Before paying for a regenerative treatment abroad, identify the exact intervention, evidence for your condition and applicable authorization. “Regenerative medicine” is a broad label. It does not tell you what a treatment contains, whether it works or whether it is permitted for the proposed use.
This planning guide concerns questions about care in Mexico or Costa Rica. It does not recommend a treatment, clinic or travel decision.
Click or tap to open a first-inquiry message you can adapt
Use this to start a conversation, then work through the full guide below. Send it directly to the practice, not to Fruitful Years. Delete anything that does not apply. Do not include records, ID or a detailed health history in a first message; ask how to share records securely. A reply does not establish that treatment or travel is appropriate for you.
I am considering an assessment for a treatment described as regenerative medicine. Please name the exact intervention, its source and processing, and proposed use. What published human evidence exists for this intervention and condition, and what uncertainties and reported harms are known? Which destination-country authorizations apply to this specific use, who issues them, and can you provide the documents? If offered as research, please give the study identifier, sponsor and participant information.
I plan to have an independent clinician review these before deciding. Please also outline full costs, cancellation and refund terms, urgent-care arrangements and follow-up while I am there and after I return home.
Use the sections below to follow up on incomplete answers. An unanswered item is still unresolved.
Ask what is actually being offered
Request the product or procedure name, source (your own or donor material), processing, route of administration and proposed use in writing. Ask the clinician to explain unfamiliar terms. Stem-cell products, platelet-rich plasma (PRP), exosomes and tissue-engineering approaches should not be treated as interchangeable.
PRP is prepared from a person’s blood and concentrates platelets; it is not a stem-cell treatment. Its evidence varies by condition and preparation. Ask about the evidence for the particular proposal rather than relying on the broad label.
Separate three different situations
- Established or authorized use: ask what authorization applies to this exact product, indication and setting in the destination country.
- Clinical research: ask for the study protocol, sponsor, ethics review, regulatory authorization where required and consent process. Research investigates uncertainty; benefit is not guaranteed.
- Commercial treatment without adequate evidence: testimonials, scientific-sounding language and payment packages do not establish safety or effectiveness.
Some cell-based treatments have established uses. That does not validate every treatment marketed with the same terminology. Ask which category the specific proposal falls into and what documents support the answer.
Read the evidence for your condition
Ask for published human studies of the same intervention and condition, not only laboratory or animal research. Discuss the study size, comparison group, meaningful outcomes, length of follow-up and reported harms. Ask what remains uncertain and whether findings have been reproduced.
Ask an appropriately qualified clinician who is independent of the seller to help assess the evidence, alternatives and risks for your circumstances. A treatment claimed to help many unrelated conditions, or reverse ageing in general, deserves especially careful questioning. Do not discontinue established care on the basis of marketing.
A registered trial is not proof that a treatment works
A listing on ClinicalTrials.gov identifies a research record. It is not proof of effectiveness or regulatory approval. Ask whether the site you would attend actually participates in that study, whether it is recruiting, who oversees it and how its study identifier matches the offered intervention.
Request the participant information and consent documents, including costs, injury arrangements, withdrawal and follow-up. A substantial fee for an experimental intervention is a reason for extra scrutiny. If payment is required, ask precisely what you are paying for and confirm the arrangement independently with the study sponsor. Do not assume that a commercial invoice makes you a research participant.
Check country authorization separately
Ask the destination’s competent authority to confirm the relevant authorization for the proposed product, protocol and facility. A professional licence, cell-bank permit or general clinic licence answers a different question from authorization of the treatment’s specific use.
Mexico and Costa Rica have separate regulatory systems. Costa Rica’s 2025 regulation 45116-S replaced the earlier 2016 regulation. Its Article 4 sets conditions for defined conventional autologous adult-cell and platelet-rich-plasma services. It is not verification of a particular clinic or evidence that an offered treatment works. Mexico’s COFEPRIS cell-bank licensing materials are another starting point for questions. We have not established any provider’s current permission or a blanket approval/ban for either country. An approval in another country does not automatically authorize use at your destination.
Use the Mexico or Costa Rica registration questions to separate clinician and facility checks from treatment authorization.
Plan for risks, extra costs and care at home
Health Canada warns that unauthorized cell therapies can cause serious harms, including infections. Your own cells are not automatically risk-free. Ask about known and uncertain risks of this exact proposal, alternatives including no intervention, and how urgent problems would be assessed and treated. Establish a named clinical contact, after-hours route and receiving clinician at home before paying. In an emergency, seek local care rather than waiting for an overseas message.
Obtain a written estimate covering the intervention, monitoring, further treatments, travel changes and complications. Ask in writing whether insurance covers this exact intervention, related complications and evacuation. Discuss travel readiness with your clinician, and obtain secure records and follow-up arrangements. Do not send patient records to this website.
Your decision record
Write down the exact intervention and condition; published evidence and uncertainties; country-specific authorization documents; independent clinical assessment; full costs; and local/home follow-up. If essential evidence or authorization cannot be established, pause the purchase and discuss alternatives.
Keep these questions in the Planning Care Abroad workbook, or return to all care-abroad planning resources.
Sources and scope
ISSCR: treatment categories; ISSCR: questions for your doctor; ISSCR: clinical trials; AAOS: PRP; FDA: information about regenerative medicine therapies; COFEPRIS: cell-bank licensing; Costa Rica: Article 4 of the 2025 autologous adult-cell/PRP regulation; official Constitutional Court record identifying the replacement regulation. Checked October 6, 2026. FDA guidance concerns the United States. Health Canada: unauthorized cell-therapy risks and autologous cell-therapy policy concern Canada, not destination authorization. Older regulatory documents are not a current authorization lookup. No product, clinic or clinical protocol is verified here; this guide has not been reviewed by a clinical specialist.
FREE PLANNING WORKBOOK
Keep your care-abroad questions together.
This workbook was developed for dental travel. Its proposal, budget and contact sections may help with other planned-care questions; ask your usual clinician which sections apply. It is a private planning record, not clinical instructions.
Fill it in on your device, or print it and write by hand. Keep completed copies private.