Today is May 30th. It’s my child’s birthday. And I’m in the office seeing patients.
That’s not meant to earn admiration or sympathy. It’s simply to say: when it’s time to care for patients, the patients come first. That is the organizing principle of medicine. It was true in the past. It’s true in regenerative and longevity medicine. It must be true in every moment we place our hands—or a needle—on a human being who has trusted us.
And yet, we are falling short.
In this week’s episode of Longevity Insider, I recorded a live commentary from one of our ultrasound-guided orthobiologic procedure rooms. Why? Because I received an alert from Dr. Lynn Sosa at the Connecticut Department of Public Health, in collaboration with the CDC. It wasn’t about a new peptide or a gene therapy trial. It was about something far more fundamental.
They found Paraburkholderia fungorum, a pathogenic bacteria, in the bloodstream of patients—patients who had recently undergone ultrasound-guided procedures. The source? Non-sterile ultrasound gel.
Do you have this gel? Are you worried about it? Send me a message.
Let me make this absolutely clear. When we do percutaneous procedures—whether injecting stem cells, performing electrolysis, administering PRP, or guiding acupuncture needles under ultrasound—we are breaking the skin. That means we are breaking a barrier that normally protects the body from the outside world. Once breached, we assume full responsibility for what we allow to enter.
Using non-sterile gel in these settings is negligent. There’s no ambiguity here. The CDC confirmed that the same bacterial strains found in non-sterile gel were recovered from the blood of patients. These individuals likely walked into clinics healthy and left septic. That’s not a minor complication. That’s system failure.
It’s also completely preventable.
At Concierge Medical Associates, we use only single-use sterile packets of gel for invasive procedures. We teach our staff and our patients about aseptic technique—even for self-injected therapies like GLP-1s. Why? Because the first duty is do no harm. And the second is prevent harm others have already made possible.
Somewhere, a provider cut corners. A cost-saving decision was made. A non-sterile bottle was used instead of sterile packets. These providers did not put the patient first.
I have watched clinicians on social media demonstrate procedures with non-sterile gel. I have watched patients trust providers who didn’t take time to explain the difference. And I have watched medical authorities issue neutral-toned warnings that name no products and deliver no consequences. That, too, is failure.
So let me be direct.
If you are a patient, ask questions. Ask to see the gel being used. Ask to understand the risks. If the clinic cannot answer clearly and confidently, walk out. You deserve better.
If you are a physician or a provider, take responsibility. This is not about politics or pride. It’s about safety. It’s about standards. Using sterile technique doesn’t make you fancy. It makes you competent.
If you are in longevity medicine, understand that this field is already under scrutiny. We are asking people to place faith in protocols that are still evolving. We do not have the luxury of sloppy technique or half-truths. When we prescribe rapamycin or conduct regenerative procedures, we are making a claim: that we hold ourselves to the highest standard. If we fail on the basics, nothing else matters.
The core message today is not about gel. It’s about discipline. It’s about what separates responsible clinicians from opportunists. The decisions we make—about how we inject, where we source our products, how we monitor, how we educate—those decisions define us.
This is a field filled with promise. But the way we deliver care today determines whether that promise is fulfilled or wasted. Let your technique reflect your values. Let your protocols reflect your ethics. Let your consent conversations reflect your humility.
And let your patients always come first.
Because that’s what longevity medicine demands. Not branding. Not hustle. Not shortcuts. But presence. Precision. And deep respect for the lives entrusted to our care.
Thank you for tuning in. I’ve got patients waiting, and today, like every day……I intend to do it right.
Here’s to a life well lived.
— Dr. Murphy
If you found this post useful, share it with a colleague or patient who values rigorous, responsible longevity care. Longevity Insider is a reader-supported publication committed to raising the standard for what modern medicine can be.
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