60 Minutes blasts stem cell therapy clinic

April 23, 2010

60 Minutes " blasts stem cell therapy clinic.

CBS's " 60 Minutes " has aired a half-hour report about stem-cell

treatments claimed to cure cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

(ALS), multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease. The treatment is

marketed by Lawrence Stowe at Stowe Bio Therapy in La Mesa,

California and administered in Mexico at the " Rio Valley Medical

Center " operated by operated by J. Morales, whose medical

degree came from CETEC, a Caribbean school that was later shut down

for selling diplomas. After a hidden camera taped them trying

persuade an ALS patient to pay $125,000 for a " permanent fix, " a CBS

producer confronted the pair about what happened. [21st century snake

oil: " 60 Minutes " cameras expose medical con men who prey on dying

victims. CBS News, April 18, 2010]

The program exposes Stowe as a psychopath who lies without batting an

eyelash about the treatment and alleged credentials and affiliations.

It is probably the finest character study of a quack in action ever

broadcast. After learning about the situation, the FDA announced that

it would investigate.

Stem cell therapy has great potential, but no commercial clinics

should be regarded as trustworthy. A researcher affiliated with the

International Society for Stem Cell Research has found more than 200

of them marketing through the Internet. Stowe promotes his treatments

through the Stowe Foundation, a nonprofit corporation, founded in

2003 and " dedicated to the study of the human immune system and the

body's natural ability to heal itself from chronic illness. " In a

brochure apparently intended to raise $10 million from private

investors, Stowe Biotherapy Inc. falsely claimed to have an

" FDA-approved stem cell based approach to regenerative healing " and

projected a net income of $71 million by its third year of operation.

Dr. Morales is a codefendant with Immunosyn Corporation and others in

a class-action suit alleging that he sold the plaintiff an alleged

multiple sclerosis cure that turned out to be water or a dilute salt

solution with no active ingredients.

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