China Offers Unproven Medical Treatments

January 5, 2008 By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN and ALAN SCHER ZAGIER, Associated Press Writers
China Offers Unproven Medical Treatments (AP)

Paralyzed after a diving accident almost a year ago, 15-year-old Celine Lyon receiving treatment at the Tiantan Puhua Hospital in Beijing, China, Thursday, May 24, 2007. Tiantan Puhua, a joint venture between Asia's largest neurological hospital and American Pacific Medical Group, specialize in using stem cells injections to treat diseases ranging from stroke and spinal cord injuries to cerebral palsy and ataxia. Since opening its treatment to foreigners last year, the hospital has been attracting increasing interest from overseas patients, the latest breed of medical tourists. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

(AP) -- They're paralyzed from diving accidents and car crashes, disabled by Parkinson's, or blind. With few options available at home in America, they search the Internet for experimental treatments - and often land on Web sites promoting stem cell treatments in China.



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