Doctor who provided ineffective stem cell therapies disciplined 6 years after investigation began
CHICAGO (CBS) – An investigation into bogus stem cell therapies to ease pain finally ends with the discipline of a Chicago area chiropractor.
The licensing action comes six years after the CBS News Investigators went undercover to expose the unbelievable claims being peddled by that particular doctor. What took so long?
In 2018, Patricia Korona was suffering with arthritis pain in her right knee, She described it as "… a stabbing pain, constant, hard to get up from a sitting position."
She was considering having knee replacement surgery. Then, "I got a flyer in the mail for stem cell injections. 'Come have lunch with us and we'll explain the process.' And, I thought it's not going to cost me anything, so I'll go," said Korona.
That's where she met Jill Howe. "The person who did the seminar was hopping up and down on her ankle."
Howe was a licensed chiropractor with several clinics in the north and northwest suburbs, under the names Wellness Institute and Superior Health and Wellness.
In 2018, she promoted the unbelievable benefits of stem cell therapies through flyers like the one Korona received – full-page newspaper ads, and through a YouTube video done for the company, Stem Cell Therapy for Pain. In that video, she proclaimed "You can get new knees, you can get new shoulders…"
The CBS News Investigators went undercover to some of the seminars advertised. In that video, Howe is seen and heard demonstrating how stem cells helped her. "You all saw me walk up here. I can stand on my right foot, which is the one that I had the problems on. I can jump up and down. I don't have a problem with my ankle. And, on an X-ray I have an ankle joint again on the right-hand side where before I didn't have one," Howe claimed.
Korona paid $4,500 for stem cell injections in her right knee. Weeks later, x-rays showed no change. The pain was still present. "I did follow-ups after nothing was happening with the knee. It still hurt," Korona said.
She filed complaints with the Illinois Attorney General and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, the agency responsible for licensing medical practitioners like Howe.
Korona was not the only person complaining. IDFPR received complaints from eight others, some of whom paid up to $14,000 for the stem cell injections. They all explained the shots provided no pain relief.
In May 2024, IDFPR determined that, in all nine cases, Jill Howe made "false or misleading" statements about the benefits of stem cell therapies. In a separate case, she was also found to have provided unnecessary trigger point injections.
Pages From Howe 2018 Notice, Complaint_Redacted on Scribd
We tried to contact Howe, but were unable to find her. Two of her Wellness Institute locations closed shortly after our initial reporting in 2018-2019. And, her Superior Health and Wellness location in Gurnee is now a new rehab business that just opened.
The state medical board disciplined her license with a 45-day suspension, a $20,000 fine, and a requirement to attend classes that include ethics training. She also remains on four years' probation.
"So she lost her license for 45 days. That's nothing. I think that it should be for a couple of years," said Korona.
Korona finally had to get knee replacement surgery. That worked and now she can get around easily on her new knee.
But, she never learned the outcome of the complaint she filed until she received an email from CBS News Chicago informing her of the disciplinary action.
"What's the point of making a complaint, trying to get some justice for what happened and they're not going to tell you anything?"
She had one question for the state, "I don't understand why it takes so long. I mean, you know her name, you know where she is, her business is. You have the complaints. Why? Why did it take so long?"
IDFPR, through a spokesperson, wrote, "Our administrative hearing process is structured to follow thorough legal procedures to ensure each case is handled with careful attention and that due process is upheld for all parties involved when investigating allegations of wrongdoing by licensees."
IDFPR said after the complaints were filed in 2018, the case was referred to its prosecutions unit on November 7, 2019. The agency said as it prepared for a hearing, there was an extensive discovery process with Howe's attorneys and two informal conferences in 2022 and 2023. Eventually that led to the disciplinary action in May 2024.