55-Year-Old Cardiomyopathy Patient Heads To Dominican Republic

Paul — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:12:13 +0000

A 55-year-old resident of The Villages, Fla., suffering from cardiomyopathy will be spending $64,000, half raised by friends and neighbors, to travel to the Dominican Republic for stem cell treatments. Her dream is to fix her serious heart problem – her heart is operating at 20% capacity – and see her youngest grandchild start kindergarten. The stem cell procedure by Fla. physician Zannos Grekos involves extraction and re-injection of her own stem cells, an experimental procedure that has not been approved in the United States. “Any time you do any kind of procedure with the heart, you have some kind of risk, and I understand that,” the patient said.

Author Dominick Dunne Dies After Experimental Overseas Stem Cell Cancer Treatments

Paul — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:38:34 +0000

Experimental stem cell cancer treatments in the Dominican Republic and Germany failed to stem the progress of author Dominick Dunne’s bladder cancer. The 83-year-old former Hollywood producer died August 26. Like the late actress Farrah Fawcett, Dunne was treated unsuccessfully at Germany’s Leonardis Clinic in Bad Heilbrunn. The clinic nevertheless claims a high success rate. The U.S. FDA does not yet allow the use of stem cells to treat cancer because treatments have not proven universally safe or effective. “…[T]hose [countries] that are ahead of us in this area haven’t been able to show any real benefit, and I don’t think American patients are missing out on anything in this area,” said Dr. Stan Gerson, director of the Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine of Cleveland, Ohio.

The Stem Cell Trekker » Dominican Republic

55-Year-Old Cardiomyopathy Patient Heads To Dominican Republic

Author Dominick Dunne Dies After Experimental Overseas Stem Cell Cancer Treatments