The Supreme Court's order against the use of stem cell therapy to treat autism is lauded by doctors.
The verdict on Saturday was ruled by the bench comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan. The reason behind the Bench to rule out the therapy for autism is that it lacks "scientific support."
The Bench ruled that every use of stem cells in patients outside an approved clinical trial is unethical and shall be considered malpractice.
Experts welcomed the SC move as they believed that private labs were minting money from patients on false promises.
Dr Majari Tripathi, Head of Department, Neurology, AIIMS, said that many people and private labs were advertising stem cells not just for autism but for other neurological disorders, including cerebral palsy and charging hefty amounts.
"They are charging patients anywhere between Rs 6 and 20 lakh. Many families have lost money with no improvement," Tripathi told IANS.
Dr Vijayakumar S., a neurosurgeon based in Kochi, said that the ruling was absolutely a much-needed one. "We have absolutely no evidence that stem cell therapy provides reliable results in treating autism," he said.
The Ethics and Medical Registration Board, under the National Medical Commission, in December 2022, constituted the Committee on Stem Cell Use in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
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The Board stated that none of the current international guidelines recommend stem cell therapy as a treatment for ASD and added that the therapy is not recommended as a treatment for ASD in clinical practice.
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While ruling, the Court noted that an unproven therapy cannot be "demanded by a patient as a matter of right".
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition affecting communication, social interaction, and behaviour.
Citing a recent ICMR report, Dr Shefali Gulati, paediatric neurologist at AIIMS, said that based on a systematic review, which "conclusively found no proven benefit for clinically meaningful response in autism spectrum disorder through stem cell therapy.
Experts called for more research to generate evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of stem cells in ASD.
