Touring the Stem Cell Frontier: Rhetorical Formations in Stem Cell Clinic Rhetoric

Abstract

While stem cell research still seeks the cures that researchers have promised, clinics have begun offering stem cell treatments. These treatments have no medical basis and often harm patients. Yet, they remain a powerful draw for many potential patients. We argue that the promotion of these treatments occurs through a rhetorical formation of “stem cell tourism” that merges the broader discursive trends of medicalization and neoliberalism, while also capturing many strategies used in public-facing rhetoric of science. We examine the contours of this rhetorical formation through an examination of websites for stem cell clinics.

Keywords:

• Medicalization
• Medical Rhetoric
• Medical Tourism
• Neoliberalism

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Phillipe Chauveau, Parameswari Mukherjee, Madeline Ndambakuwa, and Jeffrey O’Rear for their assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Carroll (1996) discusses the historic interaction between the state, medicine, and science. Additional evidence of the interaction of the state and medical practice can be seen in Barr’s (2011) account of how the American Medical Association used the force of law to help transform medical education and practice at the dawn of the twentieth century.