Patients around the world are getting duped into buying dodgy stem cell treatments, while governmental regulators play catch up. But in Japan dubious stem cell treatments are circulating in a darker and more disturbing way — with the full backing of the government. In 2014, the Japanese government created a new framework for regenerative medicine that laid out two pathways for unproven treatments to get to the clinic.
The government hoped that loose regulations would bolster the industry — and they have. It also promised that new therapies would relieve patients suffering from debilitating disease. But in creating what is arguably the world’s laxest regulatory system for stem cell treatments, the country has left patients at the mercy of charlatans and profit-seekers who deliver what is at best a very expensive placebo.
Stem cells, once a symbol of the potential for biology to revolutionize medicine, have in Japan become something like dietary supplements, advertised on unsubstantiated benefits, though at a much higher price. “The potent effects of Japan’s stem cell policies” describes the history of these regulations, the flaws within them, and the price that misled patients are paying. It also shows how the model, with its promise of economic growth and lies of patient benefit, is spreading to other countries.