PORTLAND — The Oregon Medical Board has issued a rare emergency suspension of a Eugene physician’s license after the doctor conducted experimental stem cell treatments on patients.
The board considers Dr. Kenneth Welker’s medical practice an immediate danger to the public.
Welker can appeal the suspension issued Thursday. He did not return calls from The Associated Press on Friday.
According to his online biography, Welker is a trained surgeon who quit his practice to pursue alternative medicine in 2007.
In May 2013, the board’s suspension order says Welker injected processed stem cells into the spine of a 62-yar-old woman, and was confused when she began to sweat and feel tingling in her extremities.
Medical board Director Kathleen Haley says the treatments are far outside the standard of care for doctors.
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