I thought I would share some recent news regarding the often talked about "stem cell" clinics that claim to treat COPD. Every year it seems there are more and more of these clinics that charge thousands of dollars a session for treatments that must be repeated, and for which there is no insurance coverage. it is entirely understandable why people with COPD, and other chronic diseases that they claim to treat, are interested in exploring all possible options, But as you all have discussed here so well, there is no evidence at this time that the treatment is safe or effective.

Many have asked how they get away with marketing these treatments without FDA approval and this is a question that both patient and healthcare professional societies have posed too. Well, according to an LA Times article (https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hil...), the FDA took another small step to show it was paying attention and is going to take more action in the future. We certainly hope they do!

One aspect of the article I found interesting was the notion that the stem cell treatments can be dangerous in a different way because it can cause people to otherwise forgo treatments that we do know work, even if they aren't curative as we all hope one day for COPD..

I hope this is a sign of action to come to help protect people from the marketing of unsafe and unproven treatments. I also hope the promise of regenerative medicine continues to be fully explored by legitimate scientific research, all the more reason to keep encouraging more research funding in COPD!

I hope you all have an enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday. I am grateful for this community and all that you do to support each other and the Foundation.