Dr. Amit Patel and Patient Screening in Thailand

Over the past few months, there have been a growing number of questions regarding the relationship between TheraVitae, Bangkok Heart Hospital (BHH) and Dr. Amit N. Patel from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).

It is well documented that in the past, Dr. Patel made several trips to Thailand where he observed thoracoscopic injections of VesCell™ autologous adult stem cells at Bangkok Heart Hospital for several patients including Hawaiian singer Don Ho.

Currently, Dr. Patel is not associated with TheraVitae or Bangkok Heart Hospital in any capacity. He does not evaluate patients for treatment in Thailand and his office cannot provide any information regarding TheraVitae and VesCell therapy at Bangkok Heart Hospital.

This is a direct result of the recent embryonic stem cell research scandal in involving Korean Prof. Woo-Suk Hwang and University of Pittsburgh researcher, Prof. Gerald Schatten. To put things into perspective, this was one of the biggest scientific scandals in the history of modern science. For more information, please refer to the following Washington Post article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/10/AR2006021001842.html

Since then, the UPMC legal department has forbidden all of its stem cell researchers and doctors (adult or embryonic stem cells) from working with companies outside the United States such as TheraVitae. They are also forbidden to make any comments. This includes Dr. Patel.

We regret this unfortunate turn of events and wish Dr. Patel and his staff the best of luck during this difficult time.

Patients interested in VesCell stem cell therapy for heart disease should contact TheraVitae directly:

Telephone: 1-866-690-2008 (24 hrs. Toll-free in US)
Internet: http://www.vescell.com/contact.php