I love the format Laura Beil and her team uses for podcasts! This kept me interested and informed!

I listened to this stunned. Whatever happened to this John Kosolcharen? I think it’s interesting that I cannot find anything on Wikipedia or YouTube on some of these people. Despicable.

This is entertaining but seems edited and reported in ways that are problematic. From the jump, it’s strange how little interest the reporter seems to take in Genetech, who are clearly culpable in what goes wrong. I don’t even think the founder of Genetech was mentioned by name until the final episode, when we learn that he declined to be interviewed. This factor, that Liveyon was willing to discuss what went wrong and is still a viable company and Genetech seems to have folded has apparently skewed the reporting so that Liveyon is the focus of the story and therefore appears most culpable. It’s also strange that in all of the interviews with Liveyon higher ups, there is almost no pushback or challenging from the reporter, even though we hear her interacting with nearly every other interview subject. This seems unfair when the podcast is edited to respond to the Liveyon leadership like John with what appears to be damning counter evidence… but those interview subjects aren’t given the chance to respond in turn. This makes the reporter seem cowardly and passive aggressive. It does seem like Liveyon made some mistakes but on the whole whenever they speak for themselves on this podcast they come across as forthright and clear headed. It’s telling that in instances where things went wrong and people were hurt, such as the patients who got sick or the investor in the ponzi scheme John had been brought into, that John took the necessary steps to remove his product from the market and apologized to the investor who had been hurt. That particular interview with the embittered investor was a low point for this podcast. It felt amateurish and petulant. The podcast also feels like it’s trying to do two things at once: litigate the stem cell market in a broad sense and also focus on one example where stem cells were infected with bacteria. The second doesn’t necessarily support the first, since the failure of best practices doesn’t speak to the efficacy of the technology in any way. For this reason the thesis of the podcast seems muddled and unfocused.

Well produced. I'd like to hear more about the proven positive side of the treatments, as the narrative feels pretty intent on painting with a broad brush. Seeing as this came out before the pandemic, I'd love to think that the host will do an equally skeptical exposé on the more recent, highly profitable, and widely used injections that have led to a huge number of side effects and deaths. Something tells me this isn't likely to happen.

This morning I had nine duplicate wondery shows all push the newest wondery show into my feed. This has happened repeatedly for the last year plus and I’m Done with this company there are much better podcasters out there and less greedy companies. I encourage you to unfollow and communicate to wondery that we don’t want our podcast feeds used to push ads for more of their own content. It’s an unethical and annoying practice. Wondery please stop!!!!

Sadly, you have been able to shoot down a very promising and result filled ( yes, I said result filled) industry. I have personal experience with this industry. And the doctor that says backs and knees and other issues, EVENTUALLY GET BETTER…. is grossly uneducated and likely has no clinical experience. His statement discredited this entire podcast. Hint: The FDA IS NOT a friend to humanity, only those willing to pay for delays in effective treatments. CLUE: There is no money is cure, only ongoing treatment. How is this not obvious to the entire world?? It certainly is to health professionals. May I suggest a deep dive on the corrupt FDA? That would most certainly be helpful to the masses. But , then again, the masses are just the idiot consumers for the pharmaceutical industry.

Wondery has gotten greedy now requiring a subscription. I’ll go elsewhere for my podcasts and stories. Such a shame bc I enjoyed listening… use ads not subscriptions to fund your next podcast.

Love Lara Beal but not the depth of Dr Death.

I found this podcast by chance and I absolutely loved it. The story was really interesting and one I wasn’t familiar with. So it was great to really learn something and not just being entertained. All the tales were moving when the victims would talk about their experiences. This is definitely a great podcast.

This podcast was mind blowing. Great honest look at how greed and little to no accountability can ruin an industry!

This documentary is beyond mind blowing. I am very glad someone is calling the bluff. It’s sad this information is slid under the rug.

And I know. Currently hoping my father survives the harm brought on by a stem-cell quack.

It was a little maybe slow to start but I enjoyed it! I started first listening to dr. Death s1 and s2 and loved those. It’s not like dr. Death but it really makes you think over your health.

Enjoyed every minute—riveting

A very informative and educational Podcast. Thank you for exposing all of the complexities. Much appreciated.

Fascinating how greed gets the best of people.

Terrific— a fascinating true story that may help people be more careful in avoiding unproven medical treatments. Shines a bright light on a modern snake oil huckster and how he and others like him operate.

Really enjoyed Dr.Death and was hoping for more like that. This was somewhat confusing to follow but did have some good information and shined some light on stem cells and how they’re made and used.

The story is intriguing and the synopsis does it’s job of making you want to listen, but it seems like they stretched this out to make a quota for episodes. Did provide good insight into the stem cell industry

As a person who struggles with chronic & almost debilitating pain EVERY SINGLE DAY in my back, hip, & ankle from a car accident THANK YOU for this podcast! It is not only interesting it is also so informational.

You get to the last episode or last 3 episodes and non of them are available!! The ironic title of this podcast Bad Batch—That’s a perfect name for Wondery!!!!

Other podcasts that are 3 Hours long have less commercials this is just ridiculous

What a huge waste of time. Also very irresponsible to try to paint a human piece of trash (John K) as a protagonist.

I love how Laura digs deep into this topic. She provides a thorough look at all the aspects of this topic through research, interviews and old-fashion sleuthing. I just listened to The Vaping Fix and loved that one too! Keep these podcasts coming!

I recently listened to this podcast, with trepidation since I just had stem cell therapy for DDD (taken from my own bone marrow). Here’s what floors me. People taking a company at its word without doing research, no prep for these procedures (I had to go through additional X-rays, exam, etc before even talking about going forward) and I was never promised a “magic solution”. Still I researched the Dr, the procedure abs asked si many questions that I’m sure drove them crazy; but at the end of the day it’s my health. Beware of anyone who makes claims too good to be true, of fancy advertising (thus tells you where their $$ is going), and ASK questions!

Great podcast

Is there any way to block wondery pods from showing up? I’ve been baited into beginning waaaaay too many of these commercials with podcasts interjected. Every one is over dramatic, over produced and just plain awful. If wondery is involved, it’s not worth your time!

A LOT of ads…many many more than any other PC I have encountered, followed. In fact I found myself saying “jeez another commercial “ out loud in a crowd! To me that indicates a bothersome listen.

This is an excellent and thorough look at the shameless and reprehensible exploitation of patients’ desires for decreased suffering, perpetrated and motivated by the greed of certain physicians and entrepreneurs. As a physician myself, I find it unfathomable that doctors can be convinced to administer treatments that have not been studied rigorously in order to have been deemed safe and effective. But a quick google search reveals that I could reach at least FIVE stem cell therapy centers within just a 15 min drive from my home. So - this podcast is excellent listening for any current patient, potential patient and physician! I would have given this a resounding 5 stars had it not been for the predominant commercial chosen to be played during this podcast... I wonder who thought it a good idea to pair this podcast with a commercial that makes claims for beneficial effects of a product without evidence of scientific data... 🧐 Sounds a lot like the topic of this podcast.

The promo says there are more episodes. I guess they want me to buy their app to finish the series? Feels like bait and switch.

Enjoyed listening to it, now I look deeper into investigating medical options

I LOVED Dr. Death and this is pretty much what I’d expect from these guys. An addictive story with frustratingly entregue

This podcast comes at a time when I have signed up for embryonic stem cells for rheumatoid arthritis. This has been highly informative, educational, and eye opening. They have done a good job with their resources and following up in areas that needed more information or raised questions. I have several questions to ask the provider and clinic manager before I have this done. Great and timely topic.

This is a decent podcast however the amount of interruptions and the length of them is unacceptable. They seemed to have increased the amount of commercials and shorten the length of actual content each season. To make matters worse they apparently borrowed from true crime TV shows the style of setting up the listener via content and suspenseful music that doesn’t resolve but leads you into a barrage of commercials followed by the next section that still doesn’t resolve but starts the buildup all over again. If you like to get excited about an online psychotherapy service or auto insurance that we all hear on ever other podcast, this is your show.

I need more Laura Beil podcasts!! Bad batch was outstanding!

This was an amazing podcast, well written, informative and got a good collection of interviews. Really good journalism. THIS is why journalism and the truth matter. I have several chronic pain issues and stuff like this scares me so much. The idea that people could destroy this promise of hope all because they’re too greedy to wait for doctors to do the research. With no care about what it might do to the over all reputation of the product itself.... I hope that makes sense. Worth the listern.

I feel like I spent half the time listening to ads.

Great

Excellent podcast. Being a licensed healthcare provider, I’m very interested in biological medicine to treat health issues. It’s incredible that any company can treat patients in this country with a treatment that is not proven.

Man John has to be the most infuriating person ever. Everything always happens to him and is someone else’s fault. He’s a scammer through and through, can’t even handle his smugness and complete lack of remorse in EVERYTHING he is involved in

Quite intriguing. Wondery never disappoints.

Someone reviewed it & thought it to be “too much to believe it was true” But.... in July 2017, we both, my husband & myself, had stem cell treatments. I had an “IV for a total body regeneration” to help my BACK PAIN (another story, as this April, I had 2 cervical fusions AND in July 2020, a 2 step operation over 2 days repairing a very bad back, requiring .... after 12 hours of surgery & 2 long rods placed in my back......... making my VERY EXPENSIVE IV stem cell infusion a total joke). MY HUSBAND, on the other hand, had a knee problem, and IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE INJECTION, he could hardly drive home. We were in the emergency room at midnight as the pain was so horrendous. The doctor giving the stem cell injection, treated him at home with steroids, and to his credit, really cared & told him, after developing a fever 3 weeks after his injection from a “BAD BATCH”, originating from Gene Tech, he was hospitalized and had THREE wash out surgeries!!! He had developed 3 strains of E-COLI ! We were so grateful it was e-coli and not MRSA as he was highly allergic to the vancomycin he was first given. WE (him....I should correctly state) was a VICTIM and paid dearly. I am so happy the folks, who had reactions, have been vindicated. EXCELLENT JOB! His “settlement” was nothing compared to what he went through. It took MONTHS to regain his mobility. Your pod cast FINALLY gave us ANSWERS! THANK YOU! It was REAL folks....and great journalism.

I love all the Wondery podcasts

Just wanted to tell you that I enjoy listening at work. Thank you for all your hard work, and I can not wait till the next episode.

Great story! I am struck again and again about John’s complete lack of remorse and constant deflection of any personal wrongdoing. Every scheme was someone’s fault. What a loser. No moral compass.

Great story about mass persuasion, smart schemes, and ultimately a narcissist behind it all (of course, like every great scheme). Also, I had no idea something could be injected into people legally without having been vetted by the FDA! So interesting. I’m hooked.

Imagine my shock and horror when I realized halfway through season 1 that I had no downloaded a drama but a true life podcast. This entire story sounds so ludicrous that I thought it was fiction, but sadly it isn’t. I found this podcast entertaining but also informative, really worth listening to and can be knocked out in one work day.

Wondery podcasts set the standard. When pressing play, I’ve come to expect top-notch content. This series is no different.

Enjoying this podcast a lot-very informative.

Nice balance of facts and anecdotes. I will not be getting stem cells.