"The world's most advanced assisted reproductive institution", "Stem cell injection can treat male asthenospermia", "No effect, no money", ...... Mr. Fang, who was eager to ask for a child, saw such an advertisement, and was originally hopeful, but he didn't expect to step into a scam.
This surrogacy company called "Meipregnant" rents a five-star hotel for office, and it is a luxury car to pick up and drop off in and out, showing a "sense of luxury" everywhere. After spending 960,000 yuan to inject 7 injections of "stem cells", Mr. Fang did not like his precious son, but he was "blacked" by the other party......
Infertility for many years after marriage,
Couples choose "heavy money to help conceive"
Mr. Fang and Ms. Zhang have been married for many years and have never conceived a child because her husband suffers from asthenospermia. Since they could not conceive naturally, after discussing it, the couple decided to take the road of "IVF child" or "surrogacy to give birth".
During one of his visits to the website, Mr. Fang noticed a surrogacy company called "Meizhuang". According to the website, the company is the world's most advanced assisted reproductive institution, with many experts, scientific research institutions and personnel, and a number of laboratories. This seemingly very high-end advertisement made Mr. Fang a little moved, and he immediately called the consultation number to contact the company's legal representative, Mr. He. He told Mr. Fang that their company's stem cell technology can improve the quality of sperm and eggs, and he has already had clinical experience, and has also arranged for overseas surrogacy services, which will definitely help him realize his wish to have children.
So, Mr. and Mrs. Fang came to Shanghai and had an in-depth exchange with Mr. He. Seeing that He was working in a five-star hotel and had luxury cars to pick him up and drop him off, the two felt that the company was very powerful. During this period, Mr. and Mrs. Fang did relevant examinations as required, and the results showed that Mr. Fang did suffer from asthenospermia, in which He said that the first task was to improve Mr. Fang's sperm motility, and the reinfusion of stem cells could solve this problem. "Our company's stem cells work very well, many people have used them, and if they can't be cured, they can get a full refund."
Listening to He's promise, Mr. and Mrs. Fang believed it and bought three injections of stem cells at a price of 150,000 yuan per injection, and injected them in the club arranged by He. Since then, Mr. He has repeatedly persuaded Ms. Zhang to also infuse stem cells to improve the quality of eggs and improve ovarian function, and Ms. Zhang, who is eager to have a child, agreed to the other party's request and purchased two injections of stem cells at a price of 270,000 yuan at one time. After Mr. Fang injected the stem cells, he went to the hospital designated by He for an examination, and the couple were excited to learn that the quality of sperm had improved.
In January 2018, Mr. and Mrs. Fang went to overseas surrogacy under He's arrangement, but when they were full of good news, they were told that it was not successful. It was difficult for Mr. and Mrs. Fang to accept that they had spent a lot of time and money to get such a result. They approached Mr. He to ask the reason, but He persuaded Mr. Fang to buy two more injections of stem cells at a price of 240,000 yuan on the grounds that he needed to continue to transfuse stem cells. The seven injections of stem cells cost a total of 960,000 yuan, but there was no effect as promised by He, so Mr. Fang and his wife asked him to return all the money, who knew that He not only refused to refund but also blacked out the couple, and the two realized that they had been deceived and called the police.
Coincidentally, Ms. Lu also encountered a similar situation. Because of premature ovarian failure, her two IVF failures failed, and on the third attempt, she met He. He told her that stem cell therapy is the best treatment at present. Ms. Lu also paid more than 200,000 yuan for two injections. However, after two injections, Ms. Lu found that her physical indicators had not changed at all, and she realized that she had been deceived.
The so-called "stem cell therapy",
It's a scam trap
In September 2022, He was arrested and brought to justice.
After review, it was found that between 2017 and 2022, He still falsely advertised and provided illegal overseas surrogacy, IVF and other diagnosis and treatment services in the name of Meizheng Medical Group, knowing that he did not have diagnosis and treatment qualifications. During this period, He tricked customers into buying and injecting "umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells" at a high price, when in fact, the stem cells injected by the victim were illegally obtained at low prices from several hospital laboratories under the guise of promising to provide experimental data.
In addition to deceiving the hospital laboratory, He also found a way to illegally obtain stem cells from doctors. Liu is an orthopedic surgeon at a tertiary hospital in Shanghai, and he only studies stem cell therapy for osteoarthropathy, and his hospital does not have a research project on stem cells in the field of reproduction. The stem cells provided by Liu to He were all cultured by himself. Although he knew that He did not initiate a project for stem cell treatment of infertility and that direct clinical trials were violated, Liu injected stem cells into He's patients in the hospital ward and charged a thank you fee of 35,000 yuan per injection.
Subsequently, the case was transferred to the Changning District Procuratorate for review and prosecution. In view of whether stem cell technology is effective in the treatment of infertility, the procuratorate held an expert demonstration meeting and invited experts involved in medical issues related to stem cell assisted reproduction to give a professional explanation of He's case. According to the relevant departments, except for the hematopoietic stem cell technology, the efficacy of other technologies is not accurate, and they are all in the clinical research stage. Stem cell clinical research must be carried out in a tertiary hospital with corresponding conditions, and can only be carried out after filing, and stem cell clinical trials shall not charge subject fees.
The court ruled that
The legal representative of the company was sentenced to 13 years in prison
After review, the court held that the criminal suspect He X used the method of fabricating facts and concealing the truth for the purpose of illegal possession to defraud others of money, and the amount was particularly huge, and his conduct had violated the provisions of Article 266 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, and he should be investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of fraud.
In the end, after the Changning District Procuratorate initiated a public prosecution, the court made a first-instance judgment on the case, and the defendant He was guilty of fraud and sentenced to 13 years in prison, deprived of political rights for three years, and fined 300,000 yuan.
In addition, the Changning District Procuratorate also issued a procuratorial suggestion to the hospital where the doctor Liu worked, suggesting that the hospital strengthen the control of stem cell clinical research, refine the supervision of all aspects of clinical research, strengthen the management of practicing physicians in the hospital, eliminate blind spots in supervision and management, establish and improve and strictly abide by various rules and regulations for the use of drugs and biological agents, and further ensure the quality and safety of medical services. It is understood that the hospital has made active rectifications according to the procuratorial recommendations, and the relevant processes and management of the hospital have been further standardized.
The procuratorate hereby reminds that medical treatment should choose formal medical institutions, strengthen self-prevention awareness, and do not believe the exaggerated promises of some informal medical institutions, so as to avoid being deceived.
Source | News Morning Post Thoughtful APP Reporter Ye Songli Correspondent Wang Yiying