{
  "id": 7979012,
  "title": "Health ministry bars stem cell therapy for autism as routine care",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/17/health-ministry-bars-stem-cell-therapy-for-autism-as-routine-care",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-17T07:18:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Live Mint",
    "slug": "live-mint",
    "url": "https://www.livemint.com/news/india/health-ministry-bars-stem-cell-therapy-for-autism-as-routine-care-11789622430314.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Indian health ministry has declared that stem cell therapy for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) will not be offered as standard clinical care or in commercial settings. Such treatment can only be administered during approved clinical trials. Priyanka Sharma, a journalist at Mint, reports that this policy reaffirmation was communicated by the health ministry. Sharma, with a journalism degree from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication and public health training from the Public Health Foundation of India, has been covering health ministry matters and the pharmaceutical sector for Mint.",
  "summary": "The directive seeks to prevent clinics from selling unproven treatments to families as standard treatment and to ensure that providers strictly comply with the existing framework or face penalties.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}