Hiding under the guise of a general clinic, illegally opening a stem cell institute

On April 19, the Inspectorate of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health announced that it had discovered a facility called "Vietnam Stem Cell Research and Application Institute" that was "underground" and disguised as a general clinic.

This facility is located at 296 Tran Nao, Ward 2, An Khanh, Thu Duc City, operating "illegally" by hiding under the guise of a general clinic (which had been previously licensed).

Through inspection, it was discovered that this is a multidisciplinary clinic belonging to Med Service Company Limited Branch - Medigo Multidisciplinary Clinic - Medigo Pharmacy.

At the time of inspection, this facility was still open for business even though the day before, the inspection team of Thu Duc City People's Committee had requested that this facility stop operating because it did not ensure one of the following conditions after being licensed.

Previously, this clinic was granted a license to operate medical examination and treatment by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health in August 2023, with Ms. NTMT in charge of technical expertise.

It is worth mentioning that the clinic's signboard seriously violated the law when it said "Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health - Medigo Clinic", especially on one side of the clinic there was a signboard saying "Cellab Center for Research and Application of Regenerative Medicine", this center is completely not on the list of licensed establishments.

The inspection team also discovered a book for managing the import and export of stem cells, a leaflet "Stem Cell Therapy - Application of stem cells in treatment and beauty", eight test order forms, a warehouse of drugs including some individual drugs and infusions, and all of the drugs and infusions were sealed.

On the website www.phongkham.medigoapp.com, the facility also advertises medical examination and treatment services such as: general health check-ups, specialties (diagnostic imaging, pediatrics, maxillofacial surgery)...

The Facebook page “Vietnam Stem Cell Research & Application Institute” has content such as: stem cells - a breakthrough therapy to restore health, eliminate high liver enzymes - fatty liver - cirrhosis...

The Department of Health inspection team requested the facility owner to strictly comply with the suspension of medical examination and treatment activities according to the minutes.

At the same time, the facility is required to immediately stop posting advertisements about medical examination and treatment services that are not in accordance with regulations, and to remove violating advertising signs.

The Department Inspectorate continues to coordinate with the Thu Duc City Health Department to administratively sanction this facility with a total fine that could be up to over 100 million VND.

In addition, the facility will have its medical examination and treatment license revoked for a period of 6 months, and the medical examination and treatment practice certificate of the person responsible for professional and technical expertise will be revoked for a period of 4.5 months.

People need to be wary of advertising on social networks

Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health calls on people to be vigilant against unreliable medical service advertising information on social networks.

When detecting illegal, false, fraudulent or misleading advertisements in the medical field, people can immediately call the hotline at 0989.401.155 or upload information to the "Online Medical" application so that the Department of Health Inspectorate can promptly grasp, prevent and strictly handle them according to the provisions of law.

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