The New New
‘Snake Oil’ Stem Cell Clinics Peddle False Hope for High Prices
Hundreds of clinics have popped up across the U.S., promising miracle cures without scientific backing
Doris Tyler, a retired elementary school music teacher, had to drop out of her church choir two years ago when she lost her vision. Since she could no longer see the music, she would need to memorize up to eight hymns a week to participate, and at 78, she just doesn’t have that kind of memory anymore, she says.
“The two hardest things are waking up in the morning, opening my eyes and only seeing darkness and knowing that it will be that way until I close them at night,” she says, sobbing. “The other thing is: I can’t see my children and grandchildren. That’s probably the hardest.”
For years, Tyler, of Ocoee, Florida, was slowly going blind from macular degeneration. Overall, she was getting along okay. She couldn’t drive, but she could still read large print, cook, enjoy her music, and spend time with her family. Then a friend gave her a copy of a book called The Stem Cell Revolution by Mark Berman and Elliot Lander, co-founders of the Cell Surgical Network and owners of a California-based stem cell clinic chain, which suggested that her macular degeneration could be cured…
