Scientists want roles in stem cell film pulled

Some researchers question for-profit backers’ motives

A new documentary about stem cell therapy is being questioned by some of those who appear in it — prominent cellular scientists who say they weren’t aware of who was backing the project when they agreed to participate.

The 10-part series is set to launch online Monday. The filmmakers said they may delay the premiere because some people interviewed for the project no longer want to be involved, after learning that the movie was funded in part by for-profit stem cell providers who are under federal investigation. Some scientists said they fear the documentary may promote what they consider junk science.

A five-minute trailer for “The Healthcare Revolution” is online at the website www. healthcarerev.org, where a surprisingly deep lineup of “expert sources” in stem cells is listed along with the institutions they represent.

Among the scientists named is Dr. Maria Millan, head of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state’s stem cell funding agency. Also named are three consumer stem cell providers who have been sued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to stop their operations; one of them lost her case this month.

A statement at the top of the documentary website says that more than 80 doctors and

“I’m fine with how I was portrayed in (the film). But I’d never endorse this sort of thing, and it’s implicit endorsement just being part of it.” Jeanne Loring, Scripps Research professor emeritus

scientists in the series discuss “how the stem cell technology that is said to be 10, 20 years down the road is actually here — NOW!” Below it appear logos for several major academic institutions, including Stanford School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

In fact, many of the scientists listed on the website have said repeatedly that stem cell therapies are still years away from being ready for patients. They have said that the hundreds of providers treating patients at for-profit clinics are selling “snake oil” products that are worthless and potentially unsafe. No stem cell therapy currently sold at forprofit clinics has been approved by the FDA.

“I am a stalwart and outspoken critic of unapproved stem cell therapies. I don’t belong in their company,” said Jeanne Loring, a professor emeritus at Scripps Research in La Jolla (San Diego County). She asked the filmmakers to remove her from the documentary after visiting the website, and they agreed to cut her out, she said.

“I’m fine with how I was portrayed in it,” said Loring, who was sent an advance copy of the episode she was in. “But I’d never endorse this sort of thing, and it’s implicit endorsement just being part of it.”

The documentary was conceived in July, said Sara Sheehan, who made the series with her husband Bobby Sheehan. The pair, based in Albany, N.Y., have produced and directed several documentaries and commercial projects together.

Sara Sheehan said the series was financed by a private group of investors but declined to name individuals. Dr. Mark Berman of Beverly Hills, founder of one of the country’s largest forprofit stem cell clinic networks, said he and his partner, Dr. Elliot Lander, helped with some financing. Their company, Cell Surgical Network, sent an email to patients last week promoting the documentary. “We have a wonderful docuseries coming out. It’s a whole production, not just about us,” Berman said in an interview. “It’s going to enlighten

people.”

Berman and Lander are currently in a legal dispute with the FDA, which has requested an injunction that would force them to stop selling stem cell therapies; their case is still under consideration. A clinic in Florida, U.S. Stem Cell, lost a similar case this month. Though the chief science officer of U.S. Stem Cell is listed on the documentary website as an expert source, it’s not clear if the company helped finance the project.

Sara Sheehan said she began sending out advisory emails Friday to people interviewed for the documentary, letting them know that it would be released Monday. She said she was surprised to hear back from some who were alarmed by the website and who else was involved with the project.

“People aren’t sure they want to be on the same web page” as the

for-profit providers, Sheehan said. “I’m hearing a lot of that.”

She added that she would remove anyone from the film who wanted out. She said her crew was clear when they approached people for interviews that it was for a consumer-oriented film that tried to give a “full picture of the regenerative medicine landscape.”

“This is a very complex and very layered field,” she said. “There are some really committed scientists who are working within the confines they’re used to, and there are some people who are doing work with their hearts in the right place. And let’s face it, there are bad actors. We tried to give it a very balanced overview.” Kevin McCormack, a spokesman for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state stem cell agency in Oakland, said CIRM agreed to participate in the documentary because it would give it an opportunity to promote the rigorous science it supports and warn against “fly-by-night” consumer clinics.

He said he didn’t know who was financing the documentary at the time CIRM signed on. “We knew they were going to be talking to all these other players — some of them reputable scientists and some of them running clinics we wouldn’t necessarily go near,” McCormack said. “We just felt that as one of the bigger players in this field, our voice should be part of it.”

Dr. Evan Snyder, another scientist listed on the documentary website, said that learning who had paid for the project and reading some of the language used to describe it “gives me a bad taste in my mouth.” The promotional material is overly enthusiastic and does not reflect his opinions nor most of his colleagues’, he said.

“It’s a little embarrassing, actually,” said Snyder, director of the Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla (San Diego County). “On the other hand, thoughtful, conservative scientists need to go on the record about this stuff.”