Sudbury doctor ordered to stop offering stem cell therapy

Sudbury doctor reacts to stem cell therapy ruling A Sudbury doctor struggles with a recent Health Canada ruling ordering him to stop offering stem cell therapy. Ian Campbell reports.

A doctor in Sudbury is struggling with a recent ruling from Health Canada, ordering him to stop offering stem cell therapy.

Dr. Scott Barr has been offering stem cell pain treatments for the last two and a half years, but he and more than 30 other Canadian doctors are now being told to stop.

Stem cell treatment involves the removal of stem cells from one part of your body, which are then re-injected into a 'problem' area.

Dr. Barr undergoes these treatments himself.

A former university football player, he suffered from chronic back pain for years and tried every medication possible before seeking out stem cell treatment in California.

"Ihad treatments done, and in four weeks my back was better, and as a result of that degree of improvement, I thought we should provide this for Canadians," said Dr. Barr.

He says he immediately sought and received the approval of Health Canada, Ontario's College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Canadian Medical Protective Association to offer the procedure here.

He says he received a letter from Health Canada on May 23, telling him to stop because he was "manufacturing a drug." He has invited inspectors to his facility.

"We want them to see what we're doing, to see that we're harvesting stem cells, we're not modifying them, and we're putting them back into the patient," said Dr. Barr.

He says he's had no response and worries about what this could mean to his patients who've been helped.

According to Dr. Barr, about 80% of people he's treated have seen some improvement.

Critics of the concept include some medical ethicists and some patients in other parts of Canada who say they spent $10,000 and saw no improvement.

As for Health Canada, the agency issued this statement:

"Generally products using stem cells to cure or treat disease remain at the investigational stage of development. This means that Health Canada has not yet seen enough evidence that they are safe and effective. The department continues to work with these clinics to bring them into compliance with the applicable regulatory framework."

The doctor says it is not realistic to expect an intervention to be successful for everyone.

"Not every treatment is 100% successful, medications aren't 100% successful, surgeries aren't 100% successful. So, with stem cells, we don't have a 100% success rate, but we have a lot of patients that have responded very well," said Dr. Barr.

He says hewants to have a meaningful conversation with Health Canada, but he adds at the end of the day, if he has to honour the government's decision, he will.