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The Food and Drug Administration issued a forceful warning Tuesday that transfusions of young donor plasma, which have been marketed to fight aging and a variety of diseases, are not only unproven ― they could be harmful. You’ve probably seen the headlinesaboutthealleged “young blood” miracle treatments where for-profit medical startups charge thousands of dollars to inject older patients with infusions of blood plasma from young donors. If the reported claims about those treatments sound too good to be true, that’s because they are, according to the FDA. Injecting young donor plasma to treat or prevent aging, as well as conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, has “no proven clinical benefits” like those advertised and is “potentially harmful,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement. Peter Marks, director of the agency’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, joined him in issuing the warning. “It’s just a matter of time before there are going to be people harmed by this — and harmed by it, with no opportunity for therapeutic benefit,” Gottlieb told HuffPost in a phone interview. He and Marks lambasted for-profit young plasma companies peddling an unproven therapy for financial gain: “Simply put, we’re concerned that some patients are being preyed upon by unscrupulous actors touting treatments of plasma from young donors as cures and remedies.” “The promotion of plasma for these unproven purposes could also discourage patients suffering from serious or intractable illnesses from receiving safe and effective treatments,” they added.

We’re concerned that some patients are being preyed upon by unscrupulous actors touting treatments of plasma from young donors as cures and remedies. The Food and Drug Administration