Ruling frees FDA to crack down on stem cell clinics

US district court in Washington DC, rules a controversial stem cell therapy offered at clinics should be regulated...

Ruling frees FDA to crack down on stem cell clinics

Excerpt -  New Scientist

Peter Aldhous, San Francisco bureau chief

It's official: stem cells are drugs. At least, that's the opinion of the US district court in Washington DC, which has ruled that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the authority to regulate clinics offering controversial stem cell therapies...

Treatments in which stem cells are harvested from bone marrow and injected straight back into the same patient are deemed part of routine medical practice - not regulated by the US government. But if the cells are subjected to more than "minimal manipulation", the FDA maintains that the therapy becomes a "drug", which must be specifically approved for use...

Full Article at New Scientist

Read more @  New Scientist , Scope and Knoepfler Lab Stem Cell Blog.