Stem cells in Canada
Not approved by the Ministry of Health
Despite the fact that such procedures do not have any approval from official authorities, in Canada there is still a practice of treating patients with stem cells.
"All therapies using stem cells are considered medical treatment," the Canadian Ministry of Health said in an email to the broadcasting Corporation SVS, "Which means that the distribution and use of this product requires authorization from the Ministry of Health."
None of the stem cell injection procedures practiced today in private clinics has such approval.
Stem cells are a unique category of cells in the human body that can "transform" into a number of cells of various organs. Scientists are studying the potential of using this material for regenerative processes – growing tissues and organs, as well as for curing diseases.
So far, however, only experiments are being conducted. None of the procedures has yet been officially approved, with the exception of bone marrow transplants for the treatment of cancer or blood diseases.
Journalists of the SVS Corporation visited several private clinics to find out what services they offer. In Toronto, for example, they followed the treatment history of a woman who suffered from severe knee pain. With the help of the Internet, she found clinics that really offer stem cell treatment that can help her with this trouble. After filling out the online registration form, she got the opportunity to meet with an orthopedic doctor.
Correspondents managed to follow the activities of similar clinics in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia in the same way.
All procedures take only about an hour. They are held in medical offices. Doctors extract pieces of the patient's bone marrow or fatty tissue, place them in a centrifuge while the client waits, and then inject the material with a syringe into the knee, hip or other part of the same patient's body. As stated in the advertisement, this treatment helps with arthrosis and a number of diseases of joints or muscles.
In the case of a woman from Toronto, the doctor diagnosed arthrosis and recommended injections. The cost of an injection in one knee is $ 3000, and in both – $ 3500. This patient, however, refused injections.
A doctor in another clinic said that the injections work 100%. However, he did not provide any scientific information confirming this statement.
The names of the patient and doctors are not published in this story.
"This is an experiment," says Dr. Duncan Stewart, who deals with this problem, "And we don't really know yet whether this therapy will work, how safe it is."
Stewart is the scientific director of the Ontario Institute of Regenerative Medicine. He is conducting clinical trials of this method at Ottawa Hospital.
In another case, Rick McGregor from Red Deer in Alberta went through an injection procedure in both knees. It cost him $1,700, but he did not feel any improvement, according to his own words. "I waited six months. For a short time, maybe it got a little better, but it didn't last very long," he says.
"This is a complex scientific complex," explains Timothy Caulfield, a professor at the University of Alberta, chairman of the committee in the field of medical law, "You can't just inject cells into the knee and hope that it will work." Professor Caulfield believes that this practice should be stopped immediately.
To this day, stem cells have not been tested in the usual order in this case – on two groups of patients, one of whom is injected with the desired drug, and the others receive a placebo. But some patients and doctors insist that injections relieve people of pain.
Adele Engel from Panorama, British Columbia, traveled to the United States twice and spent more than $5,000 on two series of injections in her sore knee. Here she claims that the injections helped her, and is thinking about a third trip, however, now she needs to save money. Engel is sure that her condition has improved by 50%.
The same Caulfield, however, is not sure of the effectiveness of the procedures, and finds other possible explanations for the improvement. This, he says, could be the result of a natural "retreat" of the disease or the same placebo effect.
Anyway, stem cell injections, apparently, fall into the "gray zone" of the law. The Canadian Ministry of Health cannot regulate the practice in any way, the popularity of which is only growing. None of the professional medical colleges has yet developed a common position or rules.
The equipment for collecting this material is purchased directly from the manufacturer, and there are appropriate licenses for such equipment. But the use of stem cells does not have any licenses, except for permits to conduct official clinical trials.
However, in Ottawa they say that any such procedure must receive appropriate approval before use. It is strange, but a fact: the Ministry of Health is not trying to take any punitive actions to stop this practice.
While there are no such permits or clear prohibitions, injections continue. Some experts express concerns that excess cells can cause, among other things, oncological diseases.
After all, if the injected material promotes cell growth (and this is precisely the purpose of the injection – to stimulate the growth of healthy cells in the knee or shoulder), then it should be understood that theoretically there is a danger that stem cells will cause the growth of a malignant tumor. At official clinical tests, by the way, the subjects sign a special form in which such a risk is indicated.
So far, there have been no serious problems regarding injections into the joints. But three women in the United States lost their eyesight after stem cells were injected into their eyes to cure macular degeneration (macular degeneration, retinal dystrophic changes).
At least one country, Australia, which is very similar to Canada in many legal respects, has banned direct advertising of the use of stem cells.
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