A stem cell clinic touts its links with leading scientists. Some say they have no such connections

Column: A stem cell clinic touts its links with leading scientists. Some say they have no such connections.

A stem cell clinic touts its links with leading scientists. Some say they have no such connections. firm that pitches stem cell treatments to desperate patients willing to travel to Mexico to receive them, likes to portray itself as a cut above the rest.

A stem cell clinic touts its links with leading scientists. Some say they have no such connections. The so-called Stem Cell Therapy and Research boasts that its medical advisory board comprises “luminaries from Harvard, University of California (UCI)” and other leading institutions. It says on its website that its founder, ramu, is “credited with setting up the stem cell research labs at top research institutions in [the] US including Salk Research Institute, Sanford-Burnham Institute, UCI, UCSD.”

A stem cell clinic touts its links with leading scientists. Some say they have no such connections. That could give prospective patients confidence that they were in sound medical hands. But three prominent scientists listed as board members say they have no connection with Global, and have repeatedly asked for their names to be removed from its website. Of 11 others listed as members of the advisory board as of Jan. 8, nine could not be reached or did not return calls or emails. One confirmed that he was a board member but referred questions to Global. Another acknowledged that he was a member, but said the board had never met and he had only exchanged phone calls with Global principals.