Checklist · 5 minute read

Questions to ask any regenerative clinic

Fourteen questions, each with what a straight answer sounds like and what a warning sign sounds like. Take them to every clinic you're considering. Take them to us.

General information, not medical or legal advice.

Updated October 2026 · 5 minute read

You are not looking for perfect answers. You are looking for plain ones, given without irritation and put in writing when you ask.

This list is for sizing up any clinic in regenerative medicine that offers elective therapies, in any state. It wasn't written to flatter ours: several of these questions are uncomfortable to be asked, and that goes for Nuvira too. It is general information, not medical or legal advice. It doesn't know your history. Your own physician does, so bring them in early.

Ask each question out loud, write down what you hear, and notice how long the answer takes to arrive.

The product

1. What exactly is the product, and who supplies it?

  • Straight answer: a product name, a supplier and the kind of donated tissue it comes from, offered in writing.
  • Warning sign: “It's proprietary,” or a brand name with nothing behind it.

2. How is it screened, stored and handled before it reaches me?

  • Straight answer: a step-by-step account from donor to appointment: who screens, who ships, who stores it, who checks it on the day.
  • Warning sign: “Our supplier takes care of all that.”

The evidence and FDA status

The FDA regulates products made from human cells and tissues, and it has published information for consumers about unapproved regenerative medicine products. It is blunt. Read it before you talk to any clinic, including this one.

3. Has the FDA reviewed this product and approved it for this use?

  • Straight answer: yes or no, as the first word. The FDA publishes a list of the cellular and gene therapy products it has approved, so you can check the answer yourself.
  • Warning sign: “FDA-registered,” “FDA-compliant,” or “from an FDA-registered lab.” The FDA says that a firm registering with the agency and listing its product does not mean the product is legally marketed.

4. What is known about it, what isn't, and how do you know?

  • Straight answer: a plain account of the evidence and where it stops, with “we don't know yet” said out loud.
  • Warning sign: other patients' stories offered as evidence, or a list of conditions the product is “for.”

5. What are the recognized risks, and what happens if something goes wrong?

  • Straight answer: named risks, the serious ones included, plus what is monitored on the day and who acts if there's a problem.
  • Warning sign: “It's completely safe,” or any answer with no risk named in it.

6. What are my alternatives, including doing nothing?

  • Straight answer: the other recognized options, including ones this clinic doesn't offer, and an honest account of leaving things as they are.
  • Warning sign: “This is really your only option.”

The people

7. Who reviews my history and decides whether I'm a candidate?

  • Straight answer: a named clinician, whose license type you're told, looks at your history before anything is recommended. Sometimes the answer is no.
  • Warning sign: the person taking the deposit decides, or everyone who asks turns out to be a candidate.

8. Can I show all of this to my own doctor before I decide?

  • Straight answer: “Yes, please do,” and a written plan you can hand them.
  • Warning sign: “Your doctor won't be familiar with this,” said as a reason not to ask.

The plan

9. Will I have the whole plan in writing before I commit to anything?

  • Straight answer: a document you take home, covering what is proposed, FDA status, alternatives, risks, what isn't known and cost. Here is how to read one.
  • Warning sign: a brochure, a verbal summary, or “we'll go over all that on the day.”

10. What will the consent form say about risks and alternatives, and can I read it at home first?

  • Straight answer: a copy ahead of time, in language you can follow.
  • Warning sign: a clipboard handed to you on the day.
In Utah, one more

Ask: “Have you given me the notice Utah requires?” Utah law lets a health care provider whose scope of practice includes stem cell therapy perform a stem cell therapy that is not FDA-approved, but only after giving the patient a specific written notice and obtaining a signed consent form. Utah's notice encourages you to talk with your primary care provider first.

That law is a state licensing rule about disclosure and consent. It does not make any therapy FDA-approved, it does not change federal law, and it sets no quality or testing standard for the product itself. Questions one and two are still yours to ask. More on the Utah rule.

The money

11. What is the total cost, in writing, and what does it include?

  • Straight answer: one itemized figure, follow-up included, before anything is scheduled.
  • Warning sign: a price that appears only after you've said yes, or extras that surface later.

12. What happens if I want a week to think, or change my mind?

  • Straight answer: “Take it home,” plus the cancellation and refund terms in writing.
  • Warning sign: a discount that expires this afternoon, or a deposit requested before you've seen a plan.

Afterwards

13. What happens after the appointment, and who do I call?

  • Straight answer: written aftercare instructions, check-ins with dates attached, and one named person to reach.
  • Warning sign: “Just call the front desk if anything comes up.”

14. What will you tell me if it doesn't do what I hoped?

  • Straight answer: that no outcome is promised, that individual results vary, and that there is a set date to sit down and look at it honestly.
  • Warning sign: a guarantee, or a second round proposed before the first has been reviewed.

Ask us these too

Bring this list to a discovery call with us and start with question three. Our answer is no: Nuvira's therapies are elective and not FDA-approved, candidacy is decided at consultation, and no outcome is promised.

At Nuvira, what we tell you goes into a written, plain-language plan covering options, risks, evidence and cost, and it is yours to keep and show your own doctor before you decide anything.

Sources

  1. Important Patient and Consumer Information About Regenerative Medicine Therapies, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, content current as of April 8, 2024
  2. Approved Cellular and Gene Therapy Products, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, content current as of September 17, 2026
  3. Public safety notification of December 6, 2019, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which tells patients to ask whether the FDA has reviewed what they are offered
  4. Utah Code 58-1-512, “Stem cell disclosure”, Utah State Legislature, version in force since May 6, 2026

The library

Keep reading

Guide

How to read a treatment plan

The nine parts a written plan should have, and what to do when one is missing.

Read Explainer

What “not FDA-approved” actually means

What the phrase tells you, what it doesn't, and the questions it should prompt.

Read

Browse the library

Utah law requires us to give you this notice

THIS NOTICE MUST BE PROVIDED TO YOU UNDER UTAH LAW. This health care practitioner performs one or more stem cell therapies that have not yet been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration. You are encouraged to consult with your primary care provider before undergoing a stem cell therapy.

Utah Code 58-1-512 · What this notice means

The first step

Start with a conversation.

One conversation. No pressure, no pitch. If we're not the right fit, we'll say so.

Book a discovery call Take the 2-minute fit check

Elective wellness services. Not FDA-approved to treat any condition. Individual results vary.