Snake Oil or Medical Breakthrough?
- Anne Chen
- Nov 19
- 4 min read
A look into the truth behind medicine's newest solution for old age, pain, and sickness
Clark Stanley, achieved the fame he had always wanted, but not for the reasons he expected.
Born in 1854, Stanley was an American cowboy turned herbalist. He claimed he studied for 2 years with a Hopi medicine man before creating his solution to ease all pains: Clark Stanley's Snake Oil Liniment.
Immediate pain relief was promised to all users of this miracle liniment. It advertised relief from sprains, bunions, sore throats, toothaches, bites from animals, reptiles, and insects. It could also heal partial paralysis of limbs and reduce swelling from joints.
Stanley, self-titled the "Rattlesnake King", demonstrated how he made his liniment at the 1893 World's Exposition in Chicago. He took a live rattlesnake from a sack, slit it open, and then threw it in a boiling vat of water. Then he skimmed the fat that rose to the surface. That fat was his medicinal “secret sauce”. The snake oil base.
He attracted nationwide customers and had a flourishing mail-order business until the government stepped in.
There were no federal regulations for the safety or effectiveness of drugs before 1906, But that year, the Pure Food and Drug Act was established. It was the first of a series of consumer protection laws that went into effect nationwide.
Under the new regulations, the federal Bureau of Chemistry, the precursor to our modern day US Food and Drug Administration, eventually tested Stanley’s Snake Oil Liniment.
It contained mineral oil, beef fat, red pepper (capsaicin), and turpentine - but no snake oil. Stanley was fined and his business faded from view, but he and his snake oil became famous as a symbol for medical fraud.
In every lie, however, there is an element of truth.
In 1840, Chinese laborers came to America to help build the Transcontinental Railroad. They brought with them black-banded sea krait oil - oil from a Chinese water snake.
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Traditional Chinese Medicine has used water snake oil for thousands of years as an anti-inflammatory agent. This oil contained 20% eicosapentaenoic acid, better known as omega-3 fatty acids. Its main use was to relieve arthritis, bursitis, and other joint pain. The benefits also include lowering systolic blood pressure, improving cognitive function, as well as reducing the risk of dementia and depression.
Real snake oil did heal. Just not Stanley's.
Stanley’s “snake oil" became synonymous with fraudulent products and deceptive marketing. The hype hid the truth. This pattern is still present in today's medical landscape.
Desperation often makes people gullible or suspicious to the point of paralysis. But it can also be a catalyst to gain wisdom.
Is Stem Cell a Medical Breakthrough?
Take stem cell therapy.
Stem cell therapy is a treatment where stem cells are used with the goal of regenerating damaged cells in human tissue. There are 3 main sources of stem cells used for therapy: bone marrow, fat tissue, and umbilical cord blood.
While doctors have seen success with all three sources of stem cells, only one carries the highest efficacy potential for repairing, replacing, and rebuilding tissue: umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells.
While still controversial in a lot of circles, umbilical cord stem cell therapy was first introduced into the public awareness in 1988 when a 5-year-old boy with Fanconi anemia received a transplant from his newborn sister's cord blood in Paris.
At the time, Fanconi anemia was a near-fatal diagnosis. Many children didn’t live past the first decade of life. The treatment restored normal blood-forming function, and Matthew grew to adulthood.
Research in the early 1990s into the 2000s, led by Dr. Arnal Caplan, isolated the mesenchymal stem cells from adult bone marrow. This was foundational to mesenchymal stem cell research. Key discoveries during this time include findings that these stem cells (MCS) could calm inflammation, migrate to sites of injury, and
form and regenerate into several different types of tissues.
This difference separated efficacy rates between stem cells found in adult bone marrow and those from umbilical cords. Adult stem cells, especially those found in adult bone marrow, were found to be less potent. For many doctors and researchers, umbilical cord MSCs appeared to be a miracle cure - a breakthrough in medical science.
But for Christians, it’s not just a question of science. Is it ethical? Is it even biblical? Further research digs beneath the hype and controversy. One of the biggest concerns is how and from whom they are being harvested.
The race for more information about stem cells included research from stem cells harvested from human embryos.
However, they contain a different type of stem cell. MSCs have never been harvested from embryos. Natural MSCs do not exist in human embryonic tissue.
The richest sources of MSCs come from post-birth umbilical cords.
With the discovery of MSCs, regenerative medicine has grown exponentially in recent years. Hundreds of companies and clinics worldwide are now offering stem cell therapies or related services. As of 2025, many MSC therapies are in various stages of clinical trials. Because of the newness of this therapy, “Is this just snake oil?” is still a part of the conversation for many.
God has been sending pioneers into the world to answer questions and take territory for the Kingdom. The medical field is not exempt.
In the Apostle’s Digest podcast, Colette Toach discusses this current tension in the church today with a pioneer in the medical field, James Fortune. He’s an advocate of this groundbreaking therapy.
In the podcast, James shares one of his mottos, “It’s impossible until it isn’t.” The space between a miracle and science is thin when you find the glory that God hides for His people to find. “Pioneering Health: Stem Cells and Faith with James Fortune” discusses the collision of faith with science and how God wants to bring the church to the cutting edge in every area of our lives.
About The Author
Anne Chen
Hailing from California, Anne Chen is a graduate and previous trainer of Toach Ministries Prophetic School. She facilitated their work in South Africa and is now used of God to express the heart of the Kingdom through her written message.
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