Longevity Docs: Day 2 Lunch Lecture Recap

The lunch session on Day 2 of the Longevity Docs Summit offered something rare in the anti-aging space: unfiltered honesty about the business of medicine and the biology of regenerative therapy. This wasn't a showcase of flashy products or protocols. It was a reflection on what it takes to build something meaningful in longevity—and what happens when you compromise.

But before we begin, please share this with your doctor, your friends and your family. It will help them along the Journey to Medicine 3.0

Dr. Darshan Shah, founder of Next Health, opened the session by sharing a deeply personal story. A surgeon by training, he found himself on the wrong side of his own health. Diagnosed with autoimmune disease, living with obesity and diabetes, he hit a wall. He described it as a "Peter Attia-style reckoning," where he realized that practicing conventional medicine wasn’t enough—not for his patients, and not for himself.

This personal transformation led him to start Next Health, which has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable longevity clinic franchises in the country. But Shah didn’t come to Cannes to talk about success. He came to talk about what it cost to get there—and what he refused to compromise.

According to Shah, his biggest challenge wasn’t building a clinical model. It was resisting pressure from board members and investors who wanted faster growth, looser standards, and scalability at the expense of ethics. He described moments when he was pushed to sacrifice clinical rigor for market expansion, and how he refused.

His message was blunt: you cannot scale longevity care by cutting corners. And you cannot build a clinic that lasts if you ignore the fundamentals of good medicine. He urged physicians to remember why they started in the first place and to never let a boardroom overrule the bedside.

To hear more about cutting edge physicians and cutting edge longevity techniques and treatments, remember to subscribe.

For physicians in the audience, the takeaway was clear. Build your house on solid clinical ground, not marketing. Keep your standards intact even when the money gets loud. For patients, the message was equally important: know who owns your clinic. Know who’s setting the strategy. If it’s not a physician with integrity, think twice.

The second half of the session shifted from business ethics to biological precision, and it came with another firm warning, this time from Dr. Pradeep Albert, a respected leader in regenerative medicine.

Dr. Albert returned to a theme he’s emphasized repeatedly throughout the summit: biologics like exosomes and stem cells are only as safe and effective as their source and their preparation. He warned clinicians against using any biologic product—especially injectables—unless they are GMP-certified and fully traceable.

He explained that most stem cells and exosomes are cultured in a nutrient medium. If that medium contains toxins, chemical residues, or reporter elements, those impurities will carry through into the final product—and ultimately into the patient. Drawing on his own experience in genetics and cell culture at Mount Sinai, I can confirm this risk is very real. The culture environment matters.

Albert’s point was simple: if you're injecting something into a patient, you better know exactly where it came from, how it was processed, and what's still in it. Guessing isn't good enough.

The implications for both doctors and patients are serious. Physicians must ask hard questions of their suppliers. What kind of cells are these? What donor criteria were used? What’s in the growth medium? Were the cells tested post-expansion for contaminants? One of the biggest holes in the current new state laws in Florida regarding Stem Cell products is the definition of post expansion testing. It is so wide a hurricane could go through it.

Patients, too, have the right to ask. If you're receiving a stem cell infusion or an exosome therapy, ask your provider where it was made, how it was certified, and what’s in the vial. If your doctor can’t answer confidently, that’s your answer.

Do you use exosomes for patients? Have you received them as a patient? Did they work?

As the room emptied for the afternoon sessions, the themes of the hour lingered. This wasn’t a talk about dosage or mitochondria. It was about responsibility.

Dr. Shah reminded us that the future of longevity medicine depends not only on innovation, but on integrity. Dr. Albert reminded us that not all stem cells are equal and that a beautiful brochure means nothing without validated science behind it.

Longevity medicine is at an inflection point. The tools are here. The funding is here. But without standards, without regulation, and without physicians willing to hold the line, this field risks being co-opted by hype.

This session was a call to get serious. To remember that primum non nocere still applies. And to keep the patient, not the product, not the margin at the center of everything we build.

Do you want to know how you can take action based on this post? You can start by subscribing for more actionable longevity insider tips.

The Five Guys, Clinical and Patient-Level Takeaways from the Day 2 Lunch Lecture

1. Do not let investors dictate your clinical decisions

Dr. Darshan Shah shared his experience building Next Health and how investor pressure nearly compromised his standards. He spoke candidly about boardroom demands that prioritized rapid growth over medical integrity.

For clinicians, the lesson is clear: protect your clinical standards before you scale.

Start by creating a formal clinical charter that defines what your practice will and will not compromise. Conduct a self-audit. Are you offering anything just because it sells, not because it works?

For patients, it is important to ask who is behind your longevity clinic. If the answers sound more like a pitch deck than a care plan, you may want to look elsewhere.

2. Hyperbaric oxygen and biologic therapies require direct medical supervision

Dr. Shah highlighted a growing concern: high-risk therapies like hyperbaric oxygen are increasingly offered without proper physician oversight. This is both unethical and potentially dangerous. If you are offering HBOT, IV NAD, ozone, or other intensive therapies, make sure your protocols include physician-led screenings, pre-treatment evaluation, and safety monitoring.

Patients should never undergo these procedures in spa-like environments or without an on-site physician. These therapies are medical in nature, not recreational.

3. GMP certification is mandatory for injectables, not a marketing add-on

Both Dr. Shah and Dr. Pradeep Albert emphasized that clinicians must demand full transparency when sourcing biologic products such as stem cells or exosomes. If it is going into a patient’s bloodstream, you must know where it came from, how it was cultured, and whether it meets GMP standards. You should only work with suppliers who can provide batch-level GMP documentation and donor screening protocols.

Patients have the right to ask their provider about the origin and preparation of any injectable. If the provider cannot answer confidently and clearly, consider that a red flag.

4. Toxins in the culture medium can make their way into the patient

Dr. Albert made a critical point about how cells grown in contaminated or poorly controlled media can carry toxic residues into the human body. He reminded us that in IVF and stem cell processing, even minor contaminants in the culture broth can have unintended biological effects. Ask your suppliers about the composition of their media, how it is cleared, and what quality control processes are in place.

Patients should assume that any biologic coming out of a bottle has a history. Ask to understand what was in the growth environment of your therapy before it reaches your body.

5. Recommit to first, do no harm

Dr. Shah concluded with a simple but powerful reminder. No matter the pressure to innovate, commercialize, or scale, the core of longevity medicine must still be patient safety. Primum non nocere is not an outdated ideal. It is more relevant than ever.

Clinicians should revisit their ethical guardrails. Make a list of what you will not offer, regardless of demand or revenue potential. Then share that commitment openly with your patients. It builds trust.

Patients should seek out clinics that prioritize transparency and are willing to say no when a therapy does not meet safety, efficacy, or readiness criteria.

This lunch lecture offered no new molecule, no flashy protocol, but it may have delivered the most important message of the summit. True longevity practice is built on ethics, not expedience.

More updates coming soon. The afternoon sessions resume shortly. Until then, I’ll leave you with the most important reminder of the day: your name, your license, and your reputation are on the line with every decision you make. Make them count.

To A Life Well Lived,

— Dr. M
The Longevity Insider