Cancer patients who are considering going to a stem cell clinic overseas in Korea or Mexico or the Philippines or Panama or ANYwhere can and should do ANY or all of these 11 things:
#1. Most IMPORTANT: (a) Find out if stem cell therapy is LEGAL in the country you will be in. Don't take the doctor's or a patient's word; for example, they may be legal in Mexico, Japan, & China but may not be in Korea, the U.S., or Panama; (b) TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR to see if he/she will CONTINUE to treat you once you return from overseas. Most doctors' malpractice insurance may not allow it if you continue with follow-up treatments or injections of unknown and unproven substances; (c) Don't take anyone's word that your insurance will pay for ANYthing overseas.
#2. When asked to submit to a cash-only $2,500, or other dollar amount, blood test - check with your state Medical Board to see if the laboratory is even CERTIFIED to do such. The number in TEXAS, for example, is (713) 767-3340.
#3. Read the website of the non-profit International Society of Stem Cell Research, http://www.closerlookatstemcells.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home1. They take submissions and investigate suspect stem-cell clinics.
#4. If a foreign doctor claims to be affiliated with well-known U.S. medical institutions, FIND OUT if they really are, i.e., MD Anderson phone is 1-877-MDA-6789; The Mayo Clinic phone is (904) 953-2000 (or email: CancerResearch@mayo.edu); Johns Hopkins phone is (410) 955-5222, etc.
#5. If a doctor claims to be an oncologist, find out if he/she really is. Ask for his official resume.
#6. Talk to other patients who have been CURED by the doctor in question, then make sure they exist--get a phone number, etc., and (important) talk ONLY with patients whose cancer NEVER ever returned for at least TWO years. If you can't find any, then there has been no one CURED. Do NOT talk to patients just recently cured in the last 6 mos and have not yet had a follow up CT or cancer test in (very important) a U.S. lab that is *NOT* owned by the same doctor. Ask them these 3 questions: a. Did they have a CONFIRMED (tissue biopsy--not just a blood test) diagnosis of cancer BEFORE they went overseas for treatments? b. Are they financially involved with this doctor or are they employed by this doctor? c. Ask how much the patient spent on EVERYthing; the TRUE cost of your treatments is not likely to be known up front, even though estimates are given. Stem Cell clinics usually charge $50-$100K CASH. But that is just the beginning. Ask if the patient ALSO had surgery, chemo, cyberknife, radiation, etc., and WHERE and at what cost. How often have they had to return for treatments--what cost? Ask the cost of their hotel ($250/night is not uncommon) and how long they stayed. Always plan to stay longer than you are told--get a 3-month VISA.
#7. If you receive any media info, letters, website info, etc. about cured patients, undated, FOLLOW UP AND SEE IF THEY ARE STILL ALIVE. Some might be dead. Ask the doctor to give them YOUR contact info, since the doctor may not want to give you theirs, although HIPAA (privacy) laws apply only in the U.S. where Congress created them. The Social Security Death Index can be found at: http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
#8. If you want to make sure the foreign doctor really is a doctor, contact the places he claims to have graduated from. If doing ANYthing "medical" in the U.S., make sure the doctor is LICENSED. Phone the state medical board. For example, you can merely do an internet NAME search in TEXAS at: http://www.docboard.org/tx/df/txsearch.htm or fax your request to the Texas Medical Board at(512) 463-9416; or phone 1-800-248-4062.
#9. Google the doctor's name, the clinic name, the city. Search the full name AND just "Dr lastname" as well, i.e., "Kim Wang" or "Harry Goodkin" as well as "Dr. Wang" or "Dr. Goodkin." Read ALL the screens, not just the first one that shows up. You may find several former patients of that doctor. Google the name of the doctor's company and city, i.e., "Goodkin Korea" or "Immustim Mexico."
#10. If the doctor claims to have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, you can contact the Nobel Committee at: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/nomination/ Their email is: comments@nobelprize.org and info@nobel.se
#11. LAST: Check out a MEDICAL FRAUDS & SCAMS website: www.quackwatch.com in early 2012. The doctor there does incredibly thorough, documented research and posts his findings publicly. Take note, too, that if hospitalized overseas (stem cells usually cause high fever (rejection) and might call for hospitalization), doctors there may not have had the same length of medical training as U.S. doctors, and hospitals there may have limited drug supplies, especially anti-nausea meds (for chemo) and anesthetics, even soap. You would need to take a 3-month supply of all your own current meds. Ask the clinic for their "what-to-do/bring" checklist BEFORE you commit to wiring that $50,000 or whatever you have been told to send.
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011
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