Stem Cell Treatment by Indian Doc Comes Under Fire in UK

The embryonic stem-cell treatment administered to a paralyzed Aussie man that enabled him to breathe on his own after 14 years by Dr Geeta Shroff, has raised concerns among Brit scientists.

The British doctors have voiced concern and skepticism over claims of the controversial treatment.

Perry Cross, 33, an Australian campaigner for stem-cell research, became a quadriplegic after a rugby injury at 19. He has no movement below his neck and has to use a ventilator to breathe.

He says that Dr. Shroff, who claims to produce and purify stem cells from human embryos, and use them to treat incurable conditions from renal failure to cerebral palsy, has helped him.

Dr Shroff has been labelled a dangerous maverick by doctors in India and elsewhere, but Cross is the latest patient to travel to her clinic to be injected with the cells - which are banned in his own country and most of the West.

"After 14 years of no change at all since my accident, I can now breathe on my own," TimesOnline quoted Cross, as saying.

Stephen Minger, director of the stem-cell biology laboratory at King's College London, said he was very concerned that Dr Shroff's techniques were not safe.

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"She's published nothing in terms of what she is doing. She's produced no data whatsoever in terms of what cells she is using, or how they are prepared or injected," he said.

Source-ANI
RAS/L