International Stem Cell Association Publishes Landmark Survey of Stem Cell Clinics

Portland, OR, April 14, 2010 --(PR.com)-- The International Cellular Medicine Society (“ICMS”), a physician and researcher guided nonprofit organization for the advancement of adult stem therapy announced the publication of its second Off Shore Stem Cell Clinic Survey Report. This landmark study of 22 stem cell clinics is unique in that it is the only survey of the global stem cell market by an independent, medical organization. The ICMS, which represents medical doctors and researchers from over 20 countries on six continents, published this report as a follow up to the original 2009 survey. The 2010 edition has doubled the number of clinics reviewed and provides a new level of comparative analysis based on how stem cells are processed and implanted by specific clinics.

“Stem cell clinics are everywhere,” said David Audley, executive director of the ICMS. “From Guatemala to Thailand, from Peru to Germany, clinics have responded to increased demand.” While exact numbers are hard to verify, it is believed that there are between 100 and 200 clinics offering stem cell therapies. “The issue,” continued Audley, “Is that clinics in Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic can both claim to treat congestive heart failure, but there has been no way to compare these clinics. As a patient, how are you supposed to make an informed health care decision with little or no information?”

To build a model to compare clinics, patient volunteers for the ICMS contacted over 30 clinics worldwide and inquired about treatments for conditions ranging from congestive heart failure to Parkinson’s disease. The patients asked each of the clinics to furnish information about their treatment procedures. Out of the 30 clinics contacted by patients, 22 provided sufficient data to be analyzed and included in the report. Combined, the data provides a first of its kind survey of the global stem cell treatment market.

“Informing patients and clinicians alike is the goal of this report,” said Christopher J Centeno, MD, medical director of the ICMS who organized the medical review of the report. “We recognize that medical tourism is growing, and that transparency about what is going on in these clinics is only way to separate out the wheat from the chaff.” The report seeks to inform patients by providing multiple levels of comparison from cell type (adult versus embryonic) to procedure price to conditions treated. Additionally, the report provides an analysis of clinics based on the complexity of their cell processing and implantation procedures. “The combination of data,” continues Centeno, “Provides significant insight into the landscape of the global stem cell treatment market to help patients and physicians make more informed healthcare decisions.”

The full report can be found at the ICMS website. The ICMS plans on publishing the report annually as a guide for patients and physicians to compare the treatment options available by stem cell clinics worldwide.

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