In our hyperconnected world, video is king. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that for marketers video helps convert visitors (to a website for example) into customers. Videos also bring testimonials to life. Real people are telling us why we should buy this product or trust that service. They believe what they’re saying or at least they are convincing at appearing to believe it. Social media juggernauts like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat have all facilitated the production of video and encouraged its uptake through widespread promotion and ease of use.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that stem cell clinics, which already use a variety of marketing tools (like this free lunch and learn), would turn to documentaries to attract more patients.
On Twitter and in mainstream media this week, I’ve read about a new documentary on stem cells that had stem cell researchers angry and speaking out when they learned their inclusion would provide legitimacy to unproven stem cell treatments and junk science.
The Healthcare Revolution, trailer below, is a slick production that weaves authoritative and rational sounding comments from medical doctors and surgeons, with compelling testimonials from patients, with footage of former President Obama signing the 21st Century Cures Act into law, and FDA endorsements. However, the presence of Mark Berman, and his colleague from the Cell Surgical Network, is a red flag that something is amiss.
The documentary also has a clip from a naturopathic doctor. Ironically, Regenexx, another questionable stem cell treatment provider, is against having naturopathic doctors perform stem cell injections and devotes a fair amount of screen time to the topic. Regenexx is in the news itself this week for persuading “over 100 employers to include its services in their health insurance plans,” directing employees towards unapproved stem cell treatments rather than knee replacements, according to STAT.
But back to that documentary trailer that closes on the face of an innocent baby while the audio clip reminds us that the “love of medicine started with a love of people.” Yes viewers, unproven stem cell treatments are all about the love these doctors feel for you the patient, and nothing to do with money.
Last year, Mark Berman, Neil H. Riordan (Stem Cell Institute) and others were featured in another documentary called The Healing Miracle. This one promises to expose the truth about stem cells. They “are revolutionizing the healing process,” but presumably big, bad regulators are standing in the way of us getting these miracle cures. The trailer for this documentary begins with a politician from Texas who is in tears because he desperately wants his wife to have a stem cell treatment.
If you visit the page that gives you access to the full documentary series, it makes enthusiastic statements, such as:
“Arguably, the most controversial yet effective area of medical research today!” And,
“The greatest advancement in medicine since the antibiotic”…”Naturally heal chronic pain, reverse life-threatening conditions like Alzheimer’s, diabetes, arthritis, COPD, and using your body’s powerful internal mechanisms to do it for you!”
Plus there’s the suggestion of a conspiracy and a plea that you, the viewer, can help by raising awareness “to reverse almost 2 [sic] decades of secrecy, subversion and outright lies surrounding these protocols.” It reads like the worst kind of infomercial and I recommend you check it out.
Stacey Johnson
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