健康英语新闻:Rick Perry's stem-cell treatment causes medical, legal concerns

BEIJING, Aug. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. presidential candidate Rick Perry's controversial stem-cell treatment may inspire desperate patients to follow his lead while causing medical and legal concerns, according to media reports Monday.

The Texas governor underwent a procedure on July 1 where stem cells, made from fat taken from his body, were put into his bloodstream to see if they might find their way to fix a bad back.

The treatment carries potential risks ranging from blood clots to infection to cancer and may even run afoul of federal rules, doctors say.

File photo of U.S. Republican presidential candidate Texas Governor Rick Perry.

"As a highly influential person of power, Perry’s actions have the unfortunate potential to push desperate patients into the clinic of quacks,” Harvard’s stem cell expert George Daley told the Associated Press.

Worries about the safety and wisdom of this treatment are widespread among stem cell researchers as such a treatment has not been thoroughly vetted by researchers or approved by the FDA.