Medical and legal experts in 15 countries are calling for stricter regulations to prevent vulnerable patients from continuing potentially fatal experimental stem cell treatments, the safety of which has not been proven (see Stem cells: unreasonable expectations lead to scandals). British, American, Canadian, Belgian, Italian and Japanese experts believe that national efforts are not sufficient to confront this industry. In fact, authors emphasise the fact that “procedures based on stem cells are governed by various national regulatory standards that are potentially incompatible”. They want to see “an approach towards international legislation” with the creation not only of “consistent regulations governing the commercialisation of practices and medical products but also greater emphasis on developing cross-border partnerships” to ensure compliant practices.
They point out that although clinical trials are underway, few treatments have been proven to date.
The Guardian, Melissa Davey (06/07/2017)