What’s this mean for us !!!! MIAMI, Dec. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. (USRM), a leader in the development of proprietary, physician-based stem cell therapies and novel regenerative medicine solutions, today responded to a lawsuit filed last week in Broward County by a plaintiff claiming she had an adverse event for a voluntary stem cell procedure at a doctor's office utilizing autologous (the patient's own) stem cells to attempt to reverse the effects of macular degeneration— a disease that currently has no cure.
The adverse event the plaintiff claims she experienced as a result of the treatment, which was administered by a doctor in February of 2015, is a detached retina in one eye, which the patient alleges has led to loss of sight in that eye. Counsel for the patient also claims that his client's vision has worsened in the other eye. As the lawsuit was just filed, these allegations have not been corroborated. USRM's AdipoCell™ kit was used to harvest autologous cells from the patient's fat tissue.
The use of autologous stem cells for macular degeneration was discontinued by US Stem Cell Clinic, a separate company, as of June of 2015, after adverse events were reported.
"We have addressed any concerns about using AdipoCell™ for macular degeneration by discontinuing its use since more than two years ago," said Dr. Kristin Comella, USRM's Chief Science Officer. "Because we have seen strong safety profiles using AdipoCell™ to harvest autologous stem cells to treat a wide variety of other conditions — including orthopedic, autoimmune, degenerative and neurological diseases — we are instead focusing our development at this time on these more broad arenas."
"Publicly traded companies are always a target for law suits," said Mike Tomas, President & CEO of U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. "Every lawsuit is different, we are confident that our attorneys — who are very familiar with the issues surrounding this case — will investigate and defend this claim so that this case is resolved as soon as legally practical."
U.S. Stem Cell and its affiliated entities did not administer the treatment to the patient. The procedure was performed by an outside practitioner, who is among the hundreds of trained doctors worldwide who utilize U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. technology. U.S. Stem Cell does not currently treat eye patients, and for nearly 20 years, clinics have safely conducted thousands of stem cell procedures utilizing our protocol. We remain committed to the development of effective cell technologies to treat patients with a variety of diseases and injuries.
