Know the risks
before you choose a stem cell provider.

No. Safe Stem Cells is an independent educational and referral site. We explain the real risks and FDA status of stem cell therapy in plain English, and help you find a licensed provider — we don't treat patients and don't endorse any clinic's claims. Only a licensed clinician who has evaluated you can say whether any treatment is appropriate.

It depends entirely on the use. Blood-forming stem cell transplants from cord blood or bone marrow are FDA-approved and used at hospitals to treat certain cancers and blood disorders. Stem cell products marketed for joints, back pain, sports injuries, skin, anti-aging or hair are generally NOT FDA-approved, and the FDA has issued public warnings about unapproved stem cell clinics and products. Ask any provider exactly what product they use and its FDA status before you agree to anything.

Reported risks include infection, immune reactions, tumor formation at the injection site, and — in cases involving unapproved products injected into the eye or spine — permanent injury. Red flags include a provider who guarantees results, claims to 'cure' a disease or 'regrow' tissue, won't name the exact product or its FDA status, pressures you to decide quickly, or discourages a second opinion. Any one of these is a reason to walk away.

If you experienced an adverse event or suspect a provider is operating unsafely, you can file a report through the FDA's MedWatch safety reporting program, its voluntary system for patients and health professionals to report problems with regulated products, including unapproved stem cell products. Your own doctor and your state medical board can also take a complaint about a specific provider.

A real informed-consent conversation covers the exact product and its FDA approval status, the specific risks and realistic chance of benefit for your condition, reasonable alternatives including doing nothing, the total cost, and your right to ask questions and walk away at any time — in writing, before you pay anything or begin treatment.

Be extra cautious. Clinics outside the U.S. may not follow the same safety, sourcing, sterility or regulatory standards as FDA-regulated care, and a complication is far harder to address once you're home. Ask the same safety questions you would ask any provider, get everything in writing before you travel, and consider whether a vetted provider in our network closer to home is a safer first step.

Licensed providers can list for free, or reserve an exclusive ZIP-code territory — one ZIP code, five ZIP codes, or ten ZIP codes — so that people in that area who ask for a referral are connected only to them.