A mostly unregulated stem cell industry is thriving in Arizona Amanda Morris, Arizona Republic
Embryonic stem cells once seemed like a miracle cure: cells from the human body that could transform into any other cell a patient needed and treat almost any condition.
Ethical concerns and federal regulations tempered that promise of endless possibility, but the hype lingered and the market responded.
Today, someone seeking treatment for any one of dozens of conditions can drive to a strip mall, go to a chiropractor s office and fork over a few thousand dollars for what are sold as stem cell injections.
An Arizona Republic investigation found that such treatments are offered at hundreds of locations across the state, but few of those businesses offer the narrow range of treatments the Food and Drug Administration has approved for use of stem cells.