‘Stem cell tourism’ growing trend
Internet sites offer help for people suffering from a dizzying array of serious conditions, including: Alzheimer’s, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, atherosclerosis, autism, brain damage, cancer, cerebellar ataxia, cerebral palsy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Crohn’s, diabetes, diseases of the eye, genetic disorders, Huntington’s, kidney disease, lupus, muscular sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s, rheumatoid arthritis, spinal cord injury, spinal muscular atrophy, stroke, and Tay-Sachs disease. There are clinics all around the world — but especially in China, India, the Caribbean, Latin America, and nations of the former Soviet Union — that will provide stem cell treatments for those long-intractable conditions. Never mind that cancer is the only disease category on that list for which there is published, scientifically valid evidence showing that stem cell therapy may help. Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of desperate people are flocking to clinics that charge tens of thousands of dollars for every unproven treatment. That “stem cell tourism” was...