good guys and at the same time expose the bad guys. The media needs to get educated about what stem cell therapy is all about. There may be some miracles, but for the most part it is still very much in its infancy. The media wants to grab headlines and this is really a disservice to the legitimacy of stem cells as a science.

The media almost portrays stem cell treatment as some kind of strange science fiction event, when it is a medical event. There are good and bad doctors in every part of the world. This is nothing new. Look at the number of doctors in every state in the U.S. that lose their licenses each year. I'm sure one could find that happening everywhere else as well.