Stem Cell Success Story: How Renee Avoided Hip Replacement Surgery

When I first met Renee LaFountain in Junior College, she’d already been a ballerina and an acrobat for most of her life. Forty years later she was hurting when she tried to do basic things such as: putting her socks and shoes on, painting her toenails, walking, and teaching tap-dance classes, which she loved. She had been diagnosed with advanced hip arthritis and was told that a hip replacement was her only choice, having already tried all of the usual stuff: physical therapy, medications, chiropractic, and massage therapy. She was scheduled for surgery, which would have been paid for in most part by her Medicare insurance, but she resisted. She knew people whose lives were ruined after such surgery. Friends of hers had had good results with stem cell treatments. After doing her research, she found a program in Sarasota called Regenexx and had their patented stem cell procedure a year ago.

Renee is now 80% improved overall and says she can pretty much do whatever she wants. “I am so thankful to feel I’ve recovered without surgery thanks to Dr. Leiber & Regenexx.”

Dr. James Leiber, DO,  founder of Regenexx Tampa Bay, is triple board certified in Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine (AOBNMM), Pain Medicine (CAQPM), and Family Medicine (ABFM) and is Registered in Musculoskeletal Sonography (RMSK).

He is a former officer, physician, and educator in the Air Force-including personal physician to the vice president and president in the White House. He lives in Sarasota with his wife and teenage daughter. Dr. Leiber travels regularly to Denver to teach regenerative orthopedic techniques to fellow doctors, and to Grand Cayman, where he is also licensed to treat patients.

The other physicians at Regenexx Tampa Bay are: Ron Torrance II, DO. Board Certified in Sports Medicine and recent co-author of Exercise 2.0 for Regenexx. Dr. Torrance is a semi-professional beach volleyball player and trains as a competitive CrossFit athlete.

Ignatios Papas, DO specializes in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.  He is a research collaborator with Columbia and Cornell Universities Michael Amoroso, MD Board Certified by the American Boards of Anesthesiology and of Pain Medicine.

Dr. Leiber warns that “many providers are falsely claiming to use amniotic, umbilical, or placental “stem cells,”  but Regenexx has tested these products in their sophisticated lab and found no evidence of living stem cells in them; so “beware of these claims and of inappropriately exorbitant charges.”

He also points out that obtaining stem cells from fat tissue for injections of orthopedic tissue is in clear violation of FDA regulations, despite this being fairly common practice. There are some fat procedures, which are allowed, but these are not true stem cell procedures. Based on the available research literature and FDA regulations, bone marrow-derived stem cells are currently the best option.


Regenexx Tampa Bay is part of the most elite organization of doctors, who were the first to inject stem cells to treat orthopedic conditions in the U.S., in 2005. Regenexx procedures are the nation’s most advanced non-surgical stem cell and platelet treatments, for arthritis, ligament and tendon injuries, and spine-related conditions. They use the image guidance of ultrasound and live X-ray.  These procedures are standardized, evidence-based protocols that require a high level of laboratory and injection skills used to strengthen damaged tissue and reduce inflammation; thereby helping to eliminate the need for narcotics, chronic anti-inflammatory drugs, cortisone injections, and in most cases, surgery.

More than 50 Regenexx sites in the U.S., have performed more than 86,000 Regenexx procedures.  Patients are tracked for safety and outcomes, as part of a large national registry database. Summary data is available online, broken out by joint, gender and age bracket. Thanks to excellent clinical outcomes gathered through the years, including favorable comparisons of cost-effectiveness with orthopedic surgeries, many self-insured companies have begun offering the patented Regenexx procedures as a covered benefit for their employees throughout the U.S.

So, when you are ready to get rid of the pain and get back to your active lifestyle, schedule your hour-long consultation at Regenexx Tampa Bay by calling the phone numbers below or click the image to find out if you are a candidate.

Regenexx Tampa Bay
2401 University Pkwy, Suite 104, Sarasota, FL 34243  941-357-1773
8600 Hidden River Pkwy,  Suite 700,  Tampa, FL 33637 813-544-3123
970 Lake Carillon Dr ., Suite 300, St. Petersburg, FL 33716 (for consultations)

Article by Peter A. Roos of Paradise News. Read the full article here: http://www.paradisenewsfl.com/renees-stem-cell-treatments-are-working/.

Regenexx Tampa Bay

About The Author
James Leiber, DO

James Leiber, DO

James Leiber, DO, is founder and medical director of Regenexx® at New Regeneration Orthopedics.
James Leiber, DO

James Leiber, DO

James Leiber, DO, is founder and medical director of Regenexx® at New Regeneration Orthopedics.

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