(WSVN) – A Fort Lauderdale woman paid thousands of dollars for medical procedures. She was told it could cure arthritis. Did it work? 7’s Patrick Fraser investigates.
Kitty loves swimming. By the way, Kitty is 81 years old.
Kitty Kessler: “Because it keeps me in good shape. So I just do 80 lengths back and forth, but it’s not training, it’s just swimming.”
But her love of swimming brings something else. That’s more pain.
Kitty Kessler: “My shoulders and my hands. I have arthritis in my thumb and my next two fingers.”
Kitty has suffered from arthritis for 27 years, damaging her hands, feet and shoulders. Afterwards, I received a postcard from the company saying it could help with the pain.
Kitty Kessler: “For me, it’s going to be growing new cartilage in my shoulder.”
Kitty said a company in Orlando called Reclaim Health Group invited her, along with 20 other people, to a free luncheon to learn about the treatment.
Kitty Kessler: “They said they’re using cryopreserved umbilical cord stem cells. We get our stem cells through the National Organ Donation Program.”
Kitty was trying desperately to live a pain-free life.
She did some research and spoke to a woman who said she was a doctor at Reclaim Health.
Kitty Kessler: “She called me and said, ‘I looked at your record and you’re a great candidate.'”
She signed the contract after being told it was a stem cell injection and wrote a check to the company.
Kitty Kessler: “(The check was) for $14,445.75.”
A few days later, a woman came in with four needles.
Kitty Kessler: “And it has that much fluid in it. It’s clear fluid. We don’t even know if it has stem cells.”
Kitty was told that the pain would begin to lessen within two days.
Patrick Fraser: “Was that helpful?”
Kitty Kessler: “No, it kept getting worse. It had been getting worse for about two months.”
Patrick: “It’s been four months now. Is that better?”
Kitty Kessler: “No. Not at all. Not at all.”
Kitty was surprised by that. The salesman claimed that only one patient in eight years had seen no improvement, and that the treatment had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
However, Reclaim Health Group’s own website states that this treatment is not currently approved by the FDA and is not intended to cure, alleviate, or treat any disease.
However, the company almost discovered that it had enrolled the wrong patients.
Patrick Fraser: “You’re persistent.”
Kitty Kessler: Yeah, I’m like a bulldog. My husband used to say that too. ”
Kitty said she looked into company officials’ claims that the stem cells were obtained from a national organ donation program.
Kitty Kessler: “They said they only deal with organs, not tissues or stem cells. They never do business with private companies.”
Kitty filed a complaint with Fort Lauderdale police and the Florida Department of Health, but she’s not alone. The FDA told us it has also received other complaints about Reclaim Health Group.
The FDA did not want to speak to us on camera, but we spoke online with the New York Stem Cell Foundation and suggested that people like Kitty rely on states rather than the federal government to investigate complaints.
FDA’s Dr. Peter Marks: “In some cases, state medical boards can step in and say, ‘Wait a minute, you’re charging patients for an unproven treatment,’ and they can… “We could have taken steps like this.” ‘”
Patrick Fraser: “How do you feel now about signing with them?”
Kitty Kessler: “It seems stupid, but I was desperate and needed to believe that I had been swimming in pain and sleeplessness for 27 years.”
We made multiple attempts to contact Reclaim Health Group in Orlando. No one answered our calls. Reclaim Health Group is also not located in the building where the address is listed.
Kitty Kessler: “I hope this gets enough publicity so other seniors who are obviously being targeted don’t fall victim to this.”
They got $14,445 in their kitty. Her dreams of waking up pain-free are gone, but she won’t stop being in pain.
Kitty Kessler: “And I’m going to get injured because I can’t give up swimming. But I’ve been doing it for years and I’m going to keep doing it.”
And continue to live in pain.
I’m Patrick Fraser from 7News.
Contact 7 investigates:
305-627-CLUE
954-921-CLUE
[email protected]
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