Florida
Florida is leading a new chapter in responsible regenerative medicine access.
Florida has become one of the most important states in the country for patients, physicians, advocates, and policymakers working to define what responsible access to regenerative medicine should look like.
The Stem Cell Action Network — a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping patients learn about responsible, doctor-guided stem cell care — has been active in Florida because the stakes are real: patients want options, families want trustworthy information, physicians need clear standards, and policymakers need frameworks that protect both innovation and public confidence.
In 2025, Florida passed landmark stem cell legislation that changed the national conversation. SCAN was proud to help lead advocacy, education, and coalition-building efforts in support of a responsible path forward — one that recognizes patient interest in regenerative medicine while emphasizing informed consent, ethical sourcing, physician accountability, and clear public disclosure.
Florida's role in the SCAN story
A place where regenerative medicine conversations are practical, patient-centered, and urgent.
Patients across the state are asking questions about pain, mobility, wound care, orthopedic conditions, recovery, and quality of life. Physicians are working to understand how to practice responsibly in a fast-moving field. Lawmakers are facing the challenge of creating policy that does not shut down innovation, but also does not leave patients without protections.
That is why Florida became an early focus for SCAN. Our work has centered on a simple idea: access and standards must move together. Patients should not be forced to navigate confusing claims alone, and responsible physicians should not be grouped with bad actors. Florida gave SCAN an opportunity to help advance a more balanced model — one built around education, transparency, ethical practice, and patient safeguards.
Landmark Florida law
What changed in 2025.
Florida enacted a landmark stem cell therapy law that allows Florida-licensed physicians, under specific conditions, to perform certain stem cell therapies that have not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The law is limited in scope. It applies to therapies related to orthopedics, wound care, and pain management, and only when the therapy is within the physician's scope of practice.
For patients, this law does not mean every therapy is right for every person. It does mean Florida has taken a major step toward a state-level framework for responsible access — and that patients deserve clear, careful guidance before making decisions.
Patient-protection requirements
- Written notice that the therapy has not yet been approved by the FDA
- Signed informed consent before treatment
- Disclosure of the nature of the proposed treatment, anticipated results, possible risks, possible benefits, and alternatives
- Encouragement for patients to consult with their primary care provider
- Requirements related to sourcing, manufacturing, storage, facility registration, accreditation, and current good manufacturing practices
- Prohibitions on certain unethical cell sources
SCAN's leadership in Florida
Bringing together the voices needed to move Florida forward.
SCAN helped bring together patients seeking options, physicians committed to responsible care, advocates focused on access, and policymakers looking for practical safeguards. Our role was not to promote hype or promise outcomes — it was to help shape the conversation around responsible access.
In Florida, SCAN advocated for a framework that recognizes several truths at once:
Patients deserve access to emerging medical options when appropriate.
Patients also deserve honesty, informed consent, and protection from misleading claims.
Physicians need standards they can understand and follow.
Policymakers need input from patients, clinicians, scientists, ethicists, and advocates — not just industry voices or opponents of access.
Florida's landmark law reflects the importance of that balanced approach. It is a beginning, not an endpoint. SCAN will continue working in Florida to support patient education, monitor implementation, encourage responsible standards, and help Floridians ask better questions before considering care.
What Florida patients should know
Ask better questions before considering any stem cell therapy.
Stem cell and regenerative medicine information can be confusing. Some treatments are FDA-approved for specific uses. Many others are not. Some clinics communicate responsibly. Others may use language that sounds more certain than the evidence supports.
Before considering any stem cell therapy, ask:
- Is this therapy FDA-approved for my condition?
- Is the physician licensed in Florida and practicing within their scope?
- What exactly is being used, and where did it come from?
- Does the facility meet the requirements described under Florida law?
- What risks, alternatives, costs, and uncertainties should I understand?
- Will I receive written informed consent before treatment?
- Should I discuss this with my primary care provider or specialist first?
Request Florida guidance
Tell us how to reach you and what you're generally interested in. A SCAN team member will follow up through your preferred contact method.
Please keep your submission general. Do not include medical records, diagnosis details, lab results, imaging, medication lists, or sensitive health information.
Florida updates
Florida policy update
Florida's 2025 stem cell law is one of the most significant state-level regenerative medicine access laws in the country. It creates a pathway for certain Florida-licensed physicians to provide non-FDA-approved stem cell therapies related to orthopedics, wound care, and pain management, while also requiring disclosure, informed consent, and specific standards for the cells and facilities involved.
As the law is implemented, SCAN will continue to track developments, share plain-language updates, and help patients, providers, advocates, and policymakers understand what the law does — and what it does not do.
Patient education event
SCAN is expanding Florida-focused patient education. Upcoming efforts will focus on:
- The difference between FDA-approved and non-FDA-approved therapies
- What Florida's law allows
- What informed consent should include
- How to recognize red flags in advertising
- How to speak with a physician about risks, alternatives, and expectations
- How patients and caregivers can support responsible access policy
Florida advocacy action
Florida showed that patients and advocates can help shape the future of regenerative medicine policy. Advocacy does not require medical expertise — it requires a commitment to clear information, ethical care, patient protection, and the belief that access and accountability should move together.
Responsible access starts with informed patients
Florida has opened an important door.
SCAN's work is to help patients walk through it carefully, with better information, stronger questions, and a clear understanding of both opportunity and risk.
SCAN provides education, advocacy, and navigation resources only. SCAN does not provide medical advice, diagnose, prescribe, recommend a specific treatment, or guarantee outcomes.
Important: SCAN provides education, advocacy, and navigation resources only. SCAN does not provide medical advice, diagnose, prescribe, recommend a specific treatment, or guarantee outcomes.