Another week…another sales rep coming to my office to market a new amniotic membrane/ fluid injection product. It seems these days that there is a new product coming to the market almost every month, and a new marketing gimmick associated with it. The old gimmick is marketing these treatments as “stem cell therapy” when is not. The newest gimmick in the market? A company marketing to chiropractors, to convince them to use amniotic membrane or fluid injections to increase the cash flow of their practices. Since, in most states, chiropractors are not allowed to give injections, the marketing gimmick consists of convincing chiropractors to hire part time physicians to be medical directors. Then, hire nurse practitioners/physician assistants to give the injections under the medical director’s “supervision”.
As we discussed in our previous blog, Amniotic cell products, which contain no viable cells are being marketed by many clinics as “Stem Cell Therapy”. This seems to include now chiropractor clinics.
Why are all these clinics using products with no viable cells and marketing them as “Stem Cell Therapy”? Basically, because they want a shortcut into the biologics revolution currently taking place in orthopedic medicine. They want to attract patients looking to avoid unnecessary surgeries, without spending the time, effort, and money required to get training and experience in regenerative medicine. In most of these clinic they have little or no experience injecting joints and/or spine. They don’t even know what prolotherapy is (the foundation of regenerative medicine).
Even worse, in most of these clinics they don’t even use imaging guidance for their injections. We explained here why it is essential to use appropriate image guidance when performing regenerative medicine treatments. It takes, again, time and money to get trained and to have the proper equipment (ultrasound and fluoroscopy). The use of these imaging techniques is necessary to make sure the needle is placed in the precise location where it is needed.
Again, be smart. If you are looking into stem cell therapies and come across any of these clinics using amniotic products (with their deceptive marketing techniques), or a clinic that doesn’t use appropriate image guidance, keep looking. The only way you can get stem cell therapy, with real stem cells, in the USA is if those cells have been harvested form your own body. And the only way those stem cells can repair the condition causing your symptoms is if they are precisely injected into the affected area. That takes knowledge, experience, and the proper equipment.
To learn more about non-surgical alternatives to joint replacement or spine surgeries go to: www.dontoperate.com .