Background
This Ruling forms part of a wider piece of work on clinics promoting stem cell therapy for autism in children, identified for investigation following intelligence gathered by the ASA. See also related rulings published on 23 September 2026.
Ad description
A paid-for Meta ad and a paid-for Google ad for You Clinic Turkey, a medical clinic:
a. The paid-for Meta ad, seen on 8 May 2026, included the caption “94% Success Rate! Imagine your child making real eye contact, speaking more words, and playing happily with others… You Clinic’s advanced stem cell treatment achieves 94% success in autism symptoms in children! Improvements Seen: Better eye contact Improved communication skills Stronger social interaction Reduced repetitive behaviours Real hope for your family! Book your consultation now youclinic.org”.
The ad included an image of a child within an animated brain, and text that stated “AUTISM STEM CELL TREATMENT REDISCOVER YOUR MIND 94% SUCCESS RATE” with five stars underneath. Further text stated “TARGETED IMPROVEMENTS” and underneath a checklist with text that stated “Eye Contact Speech & Language Focus & Attention Social Skills”.
Text at the bottom of the ad stated “YOUCLINIC.ORG Change your child’s destiny. Your treatments will be conducted at healthcare facilities with a healthcare tourism authorization [sic] certificate.”, alongside a button labelled “Learn more”.
b. The paid-for Google ad, seen on 4 May 2026, included text that stated “Stop the Progression of Autism – Innovative Autism Treatment You Clinic in Izmir, Turkey, Pioneers The Latest Technology Treatments for Autism”.
Issue
The ASA challenged whether the claims that stem cell therapy could treat or alleviate traits of autism were misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Estheturk Danışmanlık A.Ş. t/a You Clinic Turkey said that the "94% success rate" claims and references to clinical observations were based on internal patient outcome data collected from individuals treated at their clinic. However, they fully understood the ASA’s distinction between internal patient observations and the standard of substantiation required for objective medical claims in advertising.
They said that the references were not intended to represent a universally established clinical success rate, or to suggest that outcomes could be guaranteed for individual patients. However they recognised that the wording used in the ads could have been interpreted more broadly by consumers. As a result, they said they had removed all active Meta and Google ads that featured the claims: "94% success rate", "stopping the progression of autism", or claims that could reasonably be interpreted as guaranteeing the treatment or alleviation of autism traits, and would not be using those ads or claims in the future.
They also stated that they had updated their marketing guidelines to ensure that all future promotional materials targeted at the UK market strictly complied with CAP Code rules, particularly regarding health claims and their substantiation.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA considered consumers would understand ad (a) to mean that You Clinic’s stem cell treatment could significantly improve the traits of autism in children, including improving speech, eye contact, focus, social interaction, and reducing repetitive behaviours. Furthermore, because the ad stated “94% Success Rate”, consumers would further understand that those improvements were likely to be achieved in the vast majority of children who underwent the treatment. We considered that consumers would understand ad (b) to mean that You Clinic offered unique treatments for autism, including by stopping the progression of autism and preventing the condition from worsening over time. We therefore expected to see robust scientific evidence demonstrating that You Clinic’s treatments could improve traits of autism, as well as stop the progression of autism.
We understood from NHS and NICE Guidance that there was no cure for autism, and that stem cell transplants were not a recognised treatment in the UK for autism, including in children.
Notwithstanding that, we had not received any evidence to substantiate the claims that the treatment could improve traits of autism, or stop the progression of autism. We acknowledged You Clinic’s response that their claims were based on internal data, but we had not seen that data, and in any case, we considered that an internal report would not be designed to the same quality as a clinical trial, and was therefore unlikely to be adequate to substantiate the ad. We welcomed the action You Clinic had taken to remove the ads, however, because the claims in the ads had not been substantiated, we concluded that the ads were misleading.
The ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading Advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation) and 12.1 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
Action
The ads must not appear again in the form investigated. We told Estheturk Danışmanlık A.Ş. t/a You Clinic Turkey not to state or imply that their stem cell treatment could treat or alleviate the traits of autism, or stop the progression of autism, unless they held robust evidence to substantiate the claims.
