Sending my Niece to China for Stem Cell Surgery

David Mair and his niece Kara Anderson

How many of us have a uncle like David Mair who was able to help his young niece who suffers from  Cerebral Palsy (CP)?

Kara Anderson’s quality of life depended upon access to the stem cell surgery Mair arranged for her at the hands of the most skilled physicians and technologically advanced stem cell protocols in the world.

Watch the author’s video “Stem Cell Therapy – Why China?”

Mair knew he could help.  He had long-standing relationships with the finest doctors and medical facilities in the world starting in 1987 when, up until 2002, he was the Director of Risk Management for the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Mair’s professional background, over 25 years in risk management, is the foundation for his existing company Soter Health Care.  Most recently he spent three years working with an international medical assistance company, Medex Global Group and for two years after that with China Connection Global Healthcare.

“My niece suffers with Cerebral Palsy, and a little over a year ago we took her to Beijing, China to Wu Stem Cells Medical Center for stem cell care related to CP,” said Mair, “and her progress has been absolutely remarkable.”

“It took me the better part of nine months to get comfortable with the idea of suggesting it to my sister-in-law,” admits Mair, “I was aware of a hospital that was doing terrific work with stem cell therapy, but I wanted to validate what “terrific” meant in terms of medical outcome.”

Mair has personally traveled to China, visited the hospital, the staff and with other stem cell patients treated at the hospital.   According to Mair, Soter is focused on high-end, high-quality specialty care healthcare destinations.

Stem Cell Surgery in China

“We use two stem cell specialty hospitals in China,” said Mair, “and are actually looking at a third right now.  The names are Tiantin Puhua Hospital and the Drum Tower Hospital at Nanjing University Medical School in Nanjing, China.

“We like China for stem cell procedures for three reasons — access, cost, and quality,” said Mair, “and for us access means two things:

1. Is treatment available to the patient where the patient lives and,
2. Can a patient get care without a wait.”

“In the U.S. the average wait just to get an appointment with a specialist is 11 weeks.  For us going to in China, Taiwan and some of the other healthcare destinations, the access to available care is simply how quickly you can get there,” he said.

Quality of Stem Cell Procedures in China

“Today in American stem cell care is not available with the exception of bone marrow transplants,” said Mair, “and based on research, and depending upon who you talk to, we’re eight to fifteen years away from having readily accessible stem cell care in the U.S.”

“The Chinese, the Germans and the Israelis are among the leaders in the world in stem cell care right now,” said Mair.

Stem Cell Research in China

Stem Cell Protocols in China

“One of the things that the Chinese have done better than anyone, we believe, is to develop the protocol for delivering stem cells in ways that work,” said Mair.

“In Germany, for example, the Excell Stem Cell Center, which is one of the better known stem cell clinics uses a single stem cell injection and then sends you home.  Well, there’s no way to know if that single injection is having the intended result,” explained Mair.

“The best protocols we’ve seen are the ones they use in China which involves four injections over a five week period where they can direct the stem cells to the proper places, give you therapy between scheduled injections, and provide care to maintain your immune system.  It’s just a smarter medical approach,” said Mair.

Cost of Stem Cell Procedures in China

“In the network of hospitals we use, we are able to deliver a cost savings of somewhere between 15% and 25% of any negotiated and discounted price in the U.S.,” claims  Mair, “negotiated meaning what an insurance company could negotiate for.”

What about Stem Cell Centers in Mexico?

“There are none anywhere in the Americas that can meet our credentialing criteria,” said Mair.  Stem cell therapies for such cancers as prostate are much more widely available, but we are focusing on orthopedic, cardiovascular or neurological conditions.”

Sources of Stem Cells

What about storing Umbilical Cord Blood for Stem Cell Treatments?

Said Mair, “the whole idea of umbilical cord stem cells is that you can store cord blood for purposes of stem cell therapy later.  One of the best sources of human stem cells is umbilical cord tissues because they began to differentiate but they still have the ability to specialize into other tissues.”

“However, in cases other than where there is a direct match, meaning that the stem cells are coming from the person’s own body, there’s not a huge difference.  The ability to use third party stem cells properly matched, just like you match tissues for an organ transplant, is quite good and produces a good result,” said Mair.

This story demonstrates Mair’s unique expertise as an industry expert in healthcare destinations.  “We have a regional and globally integrated network of specialty hospitals that are among the best in the world,” said Mair.

He has positioned Soter Health Care to be involved in direct patient care as well as helping other facilitators access very high-end specialty care that they have difficulty working with.

“For example, we’re currently working on a project with International Triage, LLC for heart transplantation,” said Mair.

Visit David Mair’s Profile on the Traveling4Health Community.