Stem Cell

Man reportedly dies after getting unproven stem cell therapy in Mexico – The Niche

Time Stamp: October 17, 2023 5:15 AM
Source Node: 141459

A surfer news site reported that a man recently died after getting an unproven stem cell therapy in Mexico.

The article is entitled Tragedy strikes in Mexico as Shane Dorian’s traveling companion for “life-altering” stem-cell therapy dies.

Shane Dorian is a famous surfer who hopes to fight aging at 51. As part of that effort, Dorian and a friend went to Tijuana.

stem cell death, stem cell therapy in mexico — **The friends who went to Mexico for an unproven stem cell “therapy” resulting in tragedy.** “Dorian (left) with Dozer Dave. Photo from Instagram.”

Death after stem cell therapy in Mexico

The friend of Dorian, Dave Barnett, died there shortly after getting stem cells from a place called The Cellular Performance Institute.

“Dorian, taking to his own channel hours later, shared, he and Barnett spent the previous evening together after treatments, watched the Hangover then went to sleep. At some point, Barnett went into cardiac arrest and was unable to be revived even though many doctors were right there.”

Barnett went by the nickname Dozer Dave.

This piece on the death follows an earlier item in the same pub about how Shane Dorian was going to get the stem cells.

Comments on surfer mag

Interestingly, in the comments on the piece reporting the death, those who weighed in were highly skeptical of getting stem cell therapy in Mexico. One commenter noted this:

“I’m grossed out that before Shane even talked about his good friends death he talked about how great the process has been with getting these stem cells.

And then he tried to make it seem like Dozer was in poor health and that’s why he died and not these janky treatments????

I’m sorry, what. I would be absolutely livid at Shane if Dozer was a family member or friend.”

I wonder if Shane got a free treatment for promoting his adventure down there to get stem cells?

Somehow the article itself doesn’t note the possibility that the stem cells caused the death. Clinics often ignore these kinds of outcomes and, if pressed, say there was no connection. How would they know?

My thoughts go out to Barnett’s family. I don’t know if they have any options to get at the actual truth of what happened or to take action against the clinic down there if the “treatment” did cause the death.

What is the Cellular Performance Institute in Tijuana?

The Cellular Performance Institute is an unproven stem cell clinic in Mexico, although they call themselves a hospital instead. They sell umbilical cord “treatments” for many conditions.

Cellular Performance Institute claims to treat aging, neurological conditions (implying treatment of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc), orthopedic conditions, and more.

I don’t see good science behind any of that. More generally, going to get stem cell therapy in Mexico is a risky business with little-to-no reason to think it’ll help or be safe.

Some of the place’s FAQ answers are red flags in my view. Under the FAQ that essentially asks “is there proof this works”, here’s their answer (emphasis mine):

“CPI uses protocols published in peer-reviewed medical journals that have demonstrated the therapeutic potential of cell-based intervention. Depending on the geographical location, some of these therapies may be approved or in clinical trials. We always do our best, but nothing works for everyone.“

That’s not reassuring.

Over the years, I’ve written about various stem cell clinics in Mexico. Such risks are not unique to places outside the U.S. A lot can and has gone wrong at clinics right here in the U.S.