The development of lung cancer appears to overwhelm any putative protective effects of prolonged use of vitamins C, E, and folate supplements. In other words, supplements don't work, and some of them may actually increase the cancer rate!

Cancer testimonials

No doubt you’ve come across them before, either on the Internet, printed advertisements, or radio and TV ads: Alternative medicine cancer “testimonials.” They are the primary means by which “alternative” therapies for cancer (or just about any other disease) are promoted and the primary “evidence” that is used to “prove” the efficacy of non-evidence-based therapies. There’s no doubt that they sure can sound convincing.

Infused with fervor, the patient now wants to spread the word. Often, the patient is now selling the remedy. Perhaps you’ve seen such testimonials or heard them on the radio and thought: “Gee, this sounds great. I wonder if it works.”

The answer is: Almost certainly not!

Boiled down to the essence, these testimonials usually appear convincing for one of these reasons:

1. The patient never had cancer to begin with. It was either an erroneous diagnosis by a legitimate doctor or a diagnosis based on an unscientific and unvalidated test used by the alt-med practitioner. This is more common than one might think (one example is pancreatic cancer), and I may do a post on this issue in the future.

2. The patient underwent partial conventional therapy before abandoning it for alt-med (for example, an excision but no radiation or chemotherapy, like Suzanne Somers or Lorraine Day).

3. The patient still has cancer but, like Kim Tinkham, has been told by her practitioner that she is “cancer-free.” If the tumor is slow-growing, this may be convincing for many months or even a few years.

They were charged by the FTC way back in 2003, and yet they are still apparently doing business. One of their defendants was David Amrein, a prominent Scientologist from Switzerland. Dr. Stephen Barrett reports on this decision.

Boca company accused of false advertising

• Search News for cancercure

  Prosecutors asked a judge this week to issue an injunction and restraining order to halt the sale of products that were allegedly falsely advertised online as federally approved medicines for cancer, migraines and the flu.

  Flu Fighter Laboratories Inc. maintains websites -- cancercure.org, migrainecure.org and flufighter.net -- that promote drugs claiming to be FDA-approved cures for the flu, migraines and various kinds of cancer. The websites identify the FDA as the "Fighting Diseases Association, Inc."

Feds investigate anti-cancer paste

Pastor-turned-healer markets flesh-eating remedy

• Search Google News for Dan Raber
• Rabers CancerRx.org web site

ROCHELLE, Georgia (AP) -- Curtis Brown carries business cards with old pictures of his tumors, including an egg-sized growth on his neck. He says they were each shed after the application of a flesh-eating paste containing the medicinal herb bloodroot.

"I cured myself of cancer," the cards read.

Georgia's medical board and the Food and Drug Administration don't share Brown's enthusiasm for the paste. The state board of medicine has accused its maker, Dan Raber, a pastor-turned-healer, of practicing medicine without a license. FDA agents recently raided Raber's business, and a doctor, Lois March, MD could lose her medical license for allegedly knowing Raber was giving people the paste -- not approved for the treatment of cancer -- and not reporting him.

Distance healing - The teenager,
the astronaut and the rocker

Whatever you feel about this boy's "powers", in my opinion and that of others, he is not what he claims to be at all. These opinions are based on science and common sense, not some supernatural mumbo-jumbo often used by fake faith healers that are too numerous to mention. Adam and his family along with their publicity brigade of true believers in the press represent nothing more than a giant scam with sympathetic news organizations and film producers who are in it for a buck. The bottom line is that faith healers, even if in this particular case is based only on holographic images and quantum physics (something that can't be proved or supported), are some of the worst kind of health fraud artists.

How can Adam prove that he has unique paranormal healing powers?

That's easy. The James Randi Educational Foundation has extended their
One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge to anyone who can demonstrate unusual psychic or healing powers. Will Adam and his family take up the challenge? If not, HealthWatcher has some interesting questions and a few suggestions for the public and the media who seem to be ignoring reality.

• Is it a scam or a miracle?

Are 'Alternatives' Good Medicine?

As Use of Nontraditional Therapies Surges, So Do Worries, Research

August 18, 2004

Plug the terms "alternative" and "cancer" into Google and the Internet search engine returns a list of 3.4 million -- yes, million -- sites with information both credible and questionable about nontraditional treatments for cancer. What's a cancer patient to make of such a vast array of options?

Doctors also need to know which therapies are bogus and potentially dangerous -- treatments typically considered "alternative" because patients may use them instead of scientifically studied treatments.

U.S. District Judge Issues Permanent Injunction Against Lane Labs-USA, Inc. and Orders Firm to Refund Money to Purchasers of Illegally Marketed Unapproved Drugs

The Food and Drug Administration today announced that Judge William G. Bassler of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, has found that three products sold by Lane Labs-USA, Inc. and its president Andrew J. Lane (the defendants) as dietary supplements and a cosmetic - Benefin, MGN-3 and SkinAnswer - are, in fact, unapproved new drugs under federal law because they were being marketed as treatments for cancer, HIV, and skin cancer without FDA approval. In addition, Judge Bassler permanently enjoined the defendants from distributing BeneFin, MGN-3, and SkinAnswer unless the products are first either approved for marketing by FDA or distributed pursuant to an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for purposes of conducting a clinical trial. Judge Bassler also ordered the defendants to pay restitution to all purchasers of BeneFin, MGN-3, and SkinAnswer since September 22, 1999.

FTC Obtains Preliminary Injunction Against Marketers of Bogus Cancer-Cure "Supreme Greens"

In June 2004, the FTC filed charges against Donald Barrett, DMC, and ITV, along with their business partners, alleging that they deceptively marketed Supreme Greens to consumers through a widely aired infomercial, claiming that the product can cure, treat, or prevent cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease. Barrett, Direct Marketing Concepts, Inc. (DMC) and ITV Direct, Inc. (ITV), are part of the FTC's case alleging that defendants deceptively marketed their dietary supplement product, Supreme Greens with MSM. A U.S. District Court judge found that the FTC has demonstrated that they likely made numerous false and unsubstantiated claims in an infomercial promoting Supreme Greens and that they likely made unauthorized charges to consumers' credit or debit cards. The preliminary injunction - which prohibits the challenged disease claims and any asset dissipation - will remain in effect pending the outcome of a trial on the FTC's allegations.

He may be a college dropout, but 29-year-old infomercial magnate Donald Barrett of Beverly seems to have the magic touch. Just ask his bank book. To have a conversation with Donald Barrett as he sits behind his desk, one has to see past a heavy silver award that says "Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail."

Many have already heard about the Saugus native's fast fortune. Barrett can make money in his sleep, he laughs, because his face can be seen on a TV infomercial somewhere in this country every half hour, and the call center in Beverly's Cummings Center is open for calls seven days a week, 'round the clock. While the industry averages a 20 to 30 percent closing rate and $60 per sale, ITV Direct more than doubles those numbers.

Doctor who planned 'Cancer Cell Terminator' ordered to quit practice

A Lockport man who describes himself as a doctor and advertises on his Web sites that he offers a cure for cancer and affordable health care for all has been ordered to stop practicing medicine without a medical license. In April, the state Department of Finance and Professional Regulation wrote to Bob Jerrolds, who refers to himself as "Dr. Jerrolds," asking him to prove he shouldn't be disciplined for "holding yourself out to treat human ailments including cancer, while not being a licensed physician in the state of Illinois." Subsequently, Fernando Grillo, director of the state agency, issued an order that said, in part:

"It is therefore ordered that Robert Jerrolds immediately cease and desist the practice of medicine which includes, but is not limited to, treating human ailments including cancer in the State of Illinois."

Washington Post web site: Are they just shills for cancer quacks?

Quack Cancer Cures

If you reload the article above several times you will notice that the three small advertisements at the bottom of the page change. When I first looked at the article on March 25, 2004, three of the ads were for cancer quacks. I filed a complaint with the Washington Post about this. The three links that were the most disturbing to me:

• Immune Recovery Clinic - Atlanta and Monterrey, Mexico based clinics. Bennie Stephen Johnson, who claims to have licenses in four States (Tennessee, Arizona, Colorado, and Georgia), in reality is only licensed in Georgia.

  Contact the Georgia State Board of Medicine if you have questions about his practice or his claims.

  Johnson's license in Arizona lapsed two times, first in 1984 and then in 1996. His license in Colorado lapsed in 1999, and in Tennessee in 2000. You will note in the Georgia database he makes a claim that he also attended the First National University of Naturopathy, which is on Dr. Stephen Barrett's list of questionable organizations.

• Cancer Metabolic Catalog - selling Laetrile
• Metabolic Products Supply - selling Laetrile

• Alternative Cures: "Unproven" or "Disproven" - full text
• Alternative Cures: "Unproven" or "Disproven" - .pdf file

We are interested in the following procedures, or treatments. If your naturopath, or even a medical doctor uses these methods within a naturopathic clinic, let us know.

Questionable therapies and treatments

• EDT or EDS - (Vegatest, Interro, B.E.S.T. type of electrodermal screening)
• CRT - Thermography for breast cancer
• Saliva testing for hormones
• Hair analysis
• Iridology
• Applied kinesiolgy
• Cell Specific Cancer Therapy (CSCT)
• Syncrometer - Zapper (Hulda Clark inventions)
• Insulin Potentiation Therapy - IPT
• Chelation therapy
• Mercury amalgam removal
• Whole Body Hyperthermia
• Colon irrigation
• Essiac
• Mistletoe - Iscador
• Laetrile - Amygdalin - Vitamin B-17
• Hydrazine sulphate
• 714-X
• Metabolic therapy
• Blood type diet
• Coral Calcium
• Ginseng
• Immunocal

Canadian naturopathic resources

• Canadian Naturopathic Association list of Provinces and status of naturopaths. Some of these links will provide you with a list of names and phone numbers of these practitioners.

• Alberta - NOT REGULATED. We are particularly interested in those clinics in the Calgary area where there may be medical doctors, and dentists who share facilities. Naturopaths are NOT recognized under Provincial legislation, and therefore you really need to know that their screening tests, laboratory procedures, and treatment methods may not be officially approved or in fact safe for use in Canada. In our search we were advised by one of them how we could obtain Laetrile from Mexico, via the U.S. I guess they wanted to insure that there were no ties between their clinic and this ill-advised adventure.

• British Columbia - REGULATED . We would like to hear from people who have attended clinics operated by members of the Board of the CNPBC, and those in Kelowna and Vancouver area. Also, we'd like to hear from anyone who has ever complained to the College of Naturopathic Physicians in British Columbia.
• Manitoba - REGULATED

• New Brunswick - NOT REGULATED

• Newfoundland and Labrador - NOT REGULATED

• Nova Scotia - NOT REGULATED

• Ontario - not regulated under present RHPA. They have their own Bloodless Practitioners Act - Naturopathy. The legislation that enables naturopaths to claim official status, outside of the regulated health professions come from the early part of the 20th Century. Many of those who officially call themselves naturopathic doctors in Ontario have demonstrated a lack of concern about how they practice. They use bogus methods of diagnosis, treat patients with unproved invasive techniques, and make false claims for their treatments. What is particularly bad in Ontario is that there are a significant number of fake naturopaths who have set up shop around the Province. Some of them go by the name "natural medicine doctor", or even use the designation ND. These people are not only quacks, they are probably criminals, too.

• Prince Edward Island - NOT REGULATED

• Quebec - NOT REGULATED - This Province has a real problem. In fact it is so bad that it spills over to Ontario, where renegade naturopaths enter the Province and treat cancer patients. They have NO right to do that.

• Saskatchewan - Regulated

Medicine Alternativa
416 West San Ysidro Blvd. Suite L-PMB
San Ysidro, California.
92173-2443
1-888-281-6663

I could safely place my order through www.cytopharma.com. which of course was in Mexico. I noticed something very strange about the mailbox number. It's the site where dozens of Tijuana based companaies had their U.S. maildrops. It was quite a collection. Just put the address above in a Google Search and see what you come up with. I came up with 198 hits. If you put the address into a Yahoo map search.. Just zoom out and you can see how close Mexico is from their location. It looks to be about 4 kms. north of the border.

It's the same mailbox store used by the Biopulse scammers that we covered here.
San Ysidro is right across the border from Mexico where their associates were conveniently located, out of harms way from the FDA. So, they told me to give them a buzz and have it shipped to Florida. I could then have it reshipped to me up here in Canada if I was smart enough to avoid Customs inspection. The clinic in Canada failed to mention the fact that Amydalin, or in this case Amigdalina B-17 (AKA Laetrile) was still an illegal drug in the U.S.

In February 2004, Jack Edwin Slingluff, D.O., of Canton, Ohio, was charged with introducing an unapproved new drug into interstate commerce. The one-count criminal information states that he "caused thirty (30) vials of the unapproved new drug Amigdalina B-17 (AKA Laetrile) to be shipped from West Palm Beach, Florida, to Salem, Ohio; in violation of Title 21, Sections 331(d), 355(a) and 333(a)(1), United States Code."

Quackwatch review of Laetrile

NCI review of Laetrile

Harvard Medical School report

Laetrile and bitter almond have been associated with serious toxicity and are considered to be unsafe because of their potential to cause cyanide poisoning. Symptoms of cyanide poisoning in people who used laetrile have included headache, dilated pupils, seizures, muscle spasms, difficulty breathing, metabolic abnormalities, shock, coma and death.

Tyrell Dueck - 13 year old who was lured to Tijuana by Canadian politicians and cancer quacks was given i.v. laetrile shortly before he died a horrible death. See the full investigation above.

Online Laetrile Vendor Ordered to Shut Down

More Laetrile vendors, including a Suffern, NY medical doctor named Michael Schacter who is promoted by the Cancer Control Society. You can even buy a collection of videos from their 31st Annual Convention held in 2003 where some of the world's leading authorities are featured. Excuse me, but I don't personally think that they are authorities. Some of them are certified quacks.

Extendlife.com - quack Tijuana clinic with California address

The FTC alleges David L. Walker is using an Internet site to market products he claims cure cancer, including his "CWAT -Treatment: BioResonance Therapy and Molecular Enhancer." The site claims his treatments, for which he charges between $2,400 and $5,200, make surgery, chemotherapy, and other conventional cancer treatments unnecessary. The FTC alleges the claims are unsubstantiated and a declaration from a distinguished oncologist suggests the therapies are potentially harmful to cancer patients. The agency has asked the court to bar the unsubstantiated claims permanently, and order consumer redress

David L. Walker, from the State of Washington, who marketed bogus cancer cures claiming they made other conventional cancer treatments unnecessary has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that his claims were unsubstantiated. The settlement permanently bars the defendant from making unsubstantiated claims about the health benefits and efficacy of health-related products and services. The FTC filed this case in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General of Washington and with its invaluable assistance. The Attorney General's Office obtained a judgment in its companion case barring the unsubstantiated claims in Washington state and requiring the defendant to pay $229,000 in consumer restitution.

San Diego's Union Tribune attacks cancer quacks

• Hulda's forces operate in defiance of Mexican shutdown

  Penni Crabtree and Sandra Dibble set their sites on Hulda's multi-million dollar operations on both sides of the border. Families sell their homes to pay this woman and her followers for bogus treatments. Why doesn't the U.S. government and the Mexican government shut her down? Why are her zappers made and sold from Canada?

• False claims often flourish alongside unproven therapies
• Borderline medicine - TJ alternative clinics frustrate regulators

PrimeTime exposes Tijuana Quacks

• False Promises - Tijuana quacks prey on cancer patients. - ABC News PrimeTime

Canadian politician says his cancer disappeared with naturopathic help

• Cancer fight turns into a crusade - Ottawa Citizen (link is dead)

How the hell does Mr. Patten know that he is free of cancer after only one year of treatment? This is aburd. What if Mr. Patten's chances of survival were DECREASED by his use of useless, and potentially harmful natural methods? The author of the article didn't even take the time to interview an oncologist on the subject. Instead he chooses to speak with Linda Rapson who practices holistic medicine and teaches acupuncture.

The reporter's assertion that the Ontario government passed legislation that legalized alternative medicine in Ontario is absurd. Quacks of all stripes have basically been left alone by the CPSO (College of Physisians and Surgeons of Ontario), for years. Major quack cancer clinics are still thriving in Ontario, untouched by the regulators. All it takes is a phone call, and instead of wasting your money going to Tijuana, you can be treated right here in this Province by licensed medical doctors.

Mr. Richard Patten must realize that his support of naturopathy and internet quackery will takes its toll on others. I wonder if he might take a little responsiblity on his own shoulders, because the Ottawa Citizen doesn't give a damn about medical facts.

• Richard Patten's statements in Parliament
• Search the Ottawa Citizen for Bill O'Neill
• HealthWatcher's View of Naturopathy

Apart from his chemotherapy, Mr. Patten visited naturopaths in Montreal and Ottawa. He began drinking different teas using a variety of herbs, started taking vitamins, took up meditation and even had a session in a native sweat lodge -- all considered alternative or complementary treatments.

He received his information from the Internet, from books and from friends, but none from his own doctors. The costs reached up to $800 a week.

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Cancer was eating away at Steward last summer when he arrived from New Orleans and made his way to an isolated country house above the Columbia River. He hoped to save his life with a "magic" concoction its promoters say was born of science and Native American legend.