A Doctor Whose Medical License Was Revoked After Patient Deaths Now Runs a 50-Clinic Chain Selling Unapproved Stem Cells to Parents of Kids With Cerebral Palsy and Autism
There is no FDA-approved stem cell therapy for cerebral palsy or autism. That hasn't stopped a growing international "stem cell tourism" industry from marketing directly to parents, with treatment packages priced by how many million cells a child receives per kilogram of body weight. One of the largest chains is run by a physician whose own medical license was revoked in 2009 following multiple patient deaths and serious injuries.
What the science actually supports
Cerebral palsy and autism spectrum disorder are both areas of active, legitimate stem cell research — but "active research" is a long way from "available treatment." As of 2026, the only FDA-approved uses for stem cell products remain narrowly limited to reconstituting blood and immune-system function, primarily via cord blood transplants for specific blood disorders. No stem cell product is approved to treat cerebral palsy or autism specifically. Umbilical cord blood has shown some promise for gross motor function in cerebral palsy in controlled research settings, but that is a different thing entirely from the injectable "amniotic" and "umbilical" products sold at commercial clinics, many of which independent stem cell scientists have found contain no living stem cells at all once processed for sale.
⚠️ Documented harms elsewhere in the industry
Reported harms from unregulated stem cell clinics generally include infections, tumors, brain inflammation, and life-threatening complications; patients at one unregulated Florida clinic lost their eyesight after treatment for a degenerative eye condition. The International Society for Stem Cell Research has warned for years about the rapid growth of clinics "offering stem cell interventions that have little basis in science or medicine."
R3 Stem Cell: a license revoked, then a marketing company built instead
From orthopedic surgeon to stem cell marketing empire
David Greene ran an orthopedic surgery practice until the Arizona Medical Board revoked his license in 2009. According to reporting on the board's findings, four of Greene's patients died over a two-year period, while others suffered infections, meningitis, excessive bleeding, and permanent injuries including a dropped foot; the board cited both the volume of cases and Greene's continued insistence that he had made no mistakes. Rather than practicing medicine again, Greene went on to found R3 Stem Cell, a marketing and franchising company that now operates more than 50 affiliated clinics across the United States, plus international locations in Tijuana and, as of a February 2025 opening, Cancun, Mexico.
In May 2019, the FDA sent R3 Stem Cell and Greene an "untitled letter" — a step below a formal warning letter — after reviewing the company's marketing of unapproved stem cell products for conditions including Lyme disease, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, stroke, kidney failure, and ALS. R3 publicly responded that it was reviewing its operations and shared the FDA's commitment to public safety. Independent reporting has since found no evidence of further enforcement follow-up, and R3's clinic network has continued to expand in the years since, including into new international locations targeting American, Canadian, and European families directly.
Marketed specifically to parents of children with autism and CP
R3's Mexico-facing marketing offers a dedicated autism treatment program, with pricing and cell counts — framed as 90 million or 150 million stem cells "depending on child weight" — explicitly built around treating children. The program bundles the injections with logistics clearly aimed at easing a family's decision: transportation from San Diego to the Tijuana clinic, a "VIP escort," and monitored sedation for the child if needed. Marketing material for stem cell therapy in Mexico and Panama more broadly cites conditions including cerebral palsy and autism directly, with treatment costs commonly ranging from roughly $6,000 to $40,000 or more — a level of spending that can represent significant financial strain for families already managing a child's disability, layered on top of no reliable evidence the treatment works.
Not an isolated actor
- 2018 The FTC settles deceptive-advertising charges against California physician Bryn Jarald Henderson and two clinics he ran, which had advertised that "amniotic stem cell therapy" could treat autism, cerebral palsy, Parkinson's, and other serious conditions — including one advertisement featuring an 11-year-old girl with cerebral palsy purportedly speaking "her first words" after treatment. The settlement included a partially suspended $3.31 million judgment.
- 2019 R3 Stem Cell receives its FDA untitled letter; a separate New York Attorney General lawsuit targets another stem cell clinic chain for similar unsubstantiated claims and misrepresenting FDA approval status.
- 2025 R3 Stem Cell opens a new clinic in Cancun, expanding its Mexico footprint alongside existing Tijuana operations, continuing to market autism and cerebral palsy treatment programs to international patients.
Why this belongs on QuackeryWatch
This follows the familiar pattern from elsewhere in our Pediatric Quackery section — unproven treatment marketed directly to parents facing a genuinely difficult diagnosis, dressed in the vocabulary of cutting-edge medicine, operating in a regulatory gray zone that stretches across international borders precisely to stay one step ahead of enforcement. What sets this case apart is the person at the center of it: a physician who lost the right to practice medicine in his home state after patients died under his care, who found he could keep serving patients — now including children — simply by rebranding as a marketing company operating outside direct clinical licensure requirements.