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chinastemcells] Institute of Regenerative Medicine Closed in Scandal

It was back in late 2005 and early 2006 that I first reported the “stay away” message on this group yet still from time to time people would bring this place up on the boards as a viable option for treatment. I think we all need a reminder that it is not safe to take your child or loved one to just any stem cell provider who has a slick web site and offers a lower price. There are so many people and places out there that want to take advantage and we must be very careful. The claims below about the intentional early delivery of babies who were then used as a harvest resource seem outrageous and unreal but this is not the first time I have heard of this. The story about new born infants disappearing has also been reported by other news sources and there does seem to be some evidence behind the claims.
It is indeed cases like this that lead to fear of all stem cells. These reports are yet another indictor as to why we must stay away from clinics that use fetal stem cells. The use of any such product on any basis will only lead to abuses like those reported below.
Anytime you or someone you know is considering trying out a new clinic and or doctor please check the databases very carefully. It is not uncommon for these clinics to be shut down only to have those involved move onto a new country and set up shop again under a new name. Be very careful and do your homework, talk with others both patients and those involved in the business of stem cells. There are a few of us that are honest and sincere about our work unfortunately we are rare among the general population of those working in this field.

Institute of Regenerative Medicine Closed in Scandal
Stem cell clinic closed
Published on: 11/26/07.
by Sanka Price

BARBADOS IS NO LONGER in the controversial stem cell treatment business.

The Institute of Regenerative Medicine (IRM) which was named in a critical British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) television report last December as one of the clinics using stem cells from aborted foetuses and dismembered babies, closed in May. Its closure brings to an end four contentious years of operation here.

The clinic, which was located at Hempstead , Two Mile Hill, St Michael, was forced to close its doors because business slowed after the BBC investigation was aired, said Professor Yuliy Baltaytis, the IRM's scientific director.

"The brutal attack of the BBC and the British papers ruined our business," said Baltaytis, who spoke to the SUNDAY SUN from New York .

The BBC documentary aired last December 12 and was re-screened on BBC World News on December 13, claimed that stem cells in the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine in eastern Europe were not only procured from aborted foetuses in the first trimester, but that healthy living babies may have been delivered through induced labour at two weeks'
gestation, killed, their bodies dismembered and their internal organs and brains removed for the harvest of stem cells.

Video footage of exhumed bodies detailing this barbaric practice was lodged with the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe had already investigated the maternity clinic in Kharkiv at the centre of the allegations in August 2006 and expressed its extreme concern about "the disappearance of new-born babies in the country and allegations of trafficking of babies for adoption and of foetuses for scientific purposes".

The Institute of Cryobiology in Kharkiv, that supplied the IRM with stem cells, refused to be interviewed for the BBC documentary.

Baltaytis, a Ukrainian, reiterated his condemnation of the British reports saying: "The European Commissioner said that no crime was being committed in Ukraine . They said the BBC report and Daily Mail reports were not true."

The professor, who established the first stem cell clinic here in
2002 - a rejuvenation clinic called "Vita Nova" at Villa Nova, St John , which was rebranded the IRM in 2004 - said he no longer worked for the company, and was trying to set up his own business, possibly in Europe .

Baltaytis said he would like to return here, though he couldn't say how soon he would. "I like to work in Barbados . I have some patients over there."

As to the allegations that IRM skipped the country owing their former landlord $8,000 rent; their employees', salaries; and other companies money for services provided, Baltaytis stoutly denied this.

"We paid everybody. The only one we may owe is the telephone company," he insisted.

"I personally delivered cash to [the landlord] from our chairman, Mr Irme Pakh. ... We paid staff not only money but told them they could take the furniture," he added.

A staff member however disagreed with Baltaytis. The person told the SUN an affidavit was signed by the professor agreeing to pay the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) the deductions taken from their salaries over the last two years. That apart companies were calling about monies owed.

"It is just a complete mess," the former employee said.

Quizzed on the NIS payments for staff, Baltaytis said he was "not a financial officer of the company, so I have limited knowledge. I was scientific director".
YOU HAVE TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO!