The 'Stem Cell Doctor'
Feb. 7, 2007 — -- At 7:30 a.m. in the small Mexican border town of Los Algodones, shopkeepers set up their stalls and sweep up. Most of the schoolchildren have already left their homes.
On the edge of town, Americans start to line up -- most of them are older and, in one way or another, sick. They are trying to get a good spot in line to cure their ailments, which range from lung problems and cancer to multiple sclerosis and grinding pains that will not go away.
They wait in line to see Dr. Jose Diaz Barboza, known to his patients as Dr. Diaz. Americans flock to him to receive injections of live cells, injections that ease their pain.
Bonnie Good has been visiting Diaz for four years.
"In November, he treated me for sleep apnea. It got so it was moderate to severe sleep apnea," she said.
Diaz gave her shots of cells, and after 15 years of suffering from sleep apnea, it was gone.
Sleep apnea is not the only problem for which Good visited Diaz.
"I had the bad back, the bad knees, the bad shoulder, the bad neck, osteoarthritis of the spine. It's wonderful. I lay there on that table, and he gave me those shots and the pain was gone before I got up. And I couldn't hardly walk. … Miracle," she said.
Good's son, Rusty, made a 1,700-mile drive just to see Diaz. He has had multiple fractures, including a broken neck, and on the day of his most recent visit to Diaz, he complained of pneumonia.
After a few shots from Diaz, Rusty was pain-free.
"I don't feel anything in my back now. It hurt like crazy when I come in here. It hurt bad all week. Now I feel nothing. It's perfect," he said.
Americans come from all over the country to see Diaz in Los Algodones. It is a tourist town, but its tourist attraction is medicine.
Brand-name pharmaceuticals, usually prescription only, are sold at a fraction of what they cost in the United States. You can walk 30 feet and get an offer for a free beer and a margarita, but you can also find pharmacies, dentists' offices, and opticians with unbelievably low prices.
Related Stories
ABC News Live