Dr. Roddy McGee on stem cells: what the evidence says · JRE #945
SUBJECT: STEM CELLS
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
they injected that into the knee. And then I think, I want to say it was four or eight months later, I think it was eight months, they re-imaged the knee and they found that there was a 15% increase in the meniscal volume.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
The claim matches a real 2014 randomized, double-blind, controlled trial (Vangsness et al., Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery) in which 55 patients received a single intra-articular knee injection 7-10 days after partial medial meniscectomy. Contrary to the guest's description, the injected cells were allogeneic (donor-derived) mesenchymal stem cells from a manufactured cell product, not the patient's own bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC). At the 12-month MRI follow-up, a 15% or greater increase in meniscal volume occurred in 24% of patients given the lower cell dose and 6% given the higher dose, versus 0% of controls (p=0.022 for the low-dose comparison). A later narrative review confirms the allogeneic cell source and cites the 24% figure as early clinical evidence, though it does not itself report the 6%/0% comparison figures. No larger confirmatory trial or regulatory approval has followed. The specific "15%" figure is accurate to a real trial, but the guest's account of the intervention (autologous BMAC vs. allogeneic donor cells) is inaccurate, and the finding reflects a modest, early-stage, non-replicated result rather than an established regenerative therapy.
Who Benefits
Dr. Roddy McGee's own practice, Ortho Las Vegas, markets and sells BMAC and other orthobiologic stem-cell-derived injections as paid treatments, giving him a direct financial interest in favorable claims about this category of therapy.