Have you seen the advertisements for expensive and “unproven” stem cell therapies for a wide range of conditions including Crohn’s disease and erectile dysfunction?

A new study shows dozens of clinics across Canada are offering the treatments and are able to advertise them without Health Canada’s approval because of a lack of regulatory oversight.

Canadian Study author Leigh Turner is an associate professor at the University of Minnesota’s Centre for Bioethics, School of Public Health and College of Pharmacy.

He found 30 Canadian businesses operating out of a total of 43 clinics offering such unproven stem cell treatments. Twenty-four of these clinics are in Ontario. He says what they’re offering is basically “marketing hype and not really evidence based medicine”.

Turner points out there are credible facilities doing stem cell transplants, but they’re usually for cancers of the blood of some kind and are evidence based transplants.

In a statement to CTV News a Health Canada spokesperson says “they continue to keep a close eye on stem cell clinics to determine whether the specific activities being conducted are compliant with federal regulatory requirements.”