STOP TIM BOLEN'S, ILENA ROSENTHAL'S
& BILL O'NEILL'S

DEFAMATION AND LIBEL
JOIN THE BATTLE


We dedicate this site to those who have been defrauded by cancer quacks everywhere. If you stumbled across our version of CCRG, then you've come to the right place. We don't have the world's largest database of cancer information, but we do have just about the best collection of cancer misinformation, cancer quacks and criminals that prey on innocent patients and their families.

Suckers:
How Alternative Medicine Makes Fools of Us All

by Rose Shapiro

Order your copy now!

Suckers reveals how alternative medicine can jeopardize the health of those it claims to treat, leaches resources from treatments of proven efficacy and is largely unaccountable and unregulated. In short, it is an industry that preys on human vulnerability and makes fools of us all.

  • Review by Steven Poole in The Guardian
  • Snake Oil Science:
    The Truth about Complementary
    and Alternative Medicine

    by R. Barker Bausell

    Millions of people worldwide swear by such therapies as acupuncture, herbal cures, and homeopathic remedies. Indeed, complementary and alternative medicine is embraced by a broad spectrum of society, from ordinary people, to scientists and physicians, to celebrities such as Prince Charles and Oprah Winfrey.

    In the tradition of Michael Shermer's Why People Believe Weird Things and Robert Parks's Voodoo Science, Barker Bausell provides an engaging look at the scientific evidence for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and at the logical, psychological, and physiological pitfalls that lead otherwise intelligent people--including researchers, physicians, and therapists--to endorse these cures.

    The book's ultimate goal is to reveal not whether these therapies work--as Bausell explains, most do work, although weakly and temporarily--but whether they work for the reasons their proponents believe. Indeed, as Bausell reveals, it is the placebo effect that accounts for most of the positive results.

    He explores this remarkable phenomenon--the biological and chemical evidence for the placebo effect, how it works in the body, and why research on any therapy that does not factor in the placebo effect will inevitably produce false results. By contrast, as Bausell shows in an impressive survey of research from high-quality scientific journals and systematic reviews, studies employing credible placebo controls do not indicate positive effects for CAM therapies over and above those attributable to random chance.

    Here is not only an entertaining critique of the strangely zealous world of CAM belief and practice, but it also a first-rate introduction to how to correctly interpret scientific research of any sort. Readers will come away with a solid understanding of good vs. bad research practice and a healthy skepticism of claims about the latest miracle cure, be it St. John's Wort for depression or acupuncture for chronic pain.


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    Hot Topics

  • O'Neill fails to shutdown this web site
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  • Bill O'Neill and the CCRG

    Bill O'Neill has left the building

    On or about January 28, 2011, Bill O'Neill's CCRG web site was no longer available on the Internet, even in the archives that used to go back over a dozen years. You can still look at some of the old site if there is a "cache" available on Google Search. A link to the robtex.com web site shows a very confusing pattern for O'Neill's web site.

    A look inside the door of 99 Fifth Avenue failed to locate Mr. O'Neill, the CCRG, or ISM (Immune System Management). ISM (Aminomics) has announced that they moved to a new home located at 80 Aberdeen, an upscale building in the core of downtown Ottawa. We don't know if Mr. O'Neill has moved his CCRG into that building, or even if this company is still operating.

    We do know that ISM has had a few of their natural health products approved by the NHPD, and that some of the OncomatRx products are considered to be Exempted until reviewed. Health Canada has not explained why any of these products were Exempted. You can see a list of OncomatRx exempted products.

    Canadian Access of Information Requests System (CAIRS) regarding OncomatRx have been pending since the summer of 2006. You can visit a web site maintained by D. McKie at Carleton University and search for oncomatRX if you want to see the original CAIR request. Anyone can file a CAIRS with Health Canada to see how, and why products or devices were approved.

    Eoghan O'Shea disciplined by the CPSO

    In late January 2009, the Disciplinary Committee of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) said that they would be calling witnesses in a disciplinary hearing against Dr. Eoghan O'Shea. It took over one year for the case to finally be heard.

    I was at O'Shea's hearing on January 26, 2010 and observed the proceedings and was shocked by the final decision. Nobody was called as a witness and nobody heard Dr. O'Shea's voice in the nearly empty chamber.

    A number of complaints were made to the CPSO alleging that Dr. O'Shea should be investigated for professional misconduct for his care of patients and for his involvement with Bill O'Neill and the CCRG and related companies. It took many years before it finally ended up with the Discipline Committee of the College. The original charge alleged that Dr. O'Shea, while employed at, consulting for, or affiliated with the Canadian Cancer Research Group failed to maintain the standard of practice of the profession.

    The hearing began forty-five minutes late and rumours were circulating that the decision had already been made, and that before it was to be announced there was quite an unusual twist. Tim Danson, the famous Toronto criminal counsel, was allowed to address the five-member committee even though he was not retained as a lawyer in the matter before the Committee.

    Mr. Danson was hired by Bill O'Neill. In a nutshell, this is what Danson stated before the Committee:

    1. I am here to defend the reputation of Bill O'Neill of Ottawa's CCRG
    2. If any negative statements are made against my client that are unfair there could be consequences
    3. Bill O'Neill has a right to be heard to defend himself

    The CPSO's counsel told Danson bluntly that there is "no right" to be heard in this hearing. Mr. Danson is not in any position to be an Intervenor in this affair. That didn't stop Danson from schmoozing with the press that came to the hearing during the breaks and after the short deliberations. More later.

    In my opinion, what happened next was a severe blow to the families who were actually treated by Dr. O'Shea when he worked for Bill O'Neill. Pat McDougall and his daughter Christine sat next to me at the hearing. Kathy McDougall, Pat's other daughter, died of terminal cancer at the time that O'Shea worked for O'Neill.

    Most of the time we sat in a nearly empty chamber waiting for the shoe to drop on O'Shea. The Committee disappeared frequently into a conference room to supposedly deliberate on a decision and finally a penalty.

    Highlights of the Committee's presentation

    Eoghan O'Shea was first registered in Ontario in 1990. He was a specialist in family medicine.

    He worked for Bill O'Neill from 2000-2006, and during some of that time he was the medical director, or was employed by his organizations. He practiced what the Committee labeled as "complementary medicine". He saw patients at the CCRG who the CPSO said were "terminally ill". He evaluated their "amino acid levels" and compounded supplements and other nutritional products to replace their "amino acid deficiencies" that they claimed would assist their immune system to fight the cancer.

    (Of course there was zero evidence that any of their treatments did anything to fight cancer. But, the CPSO presented no evidence to that effect).

    Witnesses were never called to offer evidence in regards to the types of treatments that were recommended or carried out by O'Shea.

    The CPSO announced that the lawyers on both sides and the Committee had reached a decision that O'Shea had:

    1. Failed to examine the patients reviewed (only six charts were studied)
    2. Failed to communicate with their own physicians about the treatments and conditions
    3. Failed to get informed consent from the patients.

    Decision:

    1. Guilty of professional misconduct and fined $3,650
    2. He has one year to attend a medical ethics course run by the CPSO
    3. He is prohibited from practicing complementary medicine for terminally ill patients
    4. He is prohibited from compounding nutritional supplements for terminally ill patients
    5. He is to have nothing to do with Bill O'Neill and the CCRG or any of their companies

    What the CPSO failed to do:

    1. There was NO reprimand or suspension from practice for any term.
    2. There were no terms of supervision of his existing practice of family medicine

    What O'Shea didn't do:

    1. He offered no apology, and neither did his lawyer.
    2. He was silent during the entire proceedings

    My Comments

    There were three reporters who interviewed the McDougalls and Tim Danson after the hearing. Danson stood around in the hallway and spoke about the CCRG and his role in acting as the lawyer for Bill O'Neill. He said that the CCRG's lawsuit against CTV's W-Five special called "Dr. Hope" is still in the works. This stemmed from the undercover investigative report that aired on their network a few years ago.

    Apparently Bill O'Neill has, according to Mr. Danson, many friends who are in high places in Ottawa that would support Dr. O'Shea and his practice and continue to support Bill O'Neill's efforts. He honestly believed that O'Neill's amino acid therapy did help treat cancer and enhance the immune system. Danson put on a good show for the reporters but it was like pouring acid in an open wound for his clients' victims.

    Pat McDougall distributed a press kit that include a copy of the Ottawa Sun article written by Donna Casey that appeared on January 22, 2010. Pat's picture appeared on the FRONT page of that issue. He and his daughter Christine also had a long talk with members of the CPSO after the hearing was over.

    In my opinion, the case is NOT over. The victims of the CCRG have a right to be heard publicly before a tribunal. Complaints about the CCRG have fallen on deaf ears over the last 13 years. Nobody at the Ottawa Police, the RCMP, ministers of health, and members of Parliament have been interested in helping those who have received unapproved care for the terminally ill. Neither has the Competition Bureau and other agencies that are mandated to protect the public (and that includes the CPSO).

    What can people like the McDougalls do?

    The complaints process of the CPSO is subject to appeal.

    Almost all complaint decisions of the College’s Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee can be appealed by you or the doctor to an independent government body, called the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board. The only decisions that cannot be appealed are those in which the matter is referred to the College’s Discipline Committee or the doctor is referred to a panel of the Committee because of concerns about the doctor's health. The College sends contact information for the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board with every Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee decision.

    HPARB (Health Professions Appeal and Review Board) is an independent agency in Toronto that has the power to review the CPSO Disciplinary Committee's decision.

    What we don't know are the details of what went on before the hearing that lead to the decision to allow O'Shea to admit that he had violated the standards, or policies of the CPSO. What charts were reviewed? What was not reviewed? Were interviews recorded with the families of those who have died after attending the CCRG?

    Why were the families who have been victimized by Dr. O'Shea and the CCRG not allowed to present their impact statements before the deliberations were terminated prematurely?

    Why weren't statements made those people who have had dealings with O'Shea while he worked for Bill O'Neill over the years made public?

    The CPSO introduced the infamous Complementary Medicine policy that was handed down in 1997 and updated in 2004 to the decision rendered. In my opinion, this policy legitimizes almost all aspects of alternative medicine when performed by medical doctors in Ontario. In other words, doctors who practice alternative medicine need not prove to the prospective patient that any of their nonsense works.

    1. What would keep O'Shea from practicing complementary medicine on patients who are NOT terminally ill?
    2. Why is the CCRG facility still allowed to see cancer patients?
    3. Why is Health Canada refusing to take any action against the ISM or Aminomics?
    4. Who are the famous people of influence that Bill Danson says keep the CCRG going?

    Why is Eoghan O'Shea's name still listed on Bill O'Neill's web site under the title as medical director? Does Bill O'Neill's attorney of record intend to keep this on their ISM web site?

    Anyone who has had questionable dealings with Bill O'Neill at the CCRG at his clinic in Ottawa, or through his ISM company needs to contact their Member of Parliament, the Competition Bureau, and even law enforcement if they have concerns.

    O'Neill is probably sitting up there in his mansion in Ottawa smiling right now. After all is said and done, the quacks may have had the last laugh. Those families who have had loved ones perish after having taken them to the CCRG need to start the ball rolling and appeal this ridiculous decision by the CPSO.

    I am ashamed to have the regulators of my profession act in this manner. The battle continues to have the CPSO act responsively to protect the public. In Ontario, if any regulated health profession fails to act in the best interest of the public, they can be investigated by the government.

    What interest was served today? In my opinion, Bill O'Neill has won this battle, and we have little hope for any changes that would change things.

    Terry Polevoy, MD
    Waterloo, Ontario

    News articles

  • Ottawa MD pleads guilty to professional misconduct - Ottawa Citizen - January 26, 2010
  • Father's long crusade for answers - Donna Carey - Ottawa SUN - Jan 22, 2010
  • Doc gets "slap on wrist" at misconduct hearing
  • Shutting down the hucksters of false hope - Janice Kennedy - Ottawa Citizen - Aug 24, 2008

    CCRG's Medical director now working elsewhere

    We believe that Dr. Eoghan O'Shea, the doctor who had worked at the CCRG in Ottawa and was the medical director of ISM (Immune Systems Management) is now working in a number of other settings. It's probably good news for all concerned. As far as we know, there have been no public statements made by O'Neill, or any of his anonymous alter-egos anywhere on the Internet that O'Shea has moved on in his professional career.

    Bill O'Neill's and medical director Eoghan O'Shea's complaints nixed by CPSO

    Dr. Eoghan O'Shea the medical doctor who works at the CCRG in Ottawa and was appointed as the medical director of ISM (Immune Systems Management) filed a complaint with the CPSO (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) earlier this year.

    William P. O'Neill, O'Shea's boss at the CCRG and ISM, also filed a complaint about Dr. Polevoy. Fortunately, O'Neill's spin on the facts did not elicit a very sympathetic response from the CPSO. Featured in their response were quotes from what I believe to be O'Neill's dirty little posts, or fake web sites that used my name. In other words I suspect that he pretended to be me. Those posts actually threatened his life. Any fool could tell that the posts or web sites were not mine. In fact, the CPSO dared O'Neill to call the police if I had actually made death threats against him. The truth about O'Neill's nastiness can be heard in his telephone threats below.


  • Bill O'Neill failed to shutdown this web site

    Without warning in the late afternoon of May 29, 2009 BlueHost.com my ISP in Provo, Utah responded to Bill O'Neill's DMCA complaint by shutting this web site down. Bill, a man considered to be quite deranged by numerous individuals, must have been gloating in his Ottawa office.

    For over nine years, Bill has attempted to silence many of his critics, especially Dr. Terry Polevoy, a Waterloo, Ontario medical doctor and founder of HealthWatcher.net.

    He used what is referred to as the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), a U.S. law passed to protect intellectual property values on the Internet.

    Nobody at Bluehost.com was able to help us get back on the Internet until after my "counter-DMCA" response was sent back to them AND that form was evaluated by their legal department. O'Neill timed his complaint just right. Because it was Friday afternoon, Bluehost's staff claimed that they were unable to do anything until they received a counter-DMCA response from me, AND it must be approved by their legal staff. So, it took until about noon on Monday, June 1st when I finally heard back from from Shari Dixon in their legal department.

    In order to understand how difficult it was to find anything about their internal policy that resulted in this complete shutdown of all of my web sites I turned to their web site and discovered that the only place that the DMCA was mentioned was on their forums:

    Bluehost.com's DMCA policy is nowhere to be found on their publicly displayed web pages. It isn't even mentioned in their Terms of Service.

    Some of my friends sent e-mailed the company's legal department to complain. The main problem was that O'Neill's complaint forced Bluehost.com to shut me down without any evidence that any wrongdoing took place. All that they needed was a simple DMCA complaint. Is that fair? I don't think so.

    As a consequence of this complaint, each an every page of my web sites were blocked. When my patients tried to reach me on my acnedocs.com web site they were told that it was suspended. It didn't say that there were technical difficulties, they said that it was suspended.

    This statement inferred that I it was shutdown without any explanation. Had I violated their terms of service, had I libeled someone, was I doing something illegal. Who knew?

    Bill O'Neill has for nearly a decade claimed to have sued many people. He's left vile messages on my answering machine (see below). And yet, he continues to defraud people who come to him for the treatments of their cancers and other problems.

    If you have information in regards to Bill O'Neill's similar activites please contact me and I would love to make them public.

    Thanks,

    Terry Polevoy, MD


    Medical clinic raided in Ottawa

    News Releases Ottawa Police Service  
              
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Friday, May 11, 2007, 10:40 am
    
    Ottawa Police Service assisted Investigators of the 
    College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
    
    (Ottawa) On Thursday May 10th at 10:00 am the Ottawa Police
    Service  assisted in the execution of a warrant by
    Investigators with the College of Physicians and Surgeons
    of Ontario under the Regulated Health Professions Act. The
    warrant was executed at a business located on Fifth Ave.
    
    No arrest were made and no charges were laid. The
    investigation is ongoing by the College of Physicians and
    Surgeons of Ontario under the Regulated Health Professions
    Act.
    
    -30-
    
    Contact:
    Detective Mitch Proteau
    Ottawa Police Service Central East District Investigations
    613-236-1222 ext 5636 
    

  • The exact address, according to sources, was 99 Fifth Ave, Suite 22. The police refuse to provide a copy of the warrant, and of course the CPSO will not confirm or deny that they asked for the warrant in the first place.

  • Graduate students threatened by Bill O'Neill

    BayBlab graduate science students were the target of our friend Bill O'Neill in March 2007. These bright folks were able to trace his e-mails directly to his computer. These folks don't hold back with their detailed account of what happened. If you're a regular on the bayblab, or have listened to our last podcast, you know we have a beef with a certain cancer quack here in ottawa. Well an informant tells me there was a little raid conducted there last week under the guise of the royal college of physicians and surgeons. It seems our friend may have had the visit of some law enforcement officers. Perhaps the royal college reads the bayblab... Now this made my Monday morning.... Suck it Bill. It's the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario folks.
    • March 27, 2007 Finally somebody understands how much a couple of graduate students working on cancer with a blog are a powerful authority. It was about time something was done to stop this nonsense. Here is the history of what happened when William O'Neill who has accumulated quite a reputation with his alternative therapy to cancer, and his attacks against a blog run by graduate students actually doing work on cancer.

      At 12:33:27 that person puts an "anonymous" comment on the blog: "hey fuckwad! post a peer reviewed study demonstrating the efficacy of chemotherapy. goodluck...." Ouch somebody called me fuckwad, that's rude, my feelings are hurt. Yet another chemotherapy denier!

      Geez thank god the internet is not anonymous...Somebody got his IP blocked!!!


    Dr. Hope exposed on CTV's W-FIVE

    The long awaited exposé of Canadian Cancer Research Group, one of Canada's most notorious unregulated cancer clinics has uncovered the undeniable truth. They don't have any cures for cancer, and they haven't done any research. Plus throw in a little side trip to one of California's quack cancer conventions, a peek inside a few dumpy cancer clinics in Tijuana and watch the archived footage of the Mexican Army carting off Hulda Clark a few years ago, and you have the makings of an award winning show. And CTV makes it easy for everyone to watch it around the world.

    But most of the show is about Bill O'Neill and the people who have fallen victim to his deception. Mark my word, but this would appear to be a great opportunity for someone to finally be forced into taking action. We can only hope.

    CTV's web site maintained links to the four-part special for several months.

    Summaries of the segments are below. I recently obtained the transcript of the show after repeatedly asking unsucessfully to have CTV put the show back on the Internet.

  • Dr. Hope Transcript

    Hulda Clark the Queen of Canadian Quackery
  • Part 1 - A visit to a California cancer show where you can see chiropractors giving people the "activator" treatment, a traditional Chinese medicine man and all sorts of impossible cures. Then a tour of Tijuana cancer clinics, and finally take a look at Dr. Hulda Clark being removed from her clinic by the Mexican Army. But, that's another story.


    Frank Bagyan's MRI just before he was told by Bill O'Neill that he was doing just fine

  • Part 2 - When Frank Bagyan, from Newburgh, Ontario arrived on Bill O'Neill's doorstep he promised that he would get rid of his huge brain tumour. One week before he died O'Neill told Frank that his cancer was melting away.

  • Part 3 - Brief profile of the people who own and run the CCRG, and their bogus methods. More victims, including a woman who was an Ontario Provincial Police officer who refused standard therapy for sarcoidosis (this is not cancer). Six months later she died.

  • Part 4- Victims have no recourse - Ask Pat McDougall why the government and the medical regulators ignored his pleas for an investigation? And finally, Dr. Hope brings in two ringers who claim that they are still alive, thanks to his treatment. Then Bill sits down in front of the camera, and asks for the "next question". Oh, he does the "all the documents are forgeries" bit of course. And yes there are "legal" and "criminal" proceedings underway. He denies that he ever told people that he hasn't lost a cancer patient, or that he has an 80% success rate for some cancers. Yeah right!!! Hey, here's a good one, he told a patient that it would be more therapeutic to drink cold beer instead of the standard treatment!

  • W-FIVE home page
  • CTV - FAQs

    You can purchase video copies of the entire show and/or transcript from them.

  • Join the CTV Forum to leave your thoughts

    • Quackery or Sound Science - CCRG on the CTV Forum - The posts made in April 2007 indicate that Bill might be using an unlicensed MD somewhere in his organization. If that's correct, then maybe that's why the CPSO raided his office at 99 Fifth Avenue on May 10th. Now that's interesting indeed. Thanks to the people who put this information on the CTV's forum. I'm sure that we are all waiting eagerly for the rest of the story. But, the police and the CPSO have put a lid on all information. What next, are they going to call in CSIS to shore up the situation?

    Anonymous threats sent to
    Dr. Terry Polevoy about Bill O'Neill

    The following personal e-mail was sent via hastio.org, a Spanish-language anonymous remailer site. I believe that the sender is probably not really a friend of Bill O'Neill. It could be Mr. Bill himself, or someone in his immediate family. The language of this correspondence resembles numerous other such personal attacks over the years made via phonecalls and e-mails. I suggest that you follow some of the links below to get a flavour of what I mean. When this individual sends e-mail threats to people, they usually uses Italian remailers. So, this one may not be from them. I have edited out the non-essential header information, but should anybody, including law enforcement be interested, I can provide the unedited version on request.

    BTW - the word hastio means I am bored, disgusted or sickened. I wonder if Mr. Anonymous is all three.

    
    18 Aug 2006 01:48:10 +0200
    To: tpinfo@healthwatcher.net
    From: anonymous@remailer.hastio.org
    Date: 17 Aug 2006 23:48:10 -0000
    Subject: Good Bye Mister Polevoy!
    Comments: This message did not originate from the above address. It was
            automatically remailed by one or more anonymous mail services.
            This service is free. Please report problems or inappropriate use
            to the address below.
    X-Remailer-Contact: http://remailer.hastio.org	 
    
    To: tpinfo@healthwatcher.net
    From: anonymous@remailer.hastio.org
    Date: 17 Aug 2006 23:48:10 -0000

    Subject: Good Bye Mister Polevoy!

    I am one of Bill O'Neill's high profile patients.

    I make more money in 10 minutes than you will make in a lifetime.

    I am funding a lawsuit against you.
    I will win.

    You are truly a sick and twisted little man. You will not be practicing medicine anymore.

    Bill O'Neill and CCRG has given me back my life.

    I will use all my good health, my time and resources to destroy you.

    And, I guarantee it will be very very public.


    Just say the magic word and a black bird will plop down on your head with all of the knowledge of the universe!!
    Life is too short to worry about the consequences.
    Well, Mr. Anonymous honcho. If you are going to file a lawsuit against Dr. Polevoy, you will be unable to hide behind a mask. So, be brave and let us all know who you are.

    Bill O'Neill's reaction to CTV's W-FIVE

  • CCRG Pursues CTV-W5 - Bill O'Neill says he has threatened to sue the producers of the W-FIVE and directed this page to his customers. He calls them "patients". Unfortunately, he isn't a doctor, and should not be calling them "patients".
  • We have some serious questions for Mr. O'Neill and his medical staff.

    • Where are your "peer-reviewed journal articles"?

    • When has the CCRG done any genuine research or submitted to anything that remotely resembles double-blind testing of your ridiculous approach to the treatment of cancer?

    • If you indeed "provided access" to your laboratory, how and when did W-Five "breach security" there? Anyone curious about CCRG's presence at the Ottawa Biotechnology Incubation Centre (OBIC) has to deal with a gated facility that, to say the least, doesn't welcome visitors. Since the OBIC has accepted grants from the province and the City of Ottawa, isn't the public entitled to know what a spinoff of the CCRG is doing there besides preparing the ingredients you claim can eradicate cancer?
    • Did you or did you not tell someone you believed was seriously ill with cancer:

      "It would be more therapeutic for you to drink cold beer than to pursue this route of treatment that would include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation."

      And then go on to blithely counsel the same person that "nothing would be lost if conventional treatment were to be set aside" while your nonsensical substitute ran its course.

      Those two statements taken together are enough to indeed engender "doubt and suspicion" in anyone. Especially when your web site offers this conflicting advice:

      "A person with cancer needs to put together a team of experts. This could include a surgeon, an oncologist, a radiation therapist..."

    Which is it to be, Mr. O'Neill? A life may be at stake.

    -- Does the CCRG really "maintain membership with the Ottawa Life Sciences Council (OLSC)"? The CCRG is not listed as a member on the OLSC's web site. Neither are any of its "spinoffs" - OncomatRx, Immune System Management, etc.

    Once and for all, Mr. O'Neill, come clean.


    In case you need reminding about some of Bill O'Neill's activities just check out the following sites.

    Bill sues to get a piece of an 88 year old man's will:

    In 2003, Bill O'Neill's lawyer, Douglas W. Smith, file a lawsuit against the estate of Peter Frederick Bramwell who died at age 88. It seems that there had been a change in his will in 2002 and he named an entity that he called Canadian Cancer Foundation to receive part of his estate. The Canadian Cancer Society contested the attempt by the CCRG to claim the money. The suit was settled and the CCRG had to pay a large fine to the court. Can you imagine trying to take something that was intended as a donation for the Canadian Cancer Society? Shame on Bill and shame on his lawyer, too.

    Phone threats made to Dr. Terry Polevoy

    Bill O'Neill on the other end of the line
    • June 29, 2000 - .mp3 file. Mr. O'Neill wanted to call in his lawyers and the cops to my London office. I am still waiting.

    • September 14, 2004 - .mp3 file. When CTV visited his office to do the interview for W-FIVE in 2005, I wonder if he was able to hold his temper. Why would a man referred to as Dr. Hope, who always seems to be in control of his faculties before the cameras become a vile and uncontrolled Mr. Hyde on my answering machine? One wonders if perhaps something was making him a wee bit angry at the time. His many internet disguises, as you will see below, are an outlet for his internet rage. We don't know what triggers these tantrums, but perhaps he had just had his life torn apart by another outraged relative who had just lost their loved one to his nutraceutical web of deception.

    Disclaimer

    This site in no way implies that the CCRG, William O'Neill, or the doctors who are associated with the CCRG are in violation of any law, nor should they be considered to be practicing medicine without a license, or in violation of the regulated health professions acts, or the College of Physicians of Ontario guidelines.

    The claims made by the CCRG, William O'Neill, or any physician or spokeperson associated with them are their own responsibility. Should anyone who has used their services feel that they have been served adequately, then they have the opportunity to let us know. Should the people who have felt that they have been deceived, or lied to by the claims made by the CCRG, William O'Neill, or any physician associated with them there are a number of avenues that they can take. This is especially true if you were referred to any offshore clinic, in the Bahamas, or Mexico.

    Warning!!!
    We are also not responsible if Mr. O'Neill's e-mail is used to post angry and demented messages to web sites that discuss medical quackery. Mr. O'Neill can be held legally responsible should he use an alias, or use a site such as anonymizer.com or exodus.net to make threats in his posts that would probably get him a suspension from Grade 3 for life. If Bill O'Neill is angry, why not write a nice note to the principal, and apologize to all concerned. We are not responsible for the cancer that has caused his son's illness, and we are not going to take the heat from any further insults from him or anyone else in that regard.

    What can you do if you suspect that your physician practices quackery?

    • Complain to the CPSO The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario are responsible for protecting the public against bad doctors. If a licensed medical doctor employs an unqualified medical assistant to perform medical tasks, that medical doctor may be in violation of the Ontario Acts that regulate our health professionals. For instance, if a provider uses a Vega machine, iridology tests, intravenous ozone, hyperbaric oxygen, or other questionable devices or procedures in their practice, and if they claim that those procedures or tests have been associated with positive outcomes for your cancer, you have a right to complain. If that provider provides nutritional evaluation for your particular medical condition, they may be in violation of another of the regulated health protection acts, that one governs Registered Dieticians in this Province. The CPSO will listen to every complaint, no matter how inconsequential. Don't be intimidated to believe that any doctor, hospital or "information databank" can provide you with a cure for your cancer. There are no guarantees. Desperate people do desperate things. So, if you've been referred to a specific medical doctor by the CCRG, and you question their credentials, and treatment, you have the right to contact the CPSO directly. If you are outside of Ontario, you should contact the College of Physicians and Surgeons in your Province.

    • Contact the Competition Bureau Suppose that you see an advertisment or hear a radio show that promotes the CCRG. You contact them and are convinced that if you send them $750 as an advance, they can indeed help you find a specific treatment for your condition. You may even be asked to sign a contract for additional research at several hundred, or maybe even several thousands of dollars. You have a right to have that contract reviewed by your own doctor, or a lawyer to ask them to check the validity of the claims that were made. If the CCRG tells you that the hospital or clinic that they are going to send you to has a 70% success rate for let's say "osteosarcoma" for your 13 year old boy, then ask to see the published statistics. If you ask to see the credentials of the doctor in that clinic, and they refuse, you have the right to complain. If you don't get an answer, you have the right to ask for your money back. It's no different than if you would take your car into the garage to get fixed. You are entitled to a second and third opinion. It is unlikely that you will receive a rejection from any offshore clinic that you are referred to. And, by the way, ask the CCRG if they get a commission for making the referral, and see what they say. It is illegal for a medical doctor to make any commission from the referral of any patient to another doctor or clinic. This was clearly spelled out in a massive consumer fraud operation about 10 years ago that involved psychiatric referrals to clinics in the U.S. for drug abuse and alcoholism. This should be no different if it involves a referral for cancer treatment. I suggest that you send any contract you get from CCRG to the Competition Bureau and see what they say.

    • Contact Health Canada If you feel that your treatment has included an experimental or unapproved device, product, or chemical mixture that has injured you, or has not worked as promised, contact them immediately. Health Canada plays a key role in a special quackery task force. They are working closely with the U.S., and Mexican authorities and their target are the cancer mills in Mexico and the Caribbean that traffic in human cancer patients. It is particularly egregious when they prey on children, and there are ample examples of this that have been well documented.

    • Write to the Minister of Health - If he hears directly from consumers about serious problems in the health care system it will really make a difference.

    • Write to the Ontario Minister of Health- If they hear directly from consumers about serious problems in the health care system, it will really make a difference.

    • Drop us a line whenever you complain to any of the above. We'd be glad to post your complaints. That way, we can insure that the government sees them. If they sit on someone's desk in Ottawa or Toronto and they don't take action, the public will not be served.
    Amazon Quackery Books

    DVDs and VHS
    Penelope Williams book is her latest revelation about alternatives cancer therapy. It is now called simply "New Cancer Therapies - The Patient's Dilemma" .


    The first Williams alternative cancer edition was published in Canada by Key Porter Books and was called "Alternatives in Cancer Therapy - The Case for Choice" back in 2000. Bill O'Neill was featured in that book. It was then basically retitled as "Toxic Treatment - Surviving the Cancer Wars". As far as we know this basic book has been published and republished at least three times to fit the market.

    Penelope Williams book about alternative cancer treatment

    The new book, as far as we know, is the third different title used by the publisher here and in the U.S. If you want to read about some really weird happenings in the world of cancer treatment, and you don't mind reading a chapter about Bill O'Neill, then by all means buy one of her books.

    You will be able to order a similar book from Amazon, called New Cancer Therapies. I think you can safely assume that it's just a simple title change, too.

    Health Robbers - Barrett

    A Consumer's Guide to Alternative Medicine by Kurt Butler



    CCRG - Canadian Cancer Research Group

    Eoghan O'Shea's and Ken Lin's Abstract Ideas

    Scholarly presentations usually infer that the authors of "research" studies have academic appointments at recognized universities, agencies, or bonafide research facilities. They are supposed to list their affiliations when they make or submit their "research" to peer review or whenever they do presentations before professional organizations. Unfortunately, Eoghan O'Shea and Ken Lin who work for Bill O'Neill's companies, do not seem to understand that they have no individual academic affiliations, and their "research" does not seem to be peer reviewed, nor has it been subject to any REB (Research Ethics Board) anywhere in Canada. Furthermore, they don't represent the universities that they have listed in the abstract. They represent the CCRG, and that's enough for me to cause my hackles to stand on end.

    They pretend that their own research ethics statements are sufficient. That is just not the case. All human research in Canada must be reviewed (Click here for details).

    On two occasions, the first at the November 2005 IN-CAM meeting in Toronto, and then again at the March 2006 NHPSC event in Toronto, these gentleman proffered to ignore academic protocol.

  • IN-CAM Meeting - Toronto - November 2005 The Therapeutic Effect of Amino Acids in Prostate Cancer Patients - Eoghan O'Shea and Ken Lin's presented this paper in Toronto at IN-CAM meeting in November 2005 (abstract is on page 29). I have searched Canadian Federal databases to see if this study was approved through a research board, but haven't been able to verify it.

    The conclusion of this "study":

    "Prostate cancer symptoms correlate with disturbances in the host's protein metabolism. Normalization of imbalanced plasma amino acid profiles by the administration of patient-specific amino acid formulas can positively influence the clinical management of the cancer."

  • Natural Health Product Society Canada - March 3-5, 2006 The abstract presents the same credentials for both Lin and O'Shea as the IN-CAM meeting. Click here to view the abstract that they submitted. It is obvious to me that the latest abstract was probably never read before it was published by the staff of the Natural Health Products Research Society, because there are some serious problems with it. In fact, on the CCRG web site they stated that they were going to present their research on "breast cancer patients".

    So, what was actually studied, and was it just a typo?

    The abstract presented at the IN-CAM meeting was nearly identical with the abstract presented at the NHPRS affair. Only the name of the cancer and the number of patients was different.

    The title of the "research" presented was:

    "The therapeutic effect of amino acids in colorectal cancer patients".

    In the last paragraph of the abstract it states the following:

    "Conclusions: Prostate cancer symptoms correlate with disturbances in the host's protein metabolism. Normalization of imbalanced plasma amino acid profiles by the administration of patient-specific amino acid formulas may positively influence the clinical management of the cancer."

    The study was supposedly about colon cancer, and yet the conclusions say it was about prostate candcer. Hmmmm...

    Bill O'Neill's big deals

  • CCRG and ISM (Immune System Management) ink deal with Purity Professionals
    On December 13, 2005 O'Neill announced to the world through media releases and a radio appearance on CFRA radio that his company had inked a deal to market their intellectual property and their products would be sold by Purity Professionals, a nutraceutical distribution company from Acton, Ontario. The press releases were picked up by mainstream media and by several internet outlets as if it was a significant scientific breakthrough.

    So far, as of January 22, 2006, I have not seen anything posted on the Purity Professionals' web site that would confirm this. It's curious that Purity Professionals has remained silent. You would think that any company that plans to spend twenty-something million dollars in a deal with someone like O'Neill would want to have it all over their web site. Hmmmm......

    So, what exactly does this mean? Can people in Canada just market products that have not been approved by Health Canada, for whatever reason? The most interesting thing is the fact that the NHPD actually approved two CCRG products named "oncomatRx". The name by itself implies that they may be useful against cancer.

    How did the NHPD or Health Canada allow these products to obtain the designation as an NPN (Natural Product Number)? The NHPD has strict Compliance Guidelines in effect to protect the public from companies that make claims for their products. These regulations have been in effect since January 1, 2004. Regarding site licences:

    The transition period allows two years for a person currently manufacturing, packaging, labelling or importing a NHP to comply with the site licence requirements of the Regulations.

    Does ISM, the CCRG, or Purity Professionals have their site licenses for their newer products? - OrthoProsta, OrthoBreast, OrthoColo and OrthoWell? According to the NHPD Policies these types of products should have been approved by January 1, 2005. Were these approved one year ago?

    • Search News for CCRG

    • Listen to O'Neill on CFRA radio - December 13, 2005 - You can listen to the 11 min. 44 secs. of Bill O'Neill making claims about opening up a cancer clinics in major Canadian population centres in the next 1-3 years. I would assume that Purity Professionals, through their sales staff would then be able to supply these clinics with ISM designed products and the clinics would be staffed by licensed or regulated health professionals that would sell or administer their stuff.

      Of course the facts about the products and services claimed to be offered by O'Neill and the ISM were just glossed over by the host of the show, Rob Snow. In my opinion, this "business" story failed to be balanced and fair. Secondly, Rob Snow was asked to explain why he allowed O'Neill to make a presentation that was not "represented with accuracy", and in my opinion was biased. He said the following to me, "I have no interest in talking to you."

      The program director, David Mitchell, defended Rob Snow's show by making the following idiotic statement:

      "CFRA radio makes an important distinction between editorial health news and business interviews (and commercial advertising for that matter.) The interview to which you have referred was on our business show -- not in any way presented as a medical discussion, but rather a brief look at the "business" of setting up private clinics where their very existence is at the root of widespread political debate, particularly during this federal election campaign. Delving into the credibility of a particular product, treatment, healthcare system, medical practice or individual's personal background is neither the purview of this program, nor is it an area into which our host is qualified to venture.

      CFRA will not become involved in a substantive debate on the viability of the clinic or the integrity of any parties involved. That is not our role -- particularly in a very brief business-oriented interview such as the one at issue in our correspondence. No endorsement was ever stated or implied."

      Because of Dave Mitchell's response and refusal to take action in this case, I filed a complaint with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council about the program.

    All human research studies in Canada must be approved

    As of October 31, 2002, NCIC CTG has extended this educational requirement to all investigators in our member centres participating on any trial.

  • presence of clinical oncologists on-site
  • nursing support for chemotherapy
  • clinical trials nurse/data manager present on-site
  • appropriate lab and imaging facilities
  • appropriate hospital facilities (intensive care and support services)
  • pharmacy knowledgeable about investigational new drugs, vertical laminar flow hood, and so on (can be addressed with training)
  • the centre must have the wherewithal to have quality control performed
  • established "track record" in phase III trials (protocol adherence, data quality and timeliness)
  • permission of sponsoring agency
  • Canadian Research Ethics

  • Search for Canadian Research Ethics Boards
  • Institutional Review Board Services
  • NCEHR -National Council on Ethics in Human Research - home page
  • NCEHR links to Policies and Guidelines
  • McMaster University - Power Point presentation - November 2005
  • Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics
  • Canadian Association of Research Ethics Boards
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • CIHR - Ethics
  • CIHR - CIHR Funding Policy
  • CIRCARE - Citizens For Responsible Care and Research (CIRCARE): Human Research Protection in Canada
  • Health Canada Research Ethics Board - Annual Report 2004 : Continuing to build a culture of research ethics
  • Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans
  • ethica Clinical Research Inc. - A private contract research organization that works with companies who want to do approved research.
  • Continuing review of research approved by Canadian research ethics boards - Charles Weijer - CMAJ May 1, 2001
    The research ethics board is a social oversight mechanism to ensure that all human research subjects are protected. To achieve this end, research ethics boards must go beyond merely reviewing the paper protocols submitted by investigators. Continuing review of approved research is essential to ensure that research is conducted as planned, that research subjects comprehend the information presented to them in the consent process, and that the potential benefits and risks of study participation remain acceptable

    Ethical Research around the world

  • U.S. - Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP)- IRB Guidebook
  • U.S. - Registration of an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Independent Ethics Committee (IEC)
  • NCEHR links to Policies and Guidelines - lots of international links, including France, UK, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, etc.

    CCRG and associated companies

  • ISM web site - Aminomics.com

  • Staff of the ISM company: "Our Staff and Associates ISM is directed by medical doctors and doctorate specialists in biochemistry and analytical techniques, teamed with management and finance professionals, and backed by a friendly client support staff. ISM specialists are available for consultations with clients concerning the significance of test results, unusual cases, and other technical matters."

  • Purity Professionals catalogue - 180 page Adobe .pdf. Please browse the catalog and look at some of their products that they distribute. Ask them if there are any studies that prove that any of the products are effective against cancer. And, ask them to name the products designed by ISM or CCRG will be included in their catalog.

  • Dr. Eoghan O'Shea told the CPSO (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) that he hasn't been associated with Bill O'Neill or the CCRG for five years. That's funny, because his office was moved to 99 Fifth Ave - Suite 22, Ottawa several months before the press release. Has Dr. O'Shea treated many of the high profile patients championed by Mr. O'Neill with products that have not been approved by Health Canada? Which research ethics board did Dr. O'Shea apply to for this prostate cancer study along with Ken Lin?

    Bill O'Neill's Greatest Hits

  • O'Neill operates above the law! - He's had a vendetta against the medical establishment for over a decade. Dr. Polevoy, his most recent target, is now the victim of his playtime on Google Groups and other web sites. It's been too easy for Bill to change his handle, and send vile and vulgar messages around Usenet. But the way he set up his Google Groups over the last few months is going to cost him in the end. And don't exclude Google Groups themselves to escape from all of this with a clean bill of health. Plans are underway to charge all of them with defamation.

    We now know that Bill O'Neill used his alias e-mail address of quackbusters@hotmail.com to send a defamatory post to the talkabouthealthnetwork.com web site on February 6, 2005. After our complaints, the webmaster gladly removed the vile item and then banned O'Neill from ever using the site again.

  • A search of Google Groups for some oldies but goodies
  • Bill O'Neill's CCRG Correspondence File at Ratbags.com
  • Bill O'Neill's 44 aliases as logged in at Ratbags.com
  • Bill O'Neill loves Peter Bowditch - part 10
  • Bill O'Neill loves Peter Bowditch - part 11

  • Quackwatch exposes CCRG - This is a must read. Authored by Stephen Barrett, with help from others.

  • Alternative cancer care - Bill O'Neill and Mohamed Khaled June 24, 2000 -
    The Touch of Health syndicated radio show with Christine McPhee. It was beamed around the world on the internet from several stations. Guess what? When you call Khaled's office in the Burlington area, you are given an appointment with Gabriele Sutton, a woman with no official recognizable or regulated health designation in Ontario. She was recently booted out of the University of Western Ontario's Research Park because she claimed to represent UWO in her presentations to the public. She's been inside a string of doctors' and chiropractors' offices in Southwestern Ontario over the last few years. She has also taught students to become alternative healthcare assistants when there is absolutely no regulation by anyone in Ontario. People have paid her tens of thousands of dollars to teach them things like iridology, homeopathy, and herbology, none of them a regulated health profession.

  • Cures of last resort April 20, 2000 - Eye magazine - Nate Hendley Alternative cancer therapies bring high-priced hope and deadly disappointment - Last December, as she neared the end of her fight with cancer, curler Sandra Schmirler travelled to Ottawa for a last-ditch attempt at treatment. There, the former Olympian sought out the services of the Canadian Cancer Research Group (CCRG), a controversial medical centre that practises alternative cancer therapies.

    These include vaccines designed to boost a patient's immune system so the body can wage its own war on cancerous cells. The CCRG offers other alternative treatments, some of which have been soundly rejected by traditional medical authorities.

    At news conferences, Schmirler told skeptical journalists that she had full faith in the CCRG's treatment regime. The CCRG's therapies were "based on facts and research ... [and] analysis of body chemistry," she said. But her esophageal cancer quickly took a turn for the worse and she was admitted to Pasqua Hospital in Regina. There, Schmirler died on March 2, two years after she led Canada's women's curling team to a gold medal at the Nagano Olympics.

    In spite of Schmirler's unsuccessful treatment, William O'Neill, CEO of CCRG, says his centre is at the forefront of cancer research. He describes his outfit as the "largest private cancer think-tank research lab, treatment development laboratory and outpatient treatment centre" in the country. Founded in 1992, the CCRG saw about 2,000 patients last year. These patients paid fees ranged from nothing to a maximum of $10,000 for up to 12 months of treatment. The treatments Schmirler received cost between $3,000 and $4,000.

  • Tyrell Dueck - The life and death of a 13 year old Saskatchewan boy who touched the hearts of millions.

  • HOT clinic, hot debate - October 29, 1998 - Plans to open a hyperbaric oxygen therapy clinic in Ottawa to treat cancer patients has some doctors worried. Maria Bohuslawsky reports.

  • Just think of this as a reality check

  • Defying the cancer creed - July 4, 1998 - by Mike Shahin, The Ottawa Citizen
    Crusader fights to open country's first vaccine clinic in Ottawa

    Cross Country Checkup

    • Introduction to CBC's Cross Country Checkup March 21, 1999

      Rex Murphy's asks Canadians in this two-hour special:

      "Who should decide what's the best medical treatment for children?"

      The case of Tyrell Dueck in Saskatchewan raises the most fundamental questions. It involves a collision between notions of family, the state, religion and medicine. In its barest form the circumstance is this: 13 year-old Tyrell has cancer and the treatment suggested is chemotherapy and surgery. At this stage he refuses that therapy, and his parents agree with him. They wish another form of treatment. They are also religious people. The child care authorities of Saskatchewan feel that his, and their decision, imperil the boy's life, and have gone to court. The court has ruled that he is not capable of making the decision he has made and has ordered the treatment the doctors have prescribed.

      There is no suggestion that the boy's parents are anything but model. The questions that emerge are:

      1. Is the judgement of the court here, whether consciously or not, a decision about the family's religion as much as it is about the boy's health?
      2. Would the determination of his "maturity" -- his ability to make the decision to refuse or accept treatment -- have been as easy if there had not been the consideration that deep and not mainstream religious values were very obviously a part of his decision?
      3. How far does the state, in this case child welfare authorities, have the right to override the choice of parents, and overrule the decision of the young minor?
      4. Is the case of Tyrell an example of the inhospitality of the modern secular scientific world to experiences that are patently not modern, secular or scientific?
      5. And last, is the decision to overrule the choice of parents and child one that has consequence for situations which are not as dramatic or urgent as the case of life threatening illness?

      Today on Cross Country Checkup we'd like, with some delicacy and concern for the family immediately involved, to get you views on the many profound and sensitive issues that compose this case? Does modern medicine have a priority imperative when, for whatever reasons, people decline the options and relief it presents to them in time of need? Can the family be called to account for the most intimate decisions if those decisions do not coincide with the prevailing ethos? Is this the kind of case that is best sent to the courts, or put in the hands of social agencies in the first place?

      What is the role of the state, the family, the law, and medicine ...and what are the relations between them? This, as I have said is a very particular case, and a Saskatoon StarPhoenix reporter, Les Perreaux, will be giving us the particulars of the legal case and the context of the last few weeks at the beginning of today's program.

      We'd like your views on this situation? Where do you stand? What is the family's right? What the child's? What are the obligations of the state? And how much should the judgements of modern medicine be questioned or unquestioned?

      Who has the right to make a life or death choice?

      That's our topic for today.

      I'm Rex Murphy ...this is Cross Country Checkup

    • The Tyrell Dueck case -Cross Country Checkup - RealAudio -
      "Who should decide what is the best medical treatment for children?"
      Rex Murphy hosts CBC radio's premier 2 hour, news and current affairs show every Sunday. This was the original, unedited broadcast from March 21, 1999. Our friend Mr. Bill O'Neill is unchallenged by Rex, and his credentials are never questioned.

      If you want to go right to his segment just grab the slider and move it to 37:14. The segment goes until 47:26. That means that Bill had the microphone for over 10 minutes, uninterrupted by beer commercials, or hockey news. And, incidently, he didn't flash his real credentials as a "cancer researcher" either, oops, it must be April Fool's Day.

    • CBC Cross Country Checkup letters

      Donald Phillipson

    • O'Neill has no medical or other professional credentials in science. (He formerly worked in computers.)
    • O'Neill founded the CCRG after a child was diagnosed with cancer and he was dissatisfied with medical treatment. The child appears to have been cured.
    • He is (or was, when the Ottawa Citizen last covered the matter) suing the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in connection with his son's therapy.
    • The CCRG is a fee-charging organization ($750 minimum) and not a public charity. It appears to be promoting vaccine therapies that orthodox medicine says are unproven.
    • Listeners to Mr. O'Neill on CBC Radio may have got the impression he was medically qualified and had no personal interest in either supporting or attacking orthodox medicine. It appears such an impression would be unfactual.

    • Chaim Birnboim

    • You afforded Mr. Bill O'Neill of Ottawa a considerable amount of air-time. He described himself several times as a 'professional' with an international organization, the Canadian Cancer Research Group. He went on about being able to provide the Dueck family with alternative cancer therapy information because of his international contacts.

      I suspect, Mr. Murphy, that you have been had. What I know about him is from the local newspaper. He has been featured in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper twice.

      I believe he runs a for-profit business that sells useless therapy to desperate people. Specifically, he sells time in a hyperbaric chamber for the treatment of brain cancer and other diseases for which there is no proven benefit.

      He charges people $750 for a package of cancer information that is available on the net, at the local Cancer Centre library, and from the Canadian Cancer Society. I was disappointed you were unable to pin him down as to his credentials and how and why he was in contact with the Dueck family.

      I am a basic cancer researcher at a provincially funded cancer treatment centre. The most disturbing aspect of your program was the degree of attention and credibility given to so-called alternative therapies. Cancer is a very frequently occurring disease and I too have been touched by it, in the form of the recent loss of a close family member. I know the anguish and feeling of helplessness. It saddens me deeply to hear the distrust of so many callers of evidence-based medicine, in favor of unproven 'miracle cures'.

      Like democracy, medicine is far from perfect but there is nothing better.

    Sandra Schmirler - Cancer quackery embraces leading Canadian curler as she gives up her life

      February 2000 - A few days before Sandra Schmirler died of cancer, she held a media conference to announce her plans to establish a trust fund with the CCRG

      Sandra Schmirler sets up research fund with CCRG

      "Chemo and radiation make me sick,'' Schmirler said Thursday following a media conference to announce the formation of the Sandra Schmirler Trust Fund. "This boosts my immune system.

      After undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, which are covered by provincial health insurance, Schmirler visited the Canadian Cancer Research Group in Ottawa to explore what she termed a "scientific'' treatment called orthomolecular management.

      The Canadian Cancer Research Group claims its average survival rate is 80.4 per cent compared to a 52 per cent rate of Health Canada patients in a one-year response. (This is a bogus overblown fabrication by the CCRG. They attack all critics with threats of lawsuits in their paranoid ideations of grandure.)

    • Peter Bowditch's reflects on Bill O'Neill, his aliases and the CCRG and the Sandra Schmirler tragedy The man who owns this site has a son who was diagnosed with cancer. The son had surgery for one tumour and radiation and chemotherapy for another and now appears to be cured. His parents are suing the doctors who saved his life.

      This site claims to have the best database of information about cancer in the world and also offers advice about handling cancer. There would be no problem if the database led patients and their families to qualified oncologists, hospitals specialising in handling certain types of cancer, medical researchers who were investigating new treatment methods, reports of new pharmaceutical advances or doctors specialising in treating certain rare complaints. Much of this information would be available in medical journals or through networks (both formal and informal) such as specialist colleges, seminars and conferences, but nobody can know everything so a comprehensive database of current knowledge would be an invaluable resource.

      Unfortunately, the words and testimonials offered on the site suggest that the sort of advice people get leads them to expensive, unproven treatments using methods that real scientists have either rejected or see as extremely speculative.

      Anyone with cancer has legitimate reasons to be concerned; anyone told that they are dying has reason to feel desperate. Meeting the concern and desperation with promises (or even suggestions) of miracle cures is a reprehensible practice and it is not made better just by having a fancy and good-looking web site.

      The following appeared on the front page of The Millenium Project on October 19, 2002.

      Sleazy cancer quack sinks to new low (19/10/2002)


      Regular readers of The Millenium Project will be aware of Mr William P O'Neill of the Canadian Cancer Research Group. Mr O'Neill has been writing garbage and threats directed towards me for a long time now, and he occasionally uses anonymiser services to write to me or to post messages to Usenet newsgroups. The method of transmission of these messages hides the originator and makes it impossible to reply to the messages. For a long time I pretended that I didn't know where these messages came from and maintained a separate collection in the GAL Chronicles. When Mr O'Neill commented on the birth of my grandson with the words "kill it quick and kill it good before it multiplies", I decided that it was time to stop pretending. I will still maintain the two collections - the CCRG Correspondence File for identifiable messages and the GAL Chronicles for anonymous, cowardly attacks - but nobody needs to be in any doubt about the source of the messages.

      Just in case anyone wonders about my opinion of what Mr O'Neill does for a living, he is no different to the other cancer quacks like Hulda Clark, Lorraine Day, Stan Burzynski and so on who have no cures, no treatments, nothing to offer except false hope, empty wallets and full coffins. Mr O'Neill's "advice" shortened the lives of at least two people, Olympic athlete Sandra Schmirler and academic Annette Pypops. He encouraged Ms Schmirler to hold a press conference promoting his fraudulent business a few days before she died, and eight hours after her death he was searching this site for the word "fuck". He even pretended to be Ms Schmirler's husband in one of his messages to me. For almost two years after her death the CCRG web site carried a testimonial from Ms Pypops attesting to how well she was feeling. Mr O'Neill has on many occasions lied about suing me and lied about other people suing me. Now is his chance. He can tell his lawyers that I called him a liar, a fraud, and a person who would steal from the dead and dying. In fact, if he gives me the fax number of his lawyers I will tell them myself.

    More CCRG Claims

    Annette Pypops

    CCRG claims to have treated her in this testimonial. She is one of Mr O'Neill's clients who refused conventional treatment and was allegedly cured by his methods.

    Unfortunately for Mr. Bill and for the family of Ms. Pypops, she died in 1998.

    This particular testimonial testifies only as to the great harm caused by Mr O'Neill and the like - and the fact that the page remains unchanged almost three years after Ms. Pypops' tragic death is some indication of the true nature of those behind the CCRG. Ms. Pypops was only 36 years old and an activist on behalf of women around the world.

    Real CCRG Web Sites

    • Community Cancer Resource Guide - Sunnybrook Hospital - Toronto The Toronto-Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre Community Cancer Resource Guide (CCRG) is an on-line directory to organizations providing information and services to cancer patients and their families living in the Greater Toronto Area.

    • Comprehensive Cancer Research Group - Miami, Florida CCRG, a nonprofit research organization, has been conducting clinical trials in oncology since 1987 and has been designing Phase I-II studies since 1995. CCRG and its nationally affiliated physicians have the necessary scientific, technical, organizational and administrative expertise to complete studies that adhere to the exacting standards required of national cooperative groups and the pharmaceutical industry in state-of-the-art clinical research.
    • Mt. Sinai Hospital
    • Childhood Cancer Research Group - Oxford University - U.K. The Group carries out a programme of epidemiological and follow-up studies of childhood cancer and is responsible for the National Registry of Childhood Tumours. The National Registry of Childhood Tumours. Registration of all cases of malignant disease occuring before age 15 years in children resident in England, Scotland and Wales. Follow-up data include records of multiple primary tumours and deaths. Birth records are included for a large proportion of the registrations.

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