Stem Cell Centers — QuackeryWatch Investigation

Investigation Report

Stem Cell Centers — Patient Recruitment Seminar, Kitchener, March 14, 2019

Summary: On March 14, 2019, Stem Cell Centers — a U.S.-based chain of stem cell clinics — held two "educational" seminars at the Radisson Hotel in Kitchener, Ontario. The noon session was sold out; approximately 40 people attended the evening session at 6:00 PM. The primary presenter, Amer Berhanu, held no medical credentials. He had been working as a stem cell seminar speaker for approximately one year, having previously worked in the energy and telecom industry. Attendees were recruited to travel to the company's Detroit, Michigan clinic for treatments priced between $4,997 and $14,997 USD, with a "Canadian dollar parity" incentive expiring within the week.

Background: Who Is Stem Cell Centers?

Stem Cell Centers is a U.S.-based company that, as of March 2019, operated clinics in multiple states including Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Virginia, and Vermont, with the clinic closest to southern Ontario located in Detroit, Michigan. The company's website at the time was stemcellcenters.com.

According to Berhanu's presentation, Stem Cell Centers claims to own its own stem cell supply company, to have treated "thousands upon thousands of patients" over eight years, and to be "the second largest purchaser [of stem cells] after hospitals." None of these claims were independently verifiable from the seminar materials.

One of the company's owners was identified during the seminar as being from Red Deer, Alberta — a disclosure used to justify a "Canadian dollar parity" pricing offer.

Evidence basis for this report: Complete audio recording of the March 14, 2019 evening seminar, professionally transcribed by Rev.com (completed March 21, 2019). Investigation commissioned by Dr. Terry Polevoy. The transcript is 44 pages and captures the full seminar including Q&A.

The Three Presenters

Amer Berhanu (Houston, Texas) — Primary presenter. Self-described as a former energy and telecom company speaker who entered the stem cell seminar business approximately one year before the Kitchener event. Holds no medical credentials. Presented clinical content about stem cell mechanisms, dosing, conditions, outcomes, and side effects for over 60 minutes.

Ehab Habib (Toronto, Ontario) — Presented the noon session; present at the evening session. Described as a fellow speaker.

Melissa Eiben (Detroit, Michigan) — Described as "patient care advocate" from the Detroit clinic. Identified herself as having a chiropractic background. Berhanu described her presence as unusual and special: "We're very fortunate — this individual is not usually at the seminar."

How the Seminar Worked

Opening Maneuvers

Berhanu opened by suppressing questions ("hold them until the end — 95% of questions get answered through the slides"), establishing rapport through audience participation games, and positioning the audience as proactive health-seekers:

"My job here today: I'm not here to sell you anything. I'm simply here to educate you. At the end, you have an opportunity to make an educated decision."

This framing was repeated throughout. The seminar concluded with a time-limited financial incentive and an instruction to sign up before leaving.

Undermining the Healthcare System

Berhanu spent considerable time establishing distrust of conventional medicine and the pharmaceutical industry, citing the U.S. healthcare system's ranking (#41 globally), pharmaceutical side effects, opioid deaths, and adverse drug reactions — before positioning stem cells as the alternative that addresses root causes rather than symptoms.

"Our goal with stem cell treatment and regenerative medicine is to focus on treating the root cause of the problem. If you treat the root cause, what do you think happens to the symptoms?"

The FDA 'Experimental' Disclosure — and Its Spin

Unlike some CAM promoters who avoid regulatory discussion entirely, Berhanu disclosed FDA experimental status early. However, he immediately reframed the classification as a pharmaceutical industry conspiracy:

"The FDA still classifies stem cell therapy as experimental. Everything talked about in this seminar today is considered experimental."

"They know it works. There's just a lot of pushback from big Pharma, who are obviously very powerful. So it's considered experimental."

No mention was made of Health Canada's jurisdiction or regulatory framework — despite the audience being composed entirely of Canadians.

These Treatments Are Not Available in Canada

"These sorts of treatments are not being done in Canada. I'm going to explain exactly how we can get you to the United States if you want to get these sorts of treatments."

"Canada is 10 years behind the US when it comes to this. At least being able to drive down three hours is better than flying to Germany or Panama."

Canadian regulatory caution was explicitly reframed as backwardness. The seminar's entire purpose was recruiting Canadians to cross the border for unapproved treatments.

Testimonials as Clinical Evidence

Multiple video testimonials were shown, including Wayne Mitchell, described as a COPD patient who reported recovering from macular degeneration, eliminating supplemental oxygen, and improving diabetic control — all attributed to stem cell treatment. Ehab Habib amplified the claims:

[Wayne Mitchell]: "My left eye with macular degeneration was dead — I had no vision in that eye. Now I am getting vision in that eye. And the only thing I've done different is take stem cell therapy. They had me on four different breathers and they were putting me on oxygen. Now I'm not taking the oxygen."

Recovery of vision lost to macular degeneration was presented to approximately 40 elderly Canadians as evidence of stem cell efficacy, with no independent medical verification, no clinical documentation, and no disclosure that this is an unverified anecdote.

Alzheimer's and Dementia

"We've seen great results as a global community, and even in Japan they're using it for commercial use for Alzheimer's and dementia."

A clip from the Morgan Freeman TV documentary "Through the Wormhole" was shown as supporting evidence for stem cell treatment of Alzheimer's disease. No peer-reviewed clinical trials were cited.

Pricing: Revealed After 60+ Minutes

Pricing was withheld until the final segment of the presentation, after extended fear appeals, testimonial videos, and repeated audience participation exercises.

Package	Regular USD	Seminar USD	Approx. CAD (parity offer)
Six-treatment package	$15,997	$14,997	~$14,997 CAD
Two-treatment package	$9,997	$8,997	~$8,997 CAD
One-treatment package	$5,997	$4,997	~$4,997 CAD

The "Canadian dollar parity" offer — giving Canadians USD prices in Canadian dollars — was framed as a special authorization from the Canadian co-owner. At the March 2019 exchange rate (approximately 1.33 CAD per USD), this represented savings of approximately 25% compared to paying in USD. The offer expired within the week.

"We've been authorized to do it for this week only."

The consultation was described as complimentary with no upfront payment required — a notable contrast to the Michigan Integrative Health model (see below), which required a non-refundable $160 CAD deposit at the seminar.

Red Flags

No medical credentials — primary presenter. Amer Berhanu was a former telecom industry speaker with approximately one year of stem cell seminar experience. He delivered over 60 minutes of clinical content to an elderly Canadian audience.
Recruiting Canadians for unapproved treatments. Berhanu explicitly acknowledged these treatments are not available in Canada and traveled to Ontario specifically to recruit patients for U.S. clinics.
No Health Canada disclosure. The entire regulatory discussion was framed around FDA status. No mention of Health Canada's jurisdiction, despite the audience being composed entirely of Ontario residents.
FDA 'experimental' classification reframed as conspiracy. Rather than presenting FDA experimental status as a reflection of insufficient evidence, Berhanu attributed it to pharmaceutical industry lobbying.
Unverified efficacy statistics. The "89% improvement" figure and proprietary pain score data were presented without peer-reviewed citation, methodology, or sample size.
Testimonials for serious conditions presented as evidence. Claims of vision recovery from macular degeneration, elimination of supplemental oxygen for COPD, and improvement of diabetic control were shown to an elderly audience without independent medical verification.
Alzheimer's claims. A TV documentary clip was used as evidence for stem cell treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Artificial price urgency. The "Canadian dollar parity" incentive expired within the week, creating pressure to schedule before leaving the seminar.
Same-day treatment upsell. Attendees were told "most people are able to get treatment the same day" as their consultation — requiring cross-border travel and committing to thousands of dollars in a single appointment.
No refund policy. When directly asked whether patients receive a refund if treatment fails, Berhanu gave a non-answer: "We'll work with you."

Comparison: Stem Cell Centers (2019) vs. Michigan Integrative Health (2020)

Eight months after the Stem Cell Centers Radisson seminar, a separate stem cell operator — Michigan Integrative Health — held a similar seminar at Bingeman's Conference Centre in Kitchener. The two operations shared many features but differed in important ways.

Feature	Stem Cell Centers Radisson, March 14, 2019	Michigan Integrative Health Bingeman's, January 18, 2020
Primary presenter	Amer Berhanu — no medical credentials; former telecom speaker	Roy J. Picard, DC — chiropractor; credentials withheld at outset
Audience size	~40 (evening session; noon sold out)	80–100 (~90% over age 65)
Consultation fee	Free (complimentary)	$160 CAD — non-refundable, paid at seminar
Treatment pricing	$4,997–$14,997 USD (seminar price)	$3,715–$6,200 USD per session
Questions during seminar	Suppressed until end	Suppressed until one-on-one only
FDA disclosure	Yes — early, but reframed as pharma conspiracy	Yes — disclosed, dismissed as irrelevant
Health Canada disclosure	None	None
Canadian regulatory context	Canada "10 years behind"	Not addressed
Urgency tactic	"This week only" incentive	"Today only" pricing; credit card captured at event
Same-day treatment	Yes — encouraged	Yes — encouraged; full payment required
Spousal requirement	Not required	Required — "significant other must be present"
Evidence base	Proprietary stats, testimonials, TV documentary clips	Proprietary stats, testimonials, slide-shown research abstracts
Documented by	Audio recording + Rev.com transcript	James Winter Associates PI investigation (File #1029-20): video, audio, slide images, originals of all handouts

Regulatory Context

In the same week as Dr. Polevoy's review of this transcript (late March 2019), Health Canada announced enhanced measures to address companies marketing unapproved health products to Canadians, including launching an online reporting portal for illegal marketing of health products and devices. Stem Cell Centers' Ontario recruitment seminars — conducted to recruit Canadians for treatments explicitly unavailable in Canada — would appear to fall squarely within the category of activity Health Canada was targeting.

Document Archive

Complete audio recording of the March 14, 2019 evening seminar
Professional transcript by Rev.com (44 pages, completed March 21, 2019)
Dr. Terry Polevoy's annotated transcript with commentary

Page maintained by Dr. Terry Polevoy, MD, FRCPC (ret.), HealthWatcher.net / QuackeryWatch.com. Content based on primary source investigation documents. Last reviewed: 2026.