Networking between patients, brokers, clinics and doctors is "what is making things difficult" says Christian Schaerer, head of investigations at Swissmedic. While Stem Cell Europe has ceased all activity in Switzerland, Swiss Medica continues to recruit patients in its premises in Saint Gall, whence they are sent to affiliated centers in Serbia or Russia to undergo treatments banned in Switzerland. In Switzerland, investigations led in recent months by the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products (Swissmedic) led to authorities to ban two clinics, Med Cell Europe and Swiss Medica, from offering these treatments, and to identification of Intercare as a brokering service. In an article published last June in the review Cell Stem Cell, bioethicist Leigh Turner of the University of Minnesota counted 570 clinics illegally offering such treatments, a number big enough to exert economic power and bend laws in the sector's favor. Already well established in some developing countries, these kinds of clinics are now - despite the presence of powerful health agencies regulating the pharmaceutical market -gaining a foothold in places like Switzerland, Australia, Italy, Japan or in U.S. That kind of desperation on the part of patients is boosting a growing market for clinics that offer non-approved stem-cell treatments for conditions such as ALS, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, diabetes or heart attacks.
The Swiss clinic then withdrew from the protocol, so the stem cells were injected into the patient at home." He died a short while later, for reasons "unrelated to this treatment," says Janssens. A family member went instead to give his cells.
"So the patient had to go to Israel, but his condition prevented him from making the trip. "We realized this was a bad procedure when the Swiss clinic refused to remove the cells," the doctor recalls. The plan was to remove some of his cells in French-speaking Switzerland, send them for isolation and cultivation in Israel, and then send the cells back to Switzerland for injection. The treatment cost him 35,000 Swiss francs (a little under 33,000 euros). Janssens remembers one patient, a few years back, who accepted an offer from a clinic in Tel Aviv in Israel. But others, usually those with more money to spend, try their luck anyway. The pneumologist tries to warn patients about the illegal nature of the untested stem-cell treatments. Even if it means overstepping clinical research rules," says Janssens.
Als stem cell treatment cost trial#
"Patients are ready to enter into any protocol or clinical trial rather than stay inactive. It is incurable.Īnd yet patients often receive invitations from private clinics or doctors promising a miracle cure using stem cells, which can be multiplied in specialized settings or surfaces. This rare disease is caused by the degeneration of motor neurons and kills patients within a few years. GENEVA - At the Geneva University Hospitals, pneumologist Jean-Paul Janssens receives patients suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
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