The Interventional Orthobiologics Blog

Can You Use the FDA Expanded Access Program to Treat Orthopedic Patients with Culture Expanded Umbilical Cord MSCs?

Over the past almost two decades, I have seen more creative attempts to get around the FDA’s biologic drug approval process than I can count. However, I had thought that with the FDA officially ending its regulatory discretion phase we had heard the last of umbilical cord companies trying to avoid a BLA. I was…read more

Is PRP Really as Good as MFat for Knee OA?

Two recent studies were published that seemed to show that platelet-rich plasma was as good as a common adipose tissue treatment to treat knee arthritis. However, anytime a study produces a result that goes against what we see clinically, it’s worth digging a bit into how they did the study. Both of these have some…read more

The Morality Test of Platelet-Rich Plasma vs Corticosteroids

IMHO corticosteroid use in knee arthritis has become a giant medical morality test. We know the stuff is toxic, but physicians can’t help themselves from injecting it because it’s covered by insurance companies. Now that PRP is here and known to be effective, this sets up an interesting duality as there is now a better…read more

Is Bone Marrow Concentrate a Stem Cell Therapy?

This has been an interesting few years with regard to the regulations behind using the term “stem cell therapy”. It’s also been an interesting scientific ride as well. Today I’ll review the pure science of whether bone marrow concentrate is a stem cell therapy. I’ll cover the concept that bone marrow concentrate contains stem cells…read more

Managing the Curse of the 50s

As a physician, I have observed over my career what I call the curse of the fifties. Meaning that this is when bad things happen or begin to happen. Sometimes it’s a heart attack, the first appearance of cancer, or chronic musculoskeletal problems that begin to hit our ability to stay active. Hence, as my…read more

Perinatal Gaslighting

This is my first blog back from my 6-week sailing journey. I have to confess that while out there on the water and in and out of Marinas, I didn’t feel much like writing, but now that I’m back in the states, it’s time to dive back in. In fact, I feel my “Piss and…read more