Foreign nationals accounted for about 30 percent of patients who received unauthorized therapies based on blood from umbilical cords and placenta sold by a dealer charged with illegal handling of the blood, investigative sources said Monday.
The dealer, who heads a cord blood sales firm in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, was among six people arrested Sunday for suspected involvement in cord blood treatments conducted without advance notice to authorities. The effectiveness and safety of the therapies has not been proven.
Among the foreign clients were many Chinese. Cord blood transplants have become popular for medical and beauty reasons, despite being expensive and running the risk of graft rejections and infection, the sources said.