4 medical groups: Stem cell therapy still on ‘clinical trial’

MANILA, Philippines - The practice of stem cell therapy in the country seems to be creating a rift among Filipino doctors.

In a health forum Tuesday, four medical organizations assailed their colleagues from the Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine (PSSCM) who perform “unproven” procedures.

The Philippine College of Physicians (PCP), Philippine Society of General Internal Medicine (PSGIM), Philippine Society of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (PSHBT) and Philippine College of Chest Physicians (PCCP) also assailed the PSSCM for allegedly charging exorbitant fees for these procedures which they said are supposed to be under “clinical trial.”

PCP vice president Dr. Anthony Leachon said stem cell therapy has been proven effective only in limited medical conditions – bone marrow diseases, and hematological malignancies like leukemia and lymphoma.

But he said at present, some doctors are doing the procedure for “off label use” like “Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, autism, diabetes, emphysema, erectile dysfunction, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, spinal cord injury, stroke, liver disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, aging and cancer (except blood cancer).”

“We want to inform the public about this because many are being deceived right now. There is a liver cancer patient in Tarlac who was being asked to pay P2 million for stem cell treatment… The sad part here is that the doctor doing that is a specialist,” he said.

Leachon urged PSSCM members, who make it appear that stem cell therapy is a “panacea” or the remedy for all diseases, to stop doing so.

“We should be preventive… They are confusing the public by (doing stem cell treatment) on a condition which can be treated with ordinary preventive lifestyle modification,” he said.

PSGIM president Dr. Antonio Dans, for his part, said it is “unethical” to charge patients undergoing stem cell procedures that are still on experimental stage.

“In clinical trial, it is unethical to charge patients for these unproven indications. They are actually the ones who should be compensated because they are part (of an experiment),” he added.

Dans underscored the need to enhance Administrative Order (AO) 2013-2012 issued by the Department of Health (DOH) last March. 

The order contains the rules and regulations governing the accreditation of health facilities engaging in human stem cell or cell-based or cellular therapies in the country.

Dans said the AO is not enough to protect the public against those who may abuse the growing popularity of stem cell therapies.

“You regulate ‘who can do it’ but you are not regulating ‘what you can do it for.’ Not because you are working in a high-class hospital, you can use stem cell therapy on anyone,” he said.

Dans said the guidelines do not indicate the specific medical conditions on which stem cell procedures could be applied.

The four medical groups signed a position statement asking the DOH through the Food and Drug Administration “to strictly enforce its legal mandate and issue clearer regulations for stem cell therapy for practicing clinicians to safeguard the health of Filipinos.”

They also asked the public to help stop those “who seek to profit from the desperation and ignorance of others” by reporting them to the FDA.

Sought for comment, PSSCM president Dr. Rey Melchor Santos said they are just following the DOH guidelines in practicing stem cell treatment.

“What is allowed by the DOH is autologous sources, which are blood, bone marrows and adipose fats,” he said in a telephone interview.

Santos gave assurance that PSSCM members do not make use of stem cells taken from allogeneic sources like animals and plant derivatives, human embryos and aborted human fetus.  

“That’s what we call immoral and unethical. They are not allowed by the DOH… What we do is we make sure that we are using procedures. That’s why only autologous is allowed because there is no chance of rejection, no chance of incompatibility,” he added.