Umbilical cord and placenta stem cell injections offered for $18,450

Clinics that numbered in the single digits in the 2000s surpassed 2,700 by 2021

Treatments marketed for autism, diabetes and erectile dysfunction — none FDA-approved

Once a luxury for billionaires, the 'longevity industry' goes mainstream despite deaths, side effects

A microscopic image of human embryonic stem cells rendered in 3D. [Getty Images Bank]
A microscopic image of human embryonic stem cells rendered in 3D. [Getty Images Bank]

"Stem cells obtained from newborns can be sent throughout the entire body."

At a "longevity clinic" in Los Angeles, a reporter inquiring about knee arthritis treatment was offered a procedure using stem cells extracted from a newborn's umbilical cord and placenta — injected directly into the knee. That was only the beginning. The doctor also recommended intravenous administration, explaining that sending the stem cells through the bloodstream would deliver "the best results."

The price: $18,450.

A new market targeting people willing to pay for "youth" is expanding rapidly across the United States. Stem cell treatments that once required billionaires to fly to Mexico or Panama are now being sold at clinics in Los Angeles and other major American cities for tens of thousands of dollars.

The Financial Times recently conducted an undercover investigation into US stem cell clinics and found that the market is rapidly going mainstream, driven by surging interest in longevity and rejuvenation.

The pattern was on full display when an FT reporter posed as a patient and requested a consultation at Chara Health in Los Angeles. A doctor working there at the time, Heidi Reghenas, proposed a treatment using stem cells derived from a newborn's umbilical cord and placenta.

Beyond the direct knee injection, she explained that introducing the cells intravenously would allow them to circulate through the body, helping repair damaged tissue and reduce inflammation. The clinic's claimed applications extended well beyond arthritis — it advertised the treatment as potentially beneficial for dozens of conditions, including autism, diabetes and erectile dysfunction.

Clinics marketing stem cell therapies have proliferated explosively in the United States over the past decade or so.

Research by Lee Turner, director of the bioethics center at the University of California, Irvine, found that the number of such clinics — a handful in the late 2000s — grew to about 600 by 2016 and surpassed 2,700 by 2021.

The market's growth is not being driven solely by the sick. As more people spend money not just on living longer but on staying young while doing so, stem cells have become one of the most sought-after products in the global longevity industry.

Celebrity endorsements have further fueled the trend. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the US secretary of health and human services, has publicly said he benefited greatly from stem cell treatment he received in Antigua in the Caribbean. Podcaster Joe Rogan and television personality Kim Kardashian have also shared their experiences receiving stem cell procedures abroad.

As celebrity "rejuvenation stories" spread through social media and podcasts, treatments once seen as the exclusive preserve of the wealthy are becoming familiar consumer products. The global wellness and longevity industry, which has grown into a multi-trillion-dollar market, has now folded stem cells into its offerings.

[123RF]
[123RF]

The problem is that there is a significant gap between the glossy marketing and actual medicine.

Stem cells themselves are already used in modern medicine. Because they can self-replicate and differentiate into various cell types, they are employed in bone marrow and skin grafts, and research into their application for conditions such as Parkinson's disease and heart disease is active.

But the claim that injecting stem cells into the body will cause them to seek out and repair damaged areas on their own is an entirely different matter. The US Food and Drug Administration has not approved such regenerative medicine products for treating arthritis or back and knee pain.

A study this year examining six umbilical cord-derived "stem cell" products sold in the United States found virtually no living cells in any of them. The expensive "stem cell injections" patients are paying for may contain almost no viable stem cells at all.

The bigger problem is that patients may lose more than their money.

Shane Goddard, an American who has walked with a limp since injuring his spinal cord in a motorcycle accident as a teenager, traveled to a clinic in Mexico in 2022 seeking treatment. He was offered a procedure to inject about 140 million stem cells — said to be derived from umbilical cord tissue — into his spine, at a cost of $15,695.

Almost immediately after the procedure, he developed a high fever and severe back pain. He found it difficult to move his fingers and began dragging his legs. Tests revealed that an abscess caused by infection was compressing his spinal cord. Doctors warned that without immediate surgery, he could be paralyzed by the following morning.

He ultimately spent six weeks in the hospital and still cannot use his hands properly.

Despite such cases, the market shows little sign of slowing. The FDA has sent warning letters to operators and stepped up enforcement, but companies have responded by changing their names, websites and advertising language to keep operating.

When the Financial Times tracked 25 companies that had received FDA warning letters for selling unapproved stem cell products since 2021, it found that a significant number had continued operating in altered forms — using phrases like "experimental option" instead of "treatment," or claiming that what they sell is human tissue rather than a drug.

Regulatory approaches within the United States are also diverging. Since 2024, states including Florida, Utah and Wyoming have moved to allow doctors to administer unapproved stem cell treatments under certain conditions — opening the door at the state level even as federal FDA regulation remains in place.

Sean Morrison, a former president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, called the unverified stem cell treatment market "a serious public health problem." Former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said that while legitimate companies change their behavior in response to regulatory warnings alone, this market does not, making it an industry that operates in effect outside regulatory reach.


sjy@heraldcorp.com