The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has banned some companies from marketing stem cell treatments and ordered them to pay a refund and penalty fine.
A press release on 9 January revealed that the ban involved the co-founders of the Stem Cell Institute of America (SCIA) and several related companies.
The federal district court gave the ban order in response to a complaint filed jointly by the Federal Trade Commission and Georgia Attorney Generalās Office.
The case
The FTC filed a case against the SCIA founders Steven D. Peyroux and Brent J. Detelich and other businesses in 2021.
At the time, the lawsuit alleged that SCIA trained its client clinics on how to recruit patients through advertising, free āeducational seminars,ā and consultations to deceptively market unproven stem cell therapy.
Additionally, the agency provided fake testimonials on the efficacy of the treatment, especially in elderly and disabled people.
The company also used its āeducational seminarsā to attract stem cell patients to their own chiropractic clinic, SHC.
Commenting on the case, Samuel Levine, Director of the FTCās Bureau of Consumer Protection said:
āThe founders of the Stem Cell Institute of America and their network of companies tricked people who needed real medical help into buying expensive, unproven stem cell therapy. The courtās orders hold them accountable to refund consumers and permanently ban the defendants from offering stem cell therapy and other regenerative medicine treatment in the future.ā
Judgment and ruling
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia engaged in extensive litigation in March 2024 and issued a summary judgment in favor of the FTC and the State of Georgia on all counts.
It further issued orders on December 26, 2024 to permanently ban the defendants from advertising, marketing, promoting, offering for sale, or selling any regenerative medicine treatments in the name of stem cell therapy.
Another order requires Peyroux and Detelich to pay $3,310,146 that may be used to provide refunds to defrauded consumers, and Peyroux, Detelich, and Physicians Business Solutions, LLC (PBS) to pay a total fine of $5,155,146 in line with Georgiaās state law claims.
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