This is a collection of essays on the topic of Complementary/Alternative Medicine (CAM) written by specialists from a wide range of backgrounds. The editor has given the contributors free rein to express their views. Since they come from a wide variety of angles from extremely anti-CAM to moderately supportive, the book contains widely different perspectives ranging from virulent attacks to thoughtful analyses. At first sight this may seem strange but in practice this book represents the very best of contemporary albeit on the whole skeptical scholarship. It is highly refreshing to find a collection that does not toe a line but instead gives a wide range of pros and cons and includes some new and stimulating ideas.
Autism's False Profits: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure (Hardcover)
Dr. Paul Offit's amazing new book about the history of the anti-vaccine movement and the international brigade of corrupt researchers, ambulance chasing lawyers, politicians and advocacy groups who helped manipulate the parents of those children who were autistic. The anti-vaccine movement has caused significant harm to public health efforts around the world. The publication of this book may signal the beginning of the end to their position. Time will tell whether or not this will stop their insanity and manipulation of science.
Trick or Treatment:
by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst
The ultimate verdict on alternative medicine.
Welcome to the world of alternative medicine. Prince Charles is a staunch defender and millions of people swear by it; most UK doctors consider it to be little more than superstition and a waste of money. But how do you know which treatments really heal and which are potentially harmful? Now at last you can find out, thanks to the formidable partnership of Professor Edzard Ernst and Simon Singh. Edzard Ernst is the world's first professor of complementary medicine, based at Exeter University, where he has spent over a decade analysing meticulously the evidence for and against alternative therapies.
He is supported in his findings by Simon Singh, the well-known and highly respected science writer of several international bestsellers. Together they have written the definitive book on the subject. It is honest, impartial but hard-hitting, and provides a thorough examination and judgement of more than thirty of the most popular treatments, such as acupuncture, homeopathy, aromatherapy, reflexology, chiropractic and herbal medicine.
In "Trick or Treatment?" the ultimate verdict on alternative medicine is delivered for the first time with clarity, scientific rigour and absolute authority.
Suckers: How Alternative Medicine Makes Fools of Us All
by Rose Shapiro
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.
In “The Cure Within,” her splendid history of mind-body medicine, Anne Harrington tries to explain why we draw connections between emotions and illness, and helps trace how today’s myriad alternative and complementary treatments came to be. A professor and chairman of the history of science department at Harvard, Harrington has produced a book that desperately needed to be written.
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.
Based on the recently published book, "MS TOOLKIT - A Patients' & Caregivers' Guide to Multiple Sclerosis," MS TOOLKIT will inform patients and caregivers about the realities of the disease, its possible causes, effects, and treatments. It will provide current information on new developments, clinical trials and other important matters for those dealing with MS.
Finally! A how-to kit for understanding and dealing with multiple sclerosis - "MS" - one of the most commonly diagnosed diseases of the central nervous system. The true "story of multiple sclerosis' impact" - on everyone! If you have MS, or know someone with MS, you simply cannot be without this book! Cary Polevoy speaks candidly about the impact of MS and chronic disease on the lives of patients, family, friends, and co-workers, revealing critical information about the disease, the effectiveness of highly touted treatments, and what everyone should know BEFORE they find themselves stricken with a crippling disease or sidetracked by a career-ending accident: the importance of disability insurance and how to navigate the often onerous paths of insurance companies and Social Security. Everything is contained in one highly readable volume that everyone will understand. It is a necessity for anyone that has MS for dealing with the changes in their lives, family and work, and the medical community.
The Author
Cary J. Polevoy
Cary was first diagnosed with relapsing/remitting MS in July 1995. He currently has secondary progressive MS. He is the author of the new book, "MS TOOLKIT - THE PATIENTS' & CAREGIVERS' GUIDE TO MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS," published in August 2006. Cary's career saw him employed as a chief financial officer, securities analyst, portfolio manager, and stockbroker. He became unable to work in 2000. Since 1996, as his health has allowed, Cary has been a participant in, and a major fund–raiser for, the Colorado MS150 Bike Tour, held for the benefit of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Cary has also been active as a member of the NMSS Speakers’ Bureau and as an NMSS Peer Support Mentor. He has periodically contributed articles and editorials about multiple sclerosis to the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News. Cary lives with his wife, Chris, and their two dogs and three cats, in Centennial, Colorado, a suburb of Denver. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting and an M.B.A. from the Broad College of Business at Michigan State University.
HealthWatcher also receives support when visitors to our site place an order with VistaPrint, which offers high-quality business cards and other custom printed items at reasonable prices. Customers can obtain in 30 styles or can choose from among hundreds of other styles in with their own logo.
Canadians visit their chiropractors about thirty million times a year, and surveys show that patients are generally satisfied with them. But Paul Benedetti and Wayne MacPhail have another opinion. This book is a powerful endictment of the chiropractic profession in Canada. From the early history of quackery, the latest scam gizmos, strokes, and pediatric abuse to the lack of effective regulation and discipline this book is a real eye-opener.
This book is also available in Canada from Amazon.ca
Canadians visit their chiropractors about thirty million times a year, and surveys show that patients are generally satisfied with them. But Paul Benedetti and Wayne MacPhail have another opinion. This book is a powerful endictment of the chiropractic profession in Canada. From the early history of quackery, the latest scam gizmos, strokes, and pediatric abuse to the lack of effective regulation and discipline this book is a real eye-opener.
This book is also available in Canada from Amazon.ca
Canada's Bill C-51 - Legislation to control natural health products and devices
In April 2008 the Conserviative government introduced legislation to once and for all regulate the natural health products and devices industries. An immediate smear campaign to discredit the government was launched by various interested groups. The usual suspects tried to hide who they were, but they couldn't hide for long. After a few sporatically attended events across Canada, they then sent in their friendly lawyer to again smear the government and Health Canada. Letter writing and e-mail campaigns were organized but the results were underwhelming to say the least.
Editorials from mainstream newspapers across Canada painted a much different picture than those articles that supported a libertarian approach to the regulation of natural health products. Tony Clement, our Minister of Health attacked some of the outrageous comments made by Shawn Buckley, the industry's most outspoken legal representative.
I've preserved many of the articles, and some of them may still be available using search engines. The various lobbying groups against Bill c-51 have been hampered by one main problem - they are either lying, or they believe the lies that are being fed to them by the ringleaders of the anti Bill C-51 forces.
Recent articles in support of Bill C-51
Snake oil is natural, but it too should be regulated - June 12, 2008 - Globe and Mail - Andre Picard.
Bill C-51 has caused an uproar, fuelled by a slick web-based campaign that features some vastly overheated rhetoric about the criminalization of camomile and dubious claims that parents will be arrested for giving their children vitamins.
The campaign is not exactly grassroots: It is the brainchild of the folks at Truehope Nutritional Support Ltd., a company that has been engaged in a long legal battle with Health Canada. Truehope sells supplements that purport to treat severe mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder.
A Florida doctor lost his license after he was diagnosed as a sex addict — he claimed he could cure his female patients by fondling their breasts.
A Utah doctor lost his license after he illegally prescribed drugs over the Internet.
A California doctor lost his license after he was charged with hiding more than half a million dollars in profits, convicted of tax fraud, and sent to prison.
Another California doctor's license was suspended twice. The first time, he was accused of missing cancer in two patients. The second time, of misprescribing drugs.
Yet another California doctor went to prison and was ordered to pay $15 million in fines after he was convicted of defrauding Medicare by performing unnecessary surgery on the eyes of elderly patients.
Lose your M.D. license in one state in the U.S., and you may never practice medicine again. Certainly not in this state.
Unless you know about Arizona's Homeopathic Board of Medical Examiners.
Very Soon, Falsely Using the Title 'Dr' in the UK Will Land You in a New Heap of Doo Doo
Breaking Story from the Quackometer Blog
Friday, March 14, 2008 - If you are worried about the activities of an alternative medicine practitioner, there is not an easy way to find the right authority who might look into it. The British Advertising Standards Authority are very effective at investigating complex matters, but can only really rap knuckles and leave traders to carry on pretty much unharmed. Often, the only damage is an ASA ruling placed well down in the Google result list. The ASA can only also look into a narrow range of promotional material; they cannot touch web sites, for instance. Trading Standards have deeper powers and can criminally prosecute, but are not too well geared up to look into false medical claims.
The complexity of trading standards legislation is being largely swept away and replaced with generalised laws to clamp down on unfair sales and marketing practices. The act is a incorporation of an EU directive into English law and so will be applicable throughout the EU area.
Flim-Flam Man Adam Dreamhealer
Adam appeared on CBC-TV's The Hour from Vancouver on December 4, 2007. We asked the CBC's producer about the interview the week before and we got no response. It's really unfortunate that it would appear that the inquisitive minds at the CBC have been too busy to care about the fact that Dreamhealer is nothing more than a manipulative non-faith based non-healer who has zero credibility
How the hell did George Stroumboulopoulos ever get to the point in his life when all his staff did was to quote from one of Adam's book jackets. "Gifted energy healer" indeed.
This university student has been primed by forces that only he knows to continue his gig of mesmerizing audiences with bizarre claims and stage theatrics. If Adam truly believes that he can cure cancer by looking at a fax or picture of somebody across a continent then he has problems.
If, and that is what I believe, he is lying to the public about his powers to heal or to empower others to heal themselves then I'd like to ask him to step forward and present the evidence. James Randi has offered him a million dollars to prove it, and he's been unable to come through with anything.
Follow the money as his personal income grew by millions over the last few years. This profile also includes James Randi's sting on Popoff when he recorded radio transmissions from his wife during a scam operation many years ago. His "ministry" spans the globe, and yet nobody has been actually able to prove that he is really a man of the cloth.
The only insight into Popoff’s organization comes from IRS documents. In 2003, people donated $9.6 million to Popoff’s organization. Nearly a million of that, $909,133 went to salaries paid to him, his wife and children. By 2005, donations soared to more than $23 million. And so did the salaries of Popoff and his family, jumping to $3,137,929. When we told Clement [a minister] the numbers, he was stunned. "$23 million dollars? That’s ridiculous," he said Pastor Fuiten has a different answer: "I think it sours people toward religion."
Even more surprising, Popoff has a history of televangelist fraud. In the 1980’s, he held faith-healing crusades around the country. A video widely available online, shows one of those crusades where he ministers to people with such serious ailments as cancer.
Bill O'Neill and the CCRG
Bill O'Neill's clinic raided by Ottawa Police & CPSO
On May 10, 2007 the Ottawa Police Service presented a warrant to search the offices of the CCRG (Canadian Cancer Research Group) in the Glebe area of Ottawa. We believe that the CPSO requested assistance because of the previous threats that have been made against several media organizations, individuals and probably the College itself over the last decade.
The long awaited exposé of one of Canada's most dubious cancer clinics in our nation's capital uncovered the truth behind the Canadian Cancer Research Group.
Dr. Hope was broadcast on CTV on January 28-29, 2006. It stayed on their web site for many months, was temporarily removed at the end of 2006, and then due to popular demand was put back in its original position. In the summer of 2007 it was removed again. If it's back up let us know.
Chinese Professor Zhang Gongyao and fellow critics have blasted Chinese medicine as an often ineffective, even dangerous derivative of witchcraft that relies on untested concoctions and obscure ingredients to trick patients, then employs a host of excuses if the treatment doesn't work.
For adherents of the 3,000-year-old system, this borders on heresy. The Health Ministry labeled Zhang's ideas "ignorant of history," and traditionalists have called the skeptics traitors bent on "murdering" Chinese culture.
The Province of Ontario wants to regulate TCM as a separate entity. What exactly are they going to regulate? The issues here are plainly that TCM has problems, and can never be regulated as long as the archaic methods of diagnosis and treatments are studied scientifically. Most of TCM is quackery, and those that practice it are unable to satisfy even the most elementary standards of evidence based medicine. Those TCM practitioners want to restrict what others can do without "proper" training. My opinion is that there is no such thing as "proper" training because TCM has little or no value in the grand scheme of things.
Bad Medicine - Take one rhino horn with meals - Timesonline.uk . Richard Ellis is the author of Tiger Bone and Rhino Horn: The Destruction of Wildlife for Traditional Chinese Medicine
NewsTarget.com search for TCM - This site provides only articles that support TCM and other forms of herbal quackery. There is nothing critical on their entire web site.
Hulda Clark robs Tijuana woman of chance to survive deadly cancer!
The daughter of a deceased cancer patient has written a vivid account of her mother's experience with Hulda Clark, the unlicensed naturopath whose book Cure for All Cancers states that all cancers can be cured within 5 days. Shortly after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma (a bone cancer), the mother refused standard treatment and went to Clark's Mexican clinic instead. The article describes how, after more than a month, Clark pronounced that the mother was cured and advised her not to get an MRI because because even though her malignancy had been killed it would take time for the tumor to reduce in size. Several weeks later, an MRI showed that during Clark's treatment, the tumor grew to two-and-a-half times its initial size.
"I strongly believe that if she had not undergone Clark's treatment and had sought treatment from a real doctor from the beginning, she would be probably be alive today. Clark robbed my mother of any real chance of survival. She is absolute and total fraud. She told my mother she was cured? Yes, cured and that her malignancy was gone. Now, my mother is dead.
I find it frightening that despite of all of Hulda Clark's legal troubles, she has been allowed to continue to treat patients for many years. I am absolutely appalled that she has affected so many lives and continues to do so. She preys on people's desperation and fears. Hulda's treatment is cruel and inhumane. Extractions, cavitation scrapings, horrid living conditions in a cheap motel, and the list goes on. Something needs to be done to stop her from doing this to other people."
Kevin Trudeau battles won and lost
Wacko and previously convicted felon Kevin Trudeau made millions selling two versions of his book "Natural Cures They Don’t Want You to Know About". Now with his most recent book "The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About" his battles with the FTC continue to drag him down. Will he ever see the inside of a jail cell again?
The Federal Trade Commission has charged Kevin Trudeau with violating a court order by allegedly misrepresenting the contents of his book, “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About,” in several infomercials. During the ads, Trudeau claims that the weight loss plan outlined in the book is easy to do, can be done at home, and ultimately allows readers to eat whatever they want. However, when consumers purchase the book, they find it describes a complex, grueling plan that requires severe dieting, daily injections of a prescription drug that consumers cannot easily get, and lifelong dietary restrictions. In a 2004 order settling FTC charges that he had falsely claimed that his calcium product could cure cancer and other serious diseases, and that a purported analgesic called Biotape could permanently cure or relieve severe pain, Trudeau was banned from using infomercials to sell any product, service, or program. The ban contained a narrow exemption for infomercials for books and other publications, but specifically required that Trudeau not misrepresent the content of the books. The FTC is now charging that he violated that narrow exemption.
The FTC first sued Trudeau in 1998, alleging that he made false and unsubstantiated claims for hair growth, memory, and weight loss products sold through infomercials. In 2003, the FTC challenged Trudeau’s marketing of Coral Calcium Supreme and Biotape, a purported pain-relief product. To settle the FTC’s charges, in 2004 Trudeau paid $2 million and agreed to a court order banning him from infomercials, with a narrow exemption for infomercials for books and other publications that specifically required that Trudeau not misrepresent the contents of the books or publications. The contempt action announced today alleges that Trudeau violated that court order by deceptively claiming in his infomercials that the book being advertised establishes a weight-loss protocol that is “easy” to follow, and that once the protocol ends, consumers can eat what they want without regaining weight.
The contempt action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
King Con - Kevin Trudeau's appearance on 20/20 - January 20, 2006. Watch a short news clip from ABCNEWS.COM and read transcript. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen and Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch are featured in this no holds barred attack on Trudeau. I just wonder why our major bookstore chains here in Canada continue to carry his book and push it in large displays. No book of his should be on the shelves of any Canadian bookstore, except perhaps in the "crime" section.
To promote his fraudulent claims in his Natural Cures book is in my opinion fraudulent. The books should be pulled from the shelves and an apology issued by Canadian book stores that carry them.
New York State Consumer Protection Board - Oct. 25, 2005. Without Notice to Consumers, Kevin Trudeau is Selling Customer Names and Addresses from Infomercial Orders. In addition, many customers are also being charged unexpected fees, such as $71 for a monthly newsletter, when they order the “Natural Cures” book over the phone. Consumers report trouble in obtaining refunds, problems reaching customer service agents and they’re paying long-distance charges in order to cancel the $71 fee.
Cancer ‘cures’ are empty promises in Kevin Trudeau’s ‘Natural Cures’ book - New York State Consumer Protection Board attacks Trudeau's book. “From cover to cover, this book is a fraud. The front cover makes false promises about ‘natural cures’ that are in the book, while the back cover includes false endorsements, including one from a doctor who died three years before the book was even written,” Chairperson Santiago said.
These false endorsements extend to Trudeau’s television infomercials, Chairperson Santiago said, citing in particular the infomercial featuring the former Tammy Faye Bakker (now Messner). Tammy Faye appears in Trudeau’s infomercial because she is suffering from a reoccurrence of cancer.
Judge Refuses to Gag Trudeau Critics - ConsumerAffairs.com
A federal judge has refused to block the New York State Consumer Protection Board (CPB) from asking television stations to withdraw misleading infomercials that promote the book, “Natural Cures They Don’t Want You to Know About.”
Is this really Kevin Trudeau's own Match.com profile?- .pdf file. The poster says that he is not interested in any woman who has had plastic surgery to make them look perfect, or who are in therapy, or on anti-depressants. He brags about his new book on Natural Cures, but fails to mention that the real Kevin Trudeau is a convicted felon. He says he's self-employed, but doesn't mention that he really is THE Kevin Trudeau, he is really a narcissistic windbag who feels confortable swindling people. He likes flirting, dancing and eroticism, in no particular order. I wonder where the truth lies, my eyes are wide open to the truth.
FDA Issues Warning Letters to Marketers of Unapproved 'Alternative Hormone Therapies'
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced that the agency has taken action against a number of firms marketing unapproved "Alternative Hormone Therapies" because the products these firms are selling are unapproved new drugs that have not been found safe and effective to treat or prevent certain serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions.
FDA issued Warning Letters to 16 dietary supplement and hormone cream marketers who are making unproven claims that tout the benefits of their "alternative hormone therapy" products in treating or preventing serious diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis, and in affecting the structure or function of the body. These alternative therapies are often promoted as "natural" or "safer" treatments that can be used in place of approved hormone treatments. Marketers have 15 days to respond to FDA.
FTC Warns Web Sites Peddling Hormone Replacement Therapy Alternatives to Review Their Claims
The Federal Trade Commission staff today sent warning letters to 34 Web site operators making claims that products advertised as natural alternatives to hormone replacement therapy will prevent or treat diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, or osteoporosis. The warning letters advise these sellers that their marketing claims may be illegal. FTC staff strongly advised the marketers to review their advertising and promotional materials, and to revise or delete any false, misleading, or unsubstantiated product claims.
Traditional medicines have been used for centuries but scores of traditional Chinese medicine stores in Britain's high streets are being investigated for selling illegal medicines, the BBC has learned. Radio Five Live has discovered that 67 outlets selling Chinese medicines are under suspicion. The herbs are contaminated with dangerous drugs. Sandi Stay had both kidneys removed after taking Chinese medicine which contained a banned toxic drug. She believed she was taking harmless herbs to cure her psoriasis. Traditional Chinese Medicine is now available on virtually every high street and offers treatment for conditions like eczema and weight loss which conventional medicine finds difficult to help. However, some products contain illegal substances, others contain illicitly traded extracts, and many risk causing serious side effects. It's a totally unregulated sector, with no control over what’s on the shelf, and no proper safety tests of the medicines. The Five Live Report investigates Chinese herbalists who put the health of their patients at risk.
George Vithoulkas is considered to be one of the top intellectuals in the homeopathic world. Revered for his teachings and fundamentalist approach to the teachings of Hahnemann, he is probably one of the best known homeopaths alive today. His writings underpin much of the contemporary homeopathic opposition to modern medicine, vaccines and science. He thinks AIDS was caused by repeated use of antibiotics amongst homosexuals with venereal disease. You can find out more about him from the Google Knol he wrote about himself.
We are often accused of tilting at windmills; and hey what's wrong with offering placeobos for the worried well with self-limiting conditions? Well firstly, it is considered unethical for modern medical practitioners to sink to this kind of deception that denies the patient his or her autonomy. Secondly, by opening the door to irrational medicine alongside evidence-based medicine, we are poisoning the minds of the public. Finally, if we don't put a brake on the increasing self-confidence of the homeopathic establishment, they will cease to limit their attention to self-limiting or nonspecific maladies. Already, an investigative journalist for Newsnight has exposed the willingness of homeopathic chemists to offer homeopathic prophylaxis for malaria. On World AIDS Day, the Society of Homeopaths in London hosted a conference on the treatment and prevention of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome by using water with a remarkable memory.
Quackometer.net - The quackometer is an experiment to see if it is easy to spot quack web sites just from the language they use. The idea for this site came about after various discussions on Guardian writer Ben Goldacre's Bad Science blog.
Great Britain's chief scientific adviser gave warning yesterday that people who use homeopathic medicines could be putting their lives at risk.
Sir David King said homeopathy was of no medical use whatsoever and that those who trusted it to cure serious health problems could be causing themselves more harm than good.
He also told MPs that the Department of Health was wrong to support the use of the alternative medicine and said there was no evidence that it worked.
Sir David, who was speaking to MPs on the innovation, universities and skills select committee, said: "There is not one jot of evidence supporting the notion that homeopathic medicines are of any assistance whatsoever.
"Therefore, I would say they are a risk to the population because people may take them expecting they are dealing with a serious problem."
He also voiced concern that the Medicines Health and Regulatory Authority allowed homeopaths to state on labels what ailments their remedies would treat.
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He said: "How can you have homeopathic medicines labelled by a department which is driven by science?"
Sir David's comments raised the issue of why the NHS continues to allow primary care trusts to fund homeopathy.
Trusts in Brent, Harrow, and Kensington and Chelsea have all withdrawn funding in recent years.
Jayne Thomas, the vice-chairman of the Society of Homeopaths, said: "There is a lot of proof out there that homeopathic medicines do work."
However, she added: "If a patient was seriously ill, any genuine homeopathic practitioner would encourage them to visit a GP."
Homeopathy no better than placebo
Homeopathy's benefit questioned - BBC News
A leading medical journal has made a damning attack on homeopathy, saying it is no better than dummy drugs.
The Lancet says the time for more studies is over and doctors should be bold and honest with patients about homeopathy's "lack of benefit".
A Swiss-UK review of 110 trials found no convincing evidence the treatment worked any better than a placebo.
"Whether homeopaths should be regulated under the RHPA, including what their scope of practice should be, what controlled acts, if any, they should be authorized to perform, and any protected titles, and whether it is appropriate that homeopaths be regulated under an existing profession specific act."
It is NOT an educational institution or an advocacy association.
Under the Ontario law, the TC-CHO will set up the process to regulate the profession of homeopathy, in the public interest. Once the process is put in place it is the ONLY organization that assesses applicants and determines who is qualified to practise homeopathy in Ontario.
Under the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA), any organization that falsely holds itself out as a body that regulates individuals in homeopathic practise would be liable to a fine of not more than $50,000 for a first offence and not more than $200,000 for a second or subsequent offence. This includes organizations claiming to assess and/or certify individuals' competencies for the purpose of practising homeopathy in Ontario.
Academic Aging researchers sued by A4M gurus
Osteopaths ask for $120 million after being criticized; experts question limits of scientific debate
Two aging-science researchers are suing two other academics for $120 million, arguing that the defendants have damaged their reputation by accusing them of making inflated claims about the efficacy of anti-aging therapies they promote, a case that raises questions about when academic debate crosses a line. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Ronald M. Klatz and Robert M. Goldman, a pair of osteopaths who founded the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, or A4M, in Chicago. The doctors, who also earned MD degrees in Belize, argue that their critics have defamed them as scientists and interfered with their business relationships. The two plaintiffs also have a company called Medical Development Management that sells anti-aging products, according to published reports.
The article below contains numerous links. It is a must read for anyone who still doubts the claims made by A4M and the blatant hucksterism in the anti-aging industry in general.
The best-known practitioner of integrative medicine, melding alternative and traditional approaches, has gone mainstream. Dr. Andrew Weil, whose 10th book came out Oct. 18, intends to raise the public consciousness about aging, and why it is and should be healthy.
In his view, advocates of anti-aging medicine, who tout regimens ranging from growth hormone to Botox and cosmetic surgery to stop the aging process, have become the 21st century equivalent of snake-oil purveyors — long on pitch and short on scientific substance. It's a charge that's been leveled at Weil for years.
Weil calls anti-aging advocates "false prophets who are putting out a message that aging is reversible or that we can stop it."
Monte Kline forced to pay consumers for bogus EDT treatments
Mailorder PhD mogul from Washington State plied his trade on unsuspecting victims who were told that electrodermal testing would find the cause of their health problems. Having done that, Kline's "clinic" would then sell them hundreds of dollars worth of supplements that were not needed. This case is the biggest settlement in the history of quackbusting and it comes after years of hard earned efforts from the State of Washington.
Kline's web site is still up and running on October 6, 2005Monte Kline is a Clinical Nutritionist with a Ph.D. degree in Nutrition and Wholistic Health Sciences. He and the staff of Pacific Health Center are not licensed medical or naturopathic doctors. They do not offer medical diagnoses, cure, advice, or treatment for any particular medical disease ailment, injury, infirmity, deformity, pain, or other physical or mental condition. Pacific Health Center does not prescribe or recommend discontinuance of any prescription drugs. Rather our program focuses on building health through nutritional balancing, desensitization and detoxification.
Electrodermal Testing, as featured at Pacific Health Center, is used by tens of thousands of medical and other health practitioners around the world. Though there are many published studies indicating it’s efficacy, it is generally not recognized by conventional medicine or the Food and Drug Administration. Pacific Health Center’s Electrodermal Testing instruments are duly registered as Class II devices with the FDA. No licensure is required to do Electrodermal Testing.
Kline's Appeal's Court Brief -- Part I - 1/31/2006 Tim Bolen seems to have stuck his nose in this one, too. I'm really glad that he has done just that. He always seems to be associated with losers, even if they had valid licenses to practice in the U.S. "On January 17, 2006 PHC Bellevue attorney, William R. Bishin, filed the Opening Brief in our health freedom case with the Washington Court of Appeals. In my opinion it is a brilliant piece of legal work clearly demonstrating that both the facts and law are on our side. Taking the hour or so necessary to read this will tell you the whole story of Gregoire/McKenna vs. Monte Kline. Assistant AG, Paula Selis, will have a month to respond, after which we will have a reply to her response. In late March or April the Appeals Court Division One in Seattle will hear oral arguments. Their ruling could come a month after that or perhaps longer. Will justice finally prevail? God only knows. Because of length (58 pages), this had to be divided into two parts." Click here to see previous releases
Child with autism dies during chelation treatment
A 5-year-old autistic boy died Tuesday in a Butler County doctor's office while undergoing an increasingly popular though controversial medical treatment touted by some as a cure for the lifelong neurological and developmental disorder.
Abubakar Tariq Nadama died while receiving chelation therapy, an intravenous injection of a synthetic amino acid that latches onto heavy metals and is then passed in the urine.
State police at Butler are investigating Nadama's death, which occurred at the office of Dr. Roy Eugene Kerry in Portersville.
State police at Butler are investigating the child's death, which occurred Tuesday morning after he went into cardiac arrest while receiving chelation -- an intravenous injection of a synthetic amino acid known as EDTA, for ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the practice only to treat heavy metal poisoning.
"Chelation for autism is a fraud," said Stephen Barrett, a retired Lehigh County psychiatrist and founder of the Quackwatch Web site. "Many doctors who treat children for autism claim they are suffering from mercury or lead toxicity. There is no sufficient evidence that autism is caused by mercury or lead toxicity."
The child's death has spurred heated debate within the autism community as parents and medical professionals argue over the safety of chelation and its varied methods of treatment.
Boys father was a medical doctor in the UK - Abubakar Tariq Nadama, whose father is a doctor, died on Tuesday after receiving his third round of chelation therapy, an intravenous treatment designed to remove heavy metals from the body.
Cheatlation. Yes, that is how it should be spelled - Peter Bowditch's RatBags.com
"The fraud of chelation is just another way for charlatans and criminals to steal more money from the parents of autistic children. They lie about mercury in vaccines, they lie about the ability of EDTA to chelate mercury (it is far more likely to extract calcium, leading to heart failure), they lie about the results they get.. They care about nothing but money, and what makes it worse is that these criminals are supported and endorsed by organisations (like Generation Rescue and TAAP) which pretend to be acting in the interests of autistic children."
A Photon in the Darkness - a blog that explores the wacky and potentially deadly world of those who support chelation for autism. Dr. Amy Holmes has her mercury-autism paper slammed.
Sadly, it was only a matter of time: An autistic boy dies during chelation therapy - Comments on Orac Knows (Respectful Insolence) Blog. "Given that the mercury hypothesis represents a biologically implausible explanation for the pathogenesis of autism, any therapy based on "removing" mercury is likely doomed from the start to be ineffective, and any doctor who administers such a treatment for autism (in this case, Dr. Roy Eugene Kerry) should be considered guilty of negligence at best and malpractice at worst."
"Another issue that will become important is that Dr. Kerry is apparently an otolaryngologist, not a pediatrician or a pediatric psychiatrist. What's an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor who also claims to specialize in allergies doing administering chelation therapy for autism? Where and how did he learn to administer it safely? What are his qualifications to be treating "lead poisoning" or autism? Or did he just start doing it on his own? (I note that the University of Pittsburgh has apparently removed Dr. Kerry from its website; however, the cached page can be found here.)
Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism - Institute of Medicine - This eighth and final report of the Immunization Safety Review Committee examines the hypothesis that vaccines, specifically the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and thimerosal-containing vaccines, are causally associated with autism. The committee reviewed the extant published and unpublished epidemiological studies regarding causality and studies of potential biologic mechanisms by which these immunizations might cause autism.
The committee concludes that the body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism. The committee also concludes that the body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism.
Autism - Bogus claims and controversies about etiology and/or treatments
Generation Rescue's thoughts on child's death"We grieve for Abubakar Tariq Nadama (Tariq) and his family, and pray that they will find comfort for their sorrow and the terrible loss they are bearing. As parents of autistic children, we feel the pain Tariq's parents are in very deeply.
This tragedy has received national attention, ensuring that Tariq's death was not in vain. It has brought attention to the autism community and the debate surrounding chelation therapy. May his passing serve as a tipping point to bring this issue to the top of the national health agenda, where it squarely belongs and ensure that his story will be the only one that ends so tragically.
"
Deadly Immunity - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. investigates the government cover-up of a mercury/autism scandal - Rolling Stone
- Dr. Kenneth A. Bock, MD, FAAFP, FACN - His site is innacurate and outdated. His clinic was featured in a recent article in the Providence Journal's web site. You will have to sign up for free to see the full text of the article. Bock has no record of discipline in the State of New York. He has been licensed there since 1982. He also sits on the medical advisory board of Shapefast.com, a MLM marketing company that sells weight loss, and other nutraceutical products that make unsupported claims.
"The Rhinebeck Health Center/Center for Progressive Medicine is at the forefront of this biomedical approach to Autism. We have treated children from across the United States and around the world. In this rapidly changing field, we are continually applying the latest research findings to our clinical treatments with exciting results, which can enhance the benefits of behavioral and educational programs. We are committed to the recovery of every child."
"My company had annual sales of over $1.5 million taxable, and it has been deliberately destroyed unlawfully by Health Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency over the last 18 months or so. These agencies did this by simply cutting off our cashflow, by threatening my advertisers, and unlawfully stopping all personal imports of my product to Canadians."
He left a distinct impression that Health Canada and their employees were nasty little men and women who are out to get him. Of course who would come to his rescue but Trueman Tuck, the health freedom advocate and launcher of a "thousand" anti-government web sites. Okay, it's not quite a "thousand", it only seems that it is.
On July 21, 2005 I received two packages from Tuck via Purolator. Each of them was about an inch thick, but up here in Canada, it's really 2.54 cm. Since Tuck had just returned from the Codex meetings in Rome in early July. It was reported that he attended the meetings with Carolyn Dean, who can no longer practice as an MD in Ontario, and Peter Helgason from Strauss Herbal products. I guess that their influence probably led to Codex coming down hard on the nutraceutical industry in Europe.
I know that he is foaming at the mouth just waiting to get even with the rest of the world. I have scanned in his lawsuit that names just about everyone of interest in the Canadian government, Health Canada.
It will be interesting to see what happens with his lawsuit. If it turns out like the lawsuit he launched on behalf of Nick Jerch from Bell Distributors, I wouldn't bet on a victory before any judge or jury.
Tim Bolen sued by Aetna
Thanks to Casewatch.com and Dr. Stephen Barrett
Documents presented to the U.S. District Court for Colorado suggest why "biological dentists" helped fund the lawsuit that Cavitat Medical Technologies filed against Aetna, Inc. last year. [Barrett S. Documents suggest why bogus "racketeering" suit was filed against Aetna. Casewatch, July 15, 2005]
Documents filed with the court indicate that Cavitat's lawsuit was backed by "biological dentists" who purchased shares that would entitle them to a percentage of any money collected if Cavitat prevailed. These documents also indicate that the shareholders also planned to add dental boards as defendants in their racketeering suit if they did not agree to stop disciplining dentists who diagnose and treat "NICO."
The other states: "We are trying a different tactic with the state dental
boards but if they do not comply, they will be named in the Aetna
legal action as co-defendants, individually and as a board."
One of the shareholders is Tim Bolen, a "publicist" who has issued false and defamatory statements about participants in several regulatory proceedings.
Aetna has filed suit against a device manufacturer who made the mistake of filing a lawsuit accusing Aetna of improperly classifying the Cavitat device as "investigational and experimental." Tim Bolen, acting with his wife, Jan, and their company "JuriMed," have been attempting to promote the business of Cavitat for some time. As Cavitat's agent, Bolen, his wife, and company have engaged in a venal and systematic campaign to attack Aetna and persons whom Cavitat alleges are associated with Aetna, all for the purpose of his making money for himself and the others he has acted in concert with in advancing the baseless claims asserted against Aetna in this lawsuit. Bolen has a history of advocating for the sale of holistic and alternative medical products and concepts and of attacking evidence-based mainstream medicine. He has been "hired," "retained" or "consulted" in the past by attorneys and for individuals accused of medical fraud, malpractice and quackery. He also has provided crisis management services for medical practitioners accused of unethical conduct.
Cavitat, Jones, Bolen and others have engaged in a campaign to intimidate and obstruct testimony of witnesses under subpoena in this case by various means including the posting of false representations on the Internet and physical stalking of witnesses in this case.
Exemplary Damages request:
The conduct of Jones and Cavitat as well as Bolen and their other agents was intentional, willful, wanton, malicious, reckless, grossly negligent and deserving of punishment. Aetna is therefore entitled to exemplary or punitive damages in the maximum amount allowed by law to punish Jones and Cavitat and to deter other similarly-situated persons from engaging in like conduct.
Hulda Clark Lawsuit Reinstated
Appeals court upholds suit against Hulda Clark and her attorney.
The California Court of Appeals has reinstated a malicious prosecution suit that Dr. Stephen Barrett filed in December 2002 against Hulda Clark and attorney Carlos J. Negrete.
Clark is an unlicensed naturopath who claims she can cure cancer, AIDS, and other serious diseases with a low-voltage electrical device and various herbs. [Barrett S. The bizarre claims of Hulda Clark. Quackwatch, Nov 9, 2004] Barrett is suing her for libel because she hired a "publicist" who has been attempting to destroy his reputation by spreading false and defamatory statements about him [Barrett S. A response to Tim Bolen. Quackwatch, March 18, 2005]. In 2001, Clark filed a malicious cross-complaint in which she accused Barrett, his wife, and many other defendants with "racketeering" and a long list of other crimes and civil wrongs they did not commit. [Barrett S. Bogus "anti-quackbuster" suit dismissed: Why I am suing the lawyer who filed it. Quackwatch, March 18, 2005] In 2003, a lower court judge dismissed the malicious prosecution suit on grounds that Barrett not had presented enough information to conclude that Clark and Negrete knew the cross-complaint was groundless.
In reversing the lower court decision (see below), the Appeals Court used these words to describe their reasons why the original court should go to trial:
"the scurrilous nature of the defendants' allegations of wrongdoing and their efforts to publicize them widely on the Internet, when coupled with their utter failure to offer any proof of their charges"
I've spent hours and hours of my time trying to help people who have been victimized by quacks. Attacks on my credibility are a dime a dozen, and they aren't worth that much. But, the boldness of these assaults have grown much meaner over the last few months. Why is that? Why have the idiots who run quack cancer centres in Canada, and Mexico so worried about what I have to say?
In this section of my web site I will try to focus on major attacks that have involved me personally. In addition, those of you who have been privately or publicly attacked will have a chance to pour your heart out and tell your side of the story.
In addition, I have established a Defamation & Libel Blog to counter the Blogs that have allowed libel and defamation to thrive.
Alex Orbito 'Psychic surgeon' charged with fraud in Toronto
'Removed tumours': Practitioner once tended to Shirley MacLaine
The Filipino "psychic surgeon" who once ministered to film actor and New Age maven Shirley MacLaine has been charged with fraud in Toronto, police said in a press release on June 15, 2005.
They allowed Orbito to go out on bail for just $35,000. We assume that they kept his passport so he could not leave the country. That of course assumes that his passport is valid, and that he doesn't have friends in high places who could swish him out of the country back to his 200 metre high pyramid of power back in the Philippines.
He will be in the Scarborough courts, room 412, 1911 Eglinton Ave East, Monday - July 11, 2005 at 10:00 a.m. should anyone want to attend.
Alex L. Orbito, 65, a self-described "reverend" who claims to reach into the bellies of the ill to retrieve their "negative energies," faces charges of fraud over $5,000 and possession of the proceeds of crime. They say that he saw 600 people at a Best Western Hotel room last weekend and charged them about $135 Canadian for a few minutes of his time.
This sleaze ball had local coordinators who put this together.
The Toronto arrest is only the tip of the iceberg for this slime ball. He's been doing this for years on nearly every continent. Why is it he and his entourage think that they can just continue on this scamfest. And that brings me to another scammer, but in this case, he's a teenage boy and he's home grown.
Healing is in the eye of the beholder - A scam is a scam is a scam
Comments: If Alex Orbito has been charged with scamming millions of dollars from victims around the world why was he allowed to enter Canada in the first place over a month ago. What did he tell Canadian Customs when he got off the plane? Are our borders open to anyone who love to prey on people who have terminal diseases? And who is the mysterious 62 year old Pickering man named John Robert Wood who was charged with him. Did the hotel not find it rather strange that a man who rented a room was visited by over 600 individuals?
If Orbito was charged with fraud, then why is he any different than Adam Dreamhealer, or Benny Hinn, or any of the other people who pretend to cure cancer or make blind people see?
Canadians should appeal to CCRA to audit the books of anyone who pretends to cure people, who in actuality are just plainly and simply hucksters, flim-flam artists, and crooks. Just because someone's parents and their teenage son are Canadian should not remove them from the scrutiny of our regulators and tax people. A scam is a scam, is a scam, no matter which glossy magazine or TV show they appear on, or who their friends are in the media or entertainment business.
Vaccines do not cause autism. Numerous studies should silence these vaccine critics. Some have religion, and others are blatant liars who see profit before science as a motivational tool. The press doesn't get it either. They are too stupid to realize when they are being scammed, and it's our fault.
Devgan investigated for scamming Mennonite couple after losing his right to practice medicine in Ontario
[The original article never mentioned Devgan's name because of legal concerns, and the fact that he could be criminally charged for fraud and practicing medicine without a license. In my opinion, the CPSO has no power to do anything to Devgan since they took his license away for good after years of doing absolutely nothing about him. It's in the hands of the police. So what else is new with this notorious scamster?]
What is Super-Homeopathy?
Before you can understand super-homeopathy, you need to know a bit about good old-fashioned homeopathy, as developed by Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843).
A homeopath will start with a substance that produces the same symptoms as the disorder that is troubling the patient. Such a substance is supposed to prompt the body to heal itself. So, for a gullibility remedy, we'd start with something that makes people easier to fool*, such as grain alcohol or the essence of television programs such as a television newscast, especially one from CNN or Fox, or a televangelist's broadcast, especially one who cries and does faith healing. Any speech by a world leader will do as well and U.S. presidents have been especially good for this purpose of late.
William Hammesfahr, M.D. Questionable Nobel Prize Nominee and advocate for the Shindler family in the Terri Schiavo case
Pulling the plug on fairness - great review of Hammesfahr and his battles with the pressWilliam Hammesfahr, a neurologist brought in by the Schindlers for a 2002 hearing who claims that Terri Schiavo is not in the "persistent vegetative state" claimed by Michael Schiavo. An Oct. 23, 2002, Miami Herald article notes that Hammesfahr "charges cash for treatments and advertises himself as a nominee for a Nobel Prize based on a letter his congressman wrote to the Nobel committee." An Oct. 25, 2003, St. Petersburg Times article noted that Hammesfahr "offered no names, no case studies, no videos and no test results to support his claim" that Terri Schiavo could be helped.
Since the Schiavo affair began, this neurologist who brags about his alleged "Nobel Prize Nomination" openly on his web site has appeared on scores of radio and TV shows. I would assume that Joe Scarborough and Sean Hannity had no idea that his "nomination" was made by his own Congressman, Michael Bilrakis, from Clearwater, Florida.
As fas as his qualifications are concerned, Hammesfahr is a board certified neurologist who had his troubles at one time in his home State over the billing of a patient. If you would put his c.v. next to a real Nobel Prize nominee, it would be worth absolutely nothing. He is not on the staff of any teaching hospital, nor does he appear to have any affiliation with a medical school. So, what in the world was this Congressman nominating him for in the first place back in 1999?
Stroke therapy's creator labeled pioneer, quack - St. Pete Times - Jul 7, 1999. pg. 1.B
Hammesfahr has been mentioned on Quackwatch, a Web site focusing on fraud and quackery in medicine. His articles have been turned down by well-known medical journals. And a Miami Beach neurologist has filed a complaint with the state accusing Hammesfahr of fraudulent advertising.
"In my opinion, it's irresponsible to market any treatment to the public before it has gone through the peer review process," said Dr. Steven Novella, a Yale neurologist who wrote an article about Hammesfahr for Quackwatch.
This is to advise you that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reviewed your web site at
the Internet address www.mercola.com and has determined that the products Living Fuel
RxTM, Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil, and Chlorella are promoted for conditions that cause
these products to be drugs under section 201(g)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
(the Act) [21 U.S.C. ś 321(g)(1)]. The therapeutic claims on your web site establish that these
products are drugs because they are intended for use in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of diseases. The marketing of these products with these claims violates the Act.
Herbalife would like you believe that taking Niteworks will benefit your heart. The product was formulated by Louis J. Ignarro, PhD., professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at the UCLA School of Medicine, who shared the 1998 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his research concerning nitric oxide as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system. This article tells why Dr. Stephen Barrett believes that Niteworks is being promoted with improper claims and Ignarro's conduct has been highly questionable. You can watch two short clips of Ignarro's performance at a Las Vegas rally where he appears to be an Herbalife hero ready to enter the ring, or the race to a victory celebration.
Nobel Prize Winner Didn't Disclose Herbalife Contract - Bloomberg special report:
The Nobel Prize winner didn't return telephone calls to his office and to the public relations department of the University of California at Los Angeles, where he teaches. Herbalife spokeswoman Barbara Henderson said the company won't comment, on advice from its lawyers, because it's planning an initial stock sale to the public.
Hulda Clark's associate and Scientologist, David Amrein was barred from making false claims for devices and an herbal program for treating cancer. He has been associated with Hulda Clark, an unlicensed naturopath who falsely claims that all cancers are caused by parasites and can be cured with a low-voltage electrical device and various herbs. The details of the original FTC charges from January 2003 follow. David Amrein, a Swiss national, is the sole officer and director of both The Dr. Clark Association that operates as a not-for-profit corporation in California, and a Swiss company Behandlungzentrum GMbH. Amrein was charged with making unsubstantiated claims for several products that Clark recommends. Those people who bought into this scam can now obtain redress thanks to the settlement reached by the FTC. Amrein and all of his colleagues and associated companies are prohibited from making false claims for any of their products. In 2001, the FTC obtained a consent agreement with another advertiser of products based on Clark's theories. Clark, who writes books and operates a Mexican clinic, was not charged in these cases because her claims for the products do not constitute advertising.
Challenging quacks and frauds
Medical Post - November 2, 2004
By Barbara Kermode-Scott
He investigates and challenges products, services and theories that are marketed with claims he believes to be false, unsubstantiated or even illegal. Polevoy is certainly angered when he comes across evidence of fraudulent claims, con tricks or other health scams. Unlike most of us, Dr. Polevoy taps into that anger and takes action to protect consumers against health quackery.
Mix a little quantum physics, telepathy, and a dozen or so crazy inventions over the years, such as a colourful plastic trauma card, or a super "healing puck" and wrap it around a non-profit organization that ducks paying the right amount of taxes every year and you come up with the Gentle Wind Project.
And, they are headed for Toronto's Sheraton Centre Hotel on October 9-10 this year.
The press and media loves them, and they ignore the fact that GWP has been investigated on two coasts, and are involved in a number of nasty lawsuits. Our QuackeryWatch investigation begins in Canada with links to the U.S., Australia, and even into Iran and Iraq. Stay tuned for more good reading and listening.
BY ROBERT NELSON
Nine days after September 11, 2001, a guy named Joe Deihl from Paradise Valley started a company called Regency Medical Research, Ltd.
Within months, Regency had an amazing new product on the market. It was KI-Spray, a small bottle of potassium iodide that users could spray in their mouths when "a nuclear disaster strikes" to "shield yourself and your family against thyroid-related cancers and other diseases that crippled and killed thousands for years after the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster."
No joke. Thanks to Deihl, Americans could just spray away those annoying Armageddons.
"No water needed, no pills to swallow, just spray like a breath freshener . . . to protect you and your loved ones," the company said on its Web site, www.vitamist.com.
KI-Spray was arguably the most brilliant invention in the history of American snake-oil medicine.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, however, did not appreciate the historic beauty of KI-Spray.
In June of 2003, Alonza Cruse, director of the FDA's Los Angeles district, sent Deihl and his company a letter ordering them to stop selling KI-Spray immediately because the product and the company's claims violated numerous provisions of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
One of those companies received a cease-and-desist order from the Arizona Attorney General's Office in 2002 for unlawful credit card billing practices.
Two other companies have bad ratings from the Better Business Bureau.
Deihl and his companies, some owned jointly with his wife and sons, have had nearly 70 lawsuits filed against them in state and federal courts. Bills weren't paid. Refunds weren't refunded. Credit cards were charged without authorization. Two of the companies have gone bankrupt.
Renew You Holistic Medicine Scams
The Dundas Star News has allowed an advertisement to run in its local newspaper since June 2004 for a holistic health clinic in Ancaster, Ontario. The ad that we saw ran on August 20, 2004. Did anyone at the newspaper check on the actual credentials of the owners of the clinic? Had they checked they may have discovered some holes in their credibility. But, newspapers are not supposed to be consumer watchdogs, they are there to make money and provide for the good of the community.
So what good is it to have this type of holistic clinic in their town?
Renew You claims on their web site that two kinds of regulated health professions work at their facility, i.e. massage therapy and physiotherapy. According to the regulations of the physiotherapists and massage therapists they can not be associated with or perform certain kinds of treatments or they could be taken before the disciplinary committee of their respective Colleges. So what would make someone who has the public's trust given to them by law associate with people who have no credentials recognized by law?
One of the worst examples of health quackery today is the use of electronic equipment to diagnose, evaluate and treat serious medical conditions. This clinic uses one of the worst examples of medical quackery I have ever seen.
"People who went there were intelligent people" "They were smart, they were funny" "They believed in God" "They all had one thing in common, though - they were going to die."
Shelia's mother died, another victim of cancer quackery
CSCT Inc. - Zoetron Settlement
CSCT, Inc. Settles FTC Charges Press release - Feb. 14, 2004Michael John Reynolds and John Leslie Armstrong agreed that their company offered bogus electromagnetic cancer therapy to U.S. citizens. So what about the Canadian's who fell for this?
The settlement prohibits the defendants from making false claims in connection with the marketing and sale of any service, program, food, drug, or device and prohibits them from helping others to do the same thing.
A Healthy Dose of Fraud
Dr. Terry Polevoy was on the Mitch Albom Show on 760 WJR in Detroit on March 18 to discuss insurance scams, and health fraud. This undercover investigation by John Quinones, and producers of PrimeTime Thursday show was a blockbuster. We can't figure out why insurance companies paid anything for the procedures. The show ended with an announcement that some of the clinics were raided by the FBI.
Primetime Investigates a Gigantic Medical Insurance Scam - ABCNEWS.com
March 18¤ It's one of the largest medical insurance scams in history, according to the FBI ¤ involving thousands of healthy people across the country. In the scam, agents say, recruiters bring "patients" from across the nation to surgery centers in California where they give phony or exaggerated symptoms and doctors perform unnecessary operations on them. Then the surgery centers send inflated claims for the unnecessary procedures to the patients' insurance companies. When the insurers pay up, federal authorities say, the recruiters, the surgery centers and the patients split the proceeds.
The FBI believes as many as 100 surgery centers are involved in the scams, many of them in Southern California. "For a few dollars, somebody is going to subject a human being to carving them up, subjecting them to risk," said FBI agent Grant Ashley. "That's as bad as it gets."
Holistic World Expo 2004 - Toronto
Since the Total Health Expo at the CNE in Toronto failed to draw significant crowds, I wondered why. Well, it must be that the right-wing politicos in charge of the T.H.E. must eight have outstayed their welcome a the Toronto Convention Centre, or people didn't want to shell-out their hard earned money for their second-rate show.
So, here comes the next best thing for the CAM community in Toronto. It's the Holistic World Expo. Some of the same faces are there, and we just can't resist the challenge of casting as few stones at some of their presenters, and exhibitors.
Eva Briggs gets instructions from Grassy Mohawk guy
Gary Young and his Essential Oils
Gary Young Essentially Wacko at Toronto's Total Health ExpoThey came to hear him talk about hormones, but all they heard was total and complete baloney. The evidence is clear, he is not who he says he is. He avoids talking about his legal difficulties, the arrests, the lies, and a whole bunch of other stuff, including an axe-wielding assault on one of his former employer's offices, and attacks on his own family. So, why was there standing-room only in Toronto in March 2004?
A Critical Look at Gary Young
Huckster for Young Living Essential Oils, and Raindrop Therapy this dangerous quack has lived a series of lies. Dr. Eva Briggs takes the shine off Young's oily past in this no-holds-barred attack on one of North America's most notorious flim-flam operators.
HealthWatcher.net Announces The True Story of EMPOWERPLUS
Pig Pills, Inc. the Synergy Group
&
Truehope.com
The result of over two years of research into the bizarre claims and marketing of a nutraceutical made in Utah, sold in Alberta, and promoted by some pretty slick business people. This story involves claims made by leading researchers in universities, unbelievable media hype, and a scramble to stay one step ahead of Health Canada.
FTC bars Kevin Trudeau from any infomercial - Sept. 7, 2004
Trudeau Settles Claims in Connection with Coral Calcium Supreme and Biotape
A Federal Trade Commission settlement with Kevin Trudeau " a prolific marketer who has either appeared in or produced hundreds of infomercials " broadly bans him from appearing in, producing, or disseminating future infomercials that advertise any type of product, service, or program to the public, except for truthful infomercials for informational publications. In addition, Trudeau cannot make disease or health benefits claims for any type of product, service, or program in any advertising, including print, radio, Internet, television, and direct mail solicitations, regardless of the format and duration.
Trudeau agreed to these prohibitions and to pay the FTC $2 million to settle charges that he falsely claimed that a coral calcium product can cure cancer and other serious diseases and that a purported analgesic called Biotape can permanently cure or relieve severe pain.
Trudeau is paying $500,000 in cash and transferring residential property located in Ojai, California, and a luxury vehicle to the Commission to satisfy the $2 million monetary judgment against him. In the event that the court finds that Trudeau or his companies misrepresented their financial condition, the order would require Trudeau to pay $20 million pursuant to an avalanche clause.
FTC holds Kevin Trudeau in Contempt - On June 29, 2004, a U.S. District Court judge found Kevin Trudeau in contempt of court for violating a July 2003 stipulated preliminary injunction. The Court found that Trudeau violated the preliminary injunction when he disseminated direct mail pieces and an infomercial that made claims that coral calcium is an effective treatment or cure for cancer and other diseases. The preliminary injunction prohibited Trudeau from making these claims. The Court ordered that Trudeau cease all marketing of coral calcium and expressly reserved the right to impose additional remedial measures.
FTC and FDA Crack Down on Coral Calcium - The Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have combined actions against Bob Barefoot and Kevin Trudeau. Why didn't they do it when we first reported this scam years ago? How many millions of dollars have these swindlers put away in offshore bank accounts?
Good Morning America slams Coral Calcium - False Hope?
By Greg Hunter
Experts Doubt Coral Calcium Infomercial Health Claims - Infomercials for a new "cure-all" are the most aired in the country and ad pitchman Bob Barefoot has told millions of people that taking a mineral supplement called coral calcium will help cure some of the most dreaded diseases known to mankind.
"I've had a thousand people tell me how they've cured their cancer," Barefoot says in the infomercial. "I've witnessed people get out of wheelchairs from multiple sclerosis just by getting the 'Coral.' "
The sad truth, however, is that Bob Barefoot's claims are dubious at best, according to Dr. Stephen Barrett, a consumer advocate who runs the Web site "Quackwatch." Barrett adds that, in many cases, Barefoot is just plain wrong.
SeaSilver - fined $4.5 million
Two California-based companies that promoted the dietary supplement ¦Seasilver" with allegedly false medical claims are banned from making false or unsubstantiated claims for any dietary supplement, food, drug, or device as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.
More Charges
Focus Factor and V-Factor - fined $1 million
Marketers of ¦Focus Factor," a dietary supplement that purports to improve concentration, and ¦V-Factor," a supplement that purports to enhance sexual performance, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they made numerous unsubstantiated advertising claims for the products.
"Peel Away the Pounds" Patch Settle Charges of False & Unsubstantiated Weight Loss ClaimsMarketers of the "Peel Away the Pounds" patch, which was widely advertised in infomercials, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they made false and unsubstantiated weight loss claims in violation of the FTC Act. The FTC complaint alleges that the defendants falsely claimed that the seaweed-based skin patch causes as much as three to five pounds of weight loss per week, and made other false and unsubstantiated claims. The proposed settlement, which requires court approval, requires the defendants collectively to pay more than $1 million in consumer redress, to stop making certain false weight loss claims, and to possess scientific substantiation before making other claims for any product, program or service that purportedly provides health benefits.
Bentley-Myers and others to Pay $2.2 MillionDirect mail marketers have agreed to pay $2.2 million in consumer redress and to stop certain deceptive advertising practices to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they made false and unsubstantiated weight loss and arthritis ¦cure" claims for dietary supplements in sales brochures mailed to consumers across the nation. The complaint alleged that the defendants violated the FTC Act by making false and unsubstantiated claims that three weight- loss supplements " Zymax and MillinesES (both containing ephedra), and Serotril (containing St. JohnĂs wort) " cause rapid and substantial weight loss without diet or exercise.
QXCI - how can it diagnose cancer?
QXCI doctors - Why do some of them claim that they can diagnose cancer in Canada - After receiving a complaint from a Quebec woman who was scared to death that she had a brain tumor after visiting a quack earlier this year, we tracked down the operators of a few alternative health clinics, and the vendors who sell these bogus systems. We were shocked that some of those people who spent over $13,500 U.S. for these devices were indeed registered health professionals in Canada.
MSB-Holistics - Why didn't the Buffalo, NY scammers bring their QXCI machine to the University of Waterloo, and why didn't they even discuss it at an open meeting? Did they think that Health Canada would be in the audience?
Major Actions Against Spammers & Phishers
If you've been spammed, spoofed or phished to death over the last few years, help is on the way. Follow the action at HealthWatcher.net's latest addition. We've created a great resource for the latest news and a vehicle for your complaints. It's not too late to get even, and there's a potential to actually be rewarded for your efforts.
WARNING!!! - This is one of the worst anti-Semitic ploys I have ever seen. We were warned by one of our friends in Quebec, but it could be coming to Belleville, Toronto, Windsor, or even Kelowna any day now. Seminar links are below. I wonder if Alan Borovoy from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association will be there to defend their right to spread hateful propaganda?
There is new alternative health movement picking up speed in Quebec, called, "Biologie Totale". They are heavily recruting for new believers across North America, but their roots are from Germany. The "system" is based on the work of a German by the name of Ryke Geerd Hamer. He has a really dubious record in Germany where he was arrested for the illegal practice of medicine. His system is called, "New Medicine", and is based on the premise that all disease (that's right, ALL disease) are a result of psychological conflict and that the appearance of symptoms are a result of the body trying to heal. However, as you will see below, there is much more to this, than just "mind control".
Here's some excerpts about his views on cancer from one English site. Pay attention to the phrase
"Iron Rules of Cancer":
The New Medicine of Dr Hamer - Dirk Hamer Syndrome
Dr Hamer had an exceptionally high success rate with his cancer therapy, by far the highest I have seen of any therapy. During one of several trials of the persecuted Dr Hamer the public prosecutor (Wiener-Neustadt in Austria) had to admit that after 4 to 5 years 6,000 out of 6,500 patients with mostly advanced cancer were still alive. That is over 90%, almost a reversal of the results to be expected after conventional treatment of advanced conditions.
"THE JEWS have killed two billion people with morphine, chemotherapy and radiation treatment according to the so-called "The New Medicine" cult that has begun to establish itself in Norway. It preaches that cancer sufferers should eschew conventional treatment in favour of therapists who "heal", while the patients cough up the cash."
Comment from Tor Bach and Kristin GroniiHamer, who served 19 months' jail in Germany for illegal practice of medicine, is currently living in exile in Spain and still practising his barmy ideas. According to the medical magazine, The Lancet, he has a following of around 3,000 people there, and Spanish doctors hold him responsible for several tens of deaths of cancer patients Hamer's followers, nevertheless, argue that he deserves the Nobel Prize for medicine and praise him as the Galileo of our times.
Hamer's New Medicine - Swiss Study Group for Compementary and Alternative Methods of Cancer - SCAC. This is in Adobe .pdf format.
Willis Carto - Institute for Historical Review and more anti-Semitic health related political movements:
Carto's Liberty Lobby, based in Washington, D.C., and nominally headed by Colonel Curtis B. Dall (a former son-in-law of President Franklin D. Roosevelt), enjoyed friendly ties with conservative congressmen. It published a weekly tabloid, 'The Spotlight,' which by 1979 enjoyed a paid circulation of almost 200,000 (Circulation peaked at 315,000 in 1981 and had fallen to about 90,000 by 1992. George & Wilcox, 260). Its articles championed income-tax rebels, protested the plight of family farmers, and promoted quack cancer cures such as laetrile. Its favorite political targets included the Rockefellers, the Rothschilds, Henry Kissenger, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the 'Zionist entity' in Palestine." (King, 39-40)
Does this stuff have a familiar ring to it folks? The Tax Tyranny and Health Freedom lobbyists in Canada and the U.S. sounds are probably goint to cheer them on.
Give Me a Break - ABC-TV's 20/20 - January 30, 2004
James Randi bet ABC's John Stossel that a scientific test that was chosen by the best minds in the world's homeopathic community would fail. Well it did, and it failed miserably. It was great to see the face of the famous Dr. Ullman just lose its colour when the results were revealed. No problem, he blamed the study design.
Rx for confusion - CSINDY.COM January 19, 2006 - After a number of deaths at the hands of quack Brian O'Connell the State of Colorado may consider whether or not to approve the licensure of naturopaths.
Naturopathic Practices are Bizarre, Irrational, and Unsafe
Naturopaths Portray Themselves as "Primary Care
Physicians," but Their Training is Substandard
Superficial Appearances do not Ensure Validity
Government's Responsibility: Licensure Implies Validity and Self-Regulation
A Double Standard for Health Care is Wrong
The Public Demand for Naturopathy is Miniscule
Previous Government Studies have found
Naturopathy Unsuited to the Practice of Medicine
A Threat to Health Insurers, an Insult to Non-MD Practitioners,
and a Headache for the Department of Public Health
"Collaboration" with Medical Doctors Violates Medical Ethics
From Cultism to CAM
James C. Whorton - Nature Cures:
The History of Alternative Medicine in America
The recent growth of interest in complementary and alternative medicine
(CAM)
represents a dramatic reversal of the medical profession's attitude
toward
unorthodox approaches to therapy. Through virtually the entire
twentieth
century, in fact, alternative medicine was scorned as "medical
cultism."
This talk will examine the basis for medicine's dismissal of
alternative
practitioners as cultists, and trace the transformation of alternative
medicine's image and status from the 1890s to the present.
James C. Whorton is the author of "Nature Cures: The History of
Alternative
Medicine in America," published in 2002 by Oxford University Press. He
is a
Professor of History in the Department of Medical History and Ethics,
University of Washington School of Medicine. Professor Whorton has written many journal articles and four books.
Ongoing Problem with the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Implausible Claims and Unacknowledged Scientific Fraud
Research Centers, More Implausible Claims, and "Integrative Medicine" Centers
Cynicism and Fear
Human Studies Ethics and CAM
Advisory Councils
Conflicts of Interest
Conclusion - After more than ten years and $200 million, OAM/NCCAM-sponsored research has not demonstrated efficacy for any CAM method, nor has the Center informed the public that any method is useless. It continues to fund and promote pseudoscience. It continues to be influenced by powerful ideologues. The problem with so-called Complementary and Alternative Medicine, in a nutshell, is that it is an assortment of implausible, dishonest, expensive, and sometimes dangerous claims that are exuberantly promoted to a scientifically na've public. The NCCAM, so far, has not been part of the solution.
Chelation lawsuits
NCAHF newsletter - December 16, 2003
Suits filed after chelation therapy disasters. Lawsuits
have been filed in two cases where the patient's heart stopped
beating during chelation therapy:
Kenneth Hough, of Bellbowrie, Queensland, is suing Dr. Lin
Sinnathamby and the hospital where Sinnathamby was employed.
The suit charges that Sinnathamby falsely promised that chelation
therapy would clean out Hough's arteries and make him feel generally
more energetic. Although he was resuscitated, he suffered a heart
attack and was left with permanent damage to his heart. [Suit filed
against Australian chelationist. Quackwatch, Dec 12, 2003]
The survivors of Susan Alexander, a 56-year-old Georgia woman
who died in 2002, are suing Progressive Medical Group (PMG),
several of its staff members, and Metametrix (a laboratory that
offers nonstandard tests. The suit accuses the defendants of
negligence, fraud, racketeering, and wrongful death. According
to the complaint, Ms. Alexander died during chelation therapy
for nonexistent lead poisoning that had been diagnosed with a
fraudulent test. [Fraud
charged in chelation-related death. Quackwatch, Dec 12, 2003]
The Pharmacology of Chelation Therapy -
By Wallace Sampson, MD.
The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, Fall/Winter 1997 When the mechanism of action
of a substance used in alternative medicine is sufficiently known, the cause of its negative results in clinical trials is then understood. This article is about the mechanism that explains why chelation therapy is a bust.
Canadian Natural Health Products Directorate - NHPD
New laws provide for health claims that are proven
On January 1, 2004 Canadians can look foward to new regulations which were enacted because consumers, government and some natural health product manufacturers felt the existing rules were too lax, labelling on some products incomplete and the health claims on some products did not have enough supporting evidence.
- April 15, 2004 A posting on a Web site has become the focus
by Josh Richman, TriValley Herald
The California Supreme Court will review an Alameda County case to decide how much protection a 1996 federal law gives intermediaries who are sued for re-posting someone else's words on the Internet -- a major issue where free-speech and technology collide.
The two doctors' lawyer, Christopher Grell of Oakland, said he believes this was correct and hopes the Supreme Court will uphold it. "It's an important decision -- from the get-go, we thought it was something the Supreme Court would ultimately have to look at."
California court upholds Terry Polevoy's right to sue republishers of Tim Bolen's defamatory posts which were repeated by Ilena Rosenthal.
Ilena Rosenthal had posted libelous statements on numerous web sites which defamed Dr. Polevoy. Those statements were originally made by Tim Bolen, Hulda Clark's publicist. The judges stated that the original lawsuit filed by Drs. Stephen Barrett, and Terry Polevoy should continue. The links below are posted for your information. As the news of this decision reaches the bleeding hearts in the freedom of speech arena, we expect to have reactions posted from them as well. Even though the decision went against Ilena Rosenthal and she stands a good chance of losing in court, she continues to post defamatory articles by others on internet newsgroups around the world.
The FTC has just delivered a heavy blow against David Amrein, the Dr. Clark Research Association, and their brigade of supporters. On September 24, 2003 in the U.S. District Court of Ohio, Eastern Division, Judge John Adams, slapped them all down a notch or two. They can make no claims at all for any of their devices, products, goods or services. This includes Hulda Clark's New 21 Day Program for Advanced Cancers, the Super Zapper Deluxe, the Syncrometer, and the Complete Herbal Parasite Program. They have to prove to the FTC that their claims are true, but it must be based on reliable scientific evidence. They must keep records, they can't destroy, erase, or conceal any evidence, including all financial records, phone logs, etc. since January 1, 1999. They must provide a copy of this order to all of their affiliates, subsidiaries, employees, representatives, etc. by September 27, 2003. They have until October 30, 2003 to respond when proceedings in court will continue.
Tijuana health authorities nearly broke down the doors of their clinic just a few hundred yards from the San Diego border. The government alleges that Clark and her flock don't have proper authority to operate a clinic. They've been there for three years. Follow the stories as they develop.
Stuart Michael Suster, MD - Great Lakes Pain Center - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Faced serious charges for insurance fraud and professional misconduct.
State Medical Board free to revoke Suster's licenseThe Division of Enforcement recommends that Dr. Suster's license be revoked. Dr. Suster recommends that no discipline be imposed and that this matter be dismissed.
Based upon the evidence presented, the Administrative Law Judge recommends that
Dr. SusterĂs license to practice medicine and surgery be revoked. This measure is designed primarily to assure protection of the public and to deter other licensees from engaging in similar misconduct. He was originally charged with the following violations:
Improperly prescribing controlled drugs.
Improperly touching 16 women, including seven whose breasts he grabbed or fondled when they were in his office and two he kissed while they were receiving "electrostimulation treatment" in a reclining chair.
Threatening to injure four patients.
Improperly fondling the scrotum of a male patient who had complained of constipation.
Using an improper procedure code to bill ten insurance companies for approximately $1 million more than they might pay for properly coded claims for treatment with a Dynatron machine.
Excessive billing in six cases, in some of which he charged both the patient and the patient's insurance company for the same services.
Billing third-party payers for a total of more than 24 hours of physician-patient contact time on four dates.
Substandard practice, including inadequate record-keeping, in treating three patients.
Failing to comply with an order given in 2001 by the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board that he undergo to a five-day residential evaluation. The order was issued after several patients complained that he had spoken to them in an angry and loud manner, using language inappropriate for a physician. According to the charges, he underwent the evaluation but refused to release the required report to the Board
Suster - complete coverage on HealthwatcherDozens of former patients at Great Lakes Pain Center, the doctor's Wauwatosa pain clinic filed complaints that include sexual misconduct, fraud and threatening to injure patients. The State Department of Regulation and Licensing filed the complaint against Suster following a year-long undercover investigation by FOX 6 News.
His courtroom antics have recently resulted in him being escorted out of the courtroom by the local constabulary. Tim Bolen, aka Hulda Clark's general, has recently championed this fellow's cause, as he tries to add yet another notch on his smoking gun.
Texas Attorney General sues colonics companies and hydrotherapists
Landmark lawsuits may shut them downAUSTIN - Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has filed six lawsuits against clinics,
manufacturers and one training association that have engaged in the promotion, sale or
unauthorized use of prescription devices for "colonic hydrotherapy" treatments without
physician involvement. The suits - five filed in Dallas and one in Austin - seek
temporary and permanent injunctions to protect the public from further deaths and
serious injuries.
Cass Ingram's oregano oil products and books sold by neo-nazi web site
FreeAmerican.com hawks more than just hate
Dr. Cassim Igram, aka Dr. Oregano, Cass Ingram, Cass Igram is a frequent guest up here in Canada. On November 20, 2003 he appeared again on the Michael Coren TV show on Canada's foremost Faith-based family TV cable network CTS-TV. We told Michael that Ingram's products were being sold by at least one neo-nazi web site, but he ignored us completely. In fact, he mentioned at the beginning of the show that people had e-mailed him to basically complain about the show before it aired.
Three days later, Cass Ingram appeared at a rally at the OISE in Toronto to raise money to help pass Bill C-420. On that panel was Trueman Tuck (see below), Helke Ferrie, and MP James Lunney. It seems that the "freedom" to sell nutraceuticals is heavily entwined with right-wing politics around the world. Some of these agendas are anti-gay, anti-semitic, anti-tax, etc. A few years ago the Consumer Health Organization's Total Health Expo, where Cass Ingram regularly appears, was in the spotlight because Eustace Mullins, a self-proclaimed rabid anti-Semite was cancelled after numerous complaints were filed.
What in the world does a formerly licensed osteopathic doctor, who is now one of the world's foremost natural health oil gurus have in common with these people? Is it because he doesn't care who sells his stuff? Ingram still wanders around North America proclaiming that he has the answer to SARS, toxigenic E. coli, and other ills despite all of this? Hmmm.........Could it be it improves his bottom line? I'm sure that his estranged family in Windsor, Ontario, especially his teenage daughter who he hasn't seen in years really supports all of this. Now Trueman Tuck has hooked up with Nick Jerch in another attempt to support nutraceutical misadventures.
OTTAWA - May 21, 2004 - Health Canada is warning consumers not to use Bell Magnum Bullet capsules, after it was found to contain an unauthorized substance similar, but not identical to, tadalafil. Tadalafil is a prescription drug approved for male erectile dysfunction, sold under the brand name Cialis. Inappropriate use of tadalafil could cause severe adverse reactions.
Given the close chemical similarity between tadalafil and the substance identified in Bell Magnum Bullet capsules, the known serious health risks associated with tadalafil could also occur with the use of this product. Since Bell Magnum Bullet is not an approved drug product permitted for sale on the Canadian market, the safe use of this product cannot be assured and there may be other unknown risks associated with its use.
Bell Distributor's Magicc Bullet contaminated with Viagra
Health Canada Warns "Do not take Stamen and Bell Magicc Bullet"Both have been found to contain sildenafil, a prescription drug approved for male erectile dysfunction, sold under the brand name Viagraę. Inappropriate use of sildenafil could cause severe adverse reactions. Nick Jerch, who runs Bell Distributors has hired Trueman Tuck to help him file a lawsuit against Health Canada because he says that there is no Viagra in his stuff.
The lawsuit filed in Belleville, Ontario in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice - File 1988/03 was dismissed by the judge who heard the case on December 3, 2003. The Bell Distributor's web site for Magicc Bullett was was still operational on December 8, 2003.
Nick Jerch uses Trueman Tuck's paralegals to claim fowl play - Affidavit allegedly filed by Kim Beach on Nov. 21, 2003 has bizarre claims that there was a some kind of worldwide "collusion" by the international pharmaceutical companies against Nick Jerch. Instead of trying to explain how the raw material in Viagra got into their Magicc pills, they blamed the messenger.
"20. Our firm has researched additional background information on how Pharmaceutical companies in collusion with regulatory officials and manipulated media are on a premeditated basis, attempting, contrary to public interest to discredit and in some cases financially destroy non-toxic, food based medicine businesses. This is a worldwide, organized scheme that is not in the public interest."
"21. Our firm also has done research on the failure of trusted organizations including regulatory officials to properly protect the publicĂs health and well-being from medical errors, dangerous medical procedures, and toxic drug products, while actively trying to censor and restrict not only truthful information, but also low risk, highly effective non-toxic, food=-based medicines."
Chelation troubles just scraping the surface
Fraud and scamsInsurers and State agencies in the U.S. are clamping down on fraudulent procedures that are ripping off the public and the insurance carriers as well. You will find recent cases and a detailed rebuttal of chelation therapy on our site.
Australian baby died after seeing quacks
Herald Sun - November 26, 2003 Parent's of Isabella Denley, saw a psychic, a naturopath and an iridologist before taking her off
anti-seizure medication. The Melbourne couple were told the girl was reliving her past life traumas and did not suffer from
epilepsy, the Coroner's Court was told.
This was despite the child suffering frequent seizures for months.
FDA destroys quack supplements
Nov 10, 2003
Royal Tongan Limu Dietary Supplements Promoted to Treat Various Diseases Destroyed
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today that NBTY, Inc., of Bohemia, N.Y., has completed its voluntary destruction of approximately 90,000 units of Royal Tongan Limu, a dietary supplement promoted to treat various diseases like cancer, arthritis, and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).
FDA Commissioner Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. stated emphatically, "We will not tolerate companies that raise false hopes for preventing and treating illnesses, when there are more scientifically proven steps than ever before that consumers can take to improve their health."
More Goodies
Health food stores give wrong advice about breast cancer - Breast Cancer Research - August, 6, 2003 - Breast cancer patients may be doing more harm than good if they take some alternative medicines, according to a new study. Investigators went to dozens of health food stores in Canada and were given terrible advice about the treatment of breast cancer. This study was an indication that the health food industry is interested more in making profits than in training staff to recognize that they should not be practicing medicine without a license.
FTC and FDA Crack Down on Internet Marketers of Bogus SARS Prevention Products - The Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are warning Web site operators who suggest that their products will protect against, treat, or even cure Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that they are aware of no scientific proof for such claims and that the Web site operators must remove any misleading or deceptive claims from the Internet.
Len Horowitz attacked by FDA - May 19, 2004
This letter refers to your firmĂs marketing and distribution of the products ¦Urbani SARS Formula Nasal Spray", " Urbani SARS Formula (Standard)¦, ¦Extra Strength Urbani SARS Formula", and ¦Urbani SARS Formula Homeopathic (6X)" for the prevention, treatment, or cure of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
Statements made on your Internet websites, healthyworlddistributing.com and cureforsarsnet, demonstrate that these products are being marketed with drug claims.
We request that you take prompt action to correct the noted violations. Failure to promptly correct these violations may result in enforcement action being initiated by the Food and Drug Administration without further notice. The Act provides for the seizure of illegal products and for injunctions against the manufacturer and/or distributor of those products.
Len Horowitz's wild claims were not on the FDA/FTC site. Lenny is saturating the internet with bogus claims for natural treatments to prevent or treat SARS on numerous web sites. Why didn't the FTC/FDA include the letter sent to him on May 12, 2003 on their own web site. Are they afraid that if they mention his name that they will be cursed. Will Lenny have to send them a message that they will have to pray for foregiveness because they have the "wrong attitude"? Len says that he's on sabbatical until next September. I wonder if the FTC's letter will have any effect on his efforts? It seems that Len may have finally met his match. But up here in Canada, he's free to come and go as if nothing has happened. His grandstand performance at the Total Health Expo during the Toronto SARS outbreak will probably go down in history as the beginning of the end to his media spotlight.
Vintage Lenny on Canadian Quackerywatch - His wife is Canadian and he flies in and out of Pearson International Airport without a care in the world. He really stuck his foot in his mouth in April 2003 when he was invited to be on the Michael Coren TV show. The topic had nothing to do with SARS, or vaccines. It was a political discussion about current world events. Horowitz got Coren so upset that he will never again be invited to be back on the show. Everything in the world, according to reverend Horowitz is a bloody conspiracy. One look at his evangelical zeal and public pronouncements will convince you that rural Idaho must have some serious problems with either its air, or its water. Len has moved his entire family there to escape vaccine, crime and smog in Boston and New York over the last few years. His journey spans the universe, his quest to convince the rest of the world that he is right and we are wrong is never ending. So, we'd like to see the FDA/FTC's final list of the 40 or so people that they have sent letters to. If Horowitz has not made it, then someone is obviously asleep in D.C. and Rockville.
Australia shuts down PAN - largest complementary medicine manufacturer - In the biggest scandal to ever face complementary medical manufacturer the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has suspended the licence held by Pan
Pharmaceuticals Limited of Sydney to manufacture medicines, for a period of six months
with effect 28 April 2003, because of serious concerns about the quality and safety of
products manufactured by the company.
A Different Way to Heal - Scientific American Frontiers with Alan Alda. You can watch the entire series and decide for yourself if all of this alternative medical mumbo jumbo deserves to be funded by your government, or insurance company.
Michael Pinkus stung by FDA - Big Time
He has 15 days to comply or they may shut him down Well it finally came to this. Michael R. Pinkus who sits in his lounge chair down in Florida producing mind-numbing infomercials for radio and TV has finally received a warning letter from the FDA. I sometimes wonder how stupid people could have been to have believed his rubbish for CalMax, B-1 Bomber and NuZymes all these years. Well I guess if you come right after Bob Barefoot's Coral Calcium scam on Sunday morning, one of them has to be believed. My guess both of them are out to make a really big buck. But that's another story. The FDA told the Pinkus operation that their products' claims basically put them in the DRUG category.
They said that they could exert their power to seize their stuff and close them down. Pinkus' company has two weeks to reply. How much do you want to bet that nothing will happen. He's making so much money, he could probably buy everyone in the FDA a trip to Orlando for a week during Spring Break.
Hulda Clark associates Zapped by the FTC
- January 27, 2003 Swiss Company Charged by FTC with Making Unsubstantiated Health Claims - The Federal Trade Commission has charged a Switzerland-based company and its U.S.
counterpart with making numerous unsubstantiated efficacy claims for a variety of dietary
supplements and devices that they sell on the Internet. In its complaint filed in federal court,
the Commission alleges that the defendants advertise that their products and programs can
cure advanced and terminal cancers, AIDS, and other serious diseases.
The products at issue are:
the "Zapper," (sold as the "Super-Zapper Deluxe") a device that purportedly kills disease causing parasites in the body with electricity;
the "Syncrometer," a device that purportedly can diagnose diseases;
"Dr. Clark's New 21 Day Program for Advanced Cancers," a regimen that includes
dietary supplements. It purportedly cures advanced cases of cancer, and, when used
with the "Super-Zapper Deluxe," renders surgery and chemotherapy unnecesssary;
the "Complete Herbal Parasite Program" - also called the Herbal Parasite Cleanse.
Complementary or alternative medicine: the need for plausibility - by Dr. L. John Hoffer I believe there is a real danger that public funds earmarked in good faith for CAM therapy research will be dissipated in a variety of ways: in descriptive sociology, in pseudo-CAM projects that are really artfully repackaged mainstream research, and in large, mostly futile RCTs of CAM therapies selected on the basis of advocacy rather than merit. The way to prove the efficacy of most CAM therapies is with well-designed RCTs, and there is no reason to believe that clinical trial designs cannot be developed that allow even complex CAM therapies to be evaluated.
Be wary of alternative medicine
- Dr. Carl E. Bartecchi Richard Dawkins, professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford, notes that alternative medicine is defined as that set of practices that cannot be tested, refuse to be tested or consistently fail tests. An estimated $40 billion is spent each year on unproven and often worthless treatments. The alternative medicine industry has been generous to lobbyists and prominent legislators whose efforts have resulted in laws that have neutralized our otherwise effective Food and Drug Administration. These laws prevent the FDA from removing worthless and, at times, dangerous herbs and supplements from a marketplace flooded with them.
Acupuncture needles contaminated in Toronto Toronto boasts that it has one of the world's most advanced alternative medical communities. Thousands of eager beaver chiropractors, massage therapists, physiotherapists, housewives and new-agers take weekend courses from gurus, and unlicensed and self-proclaimed experts in the Ying and Yang. Well, it's finally came around to haunt one of their brightest stars. There may be hundreds of people at risk for Hepatitis-B and C, and maybe even HIV because one of the leading proponents of acupuncture, who works with a medical doctor in a wholistic clinic, apparently didn't take "Sterilization 101" when she worked her way up the totem pole of natural medicine on the way from Quebec. What may be just a nasty and persistent skin rash with Mycobaterium abscessus, could actually lead to deadly illnesses for hundreds of patients.
Oral Chelation Why would anyone believe a radio huckster with a fake diploma, who is called doctor, and who says that a chemical known as sodium hexametaphosphate (also better known as Calgon), is the key to cleaning our your arteries, but only if mixed with royal jelly, and bee pollen, and swirled around your mouth for 15-20 seconds several times a day?
Warning on vitamin use
Aug 30, 2002 U.K. Food Standards Authority says that taking extra vitamins is unnecessary for most people and may be harmful if taken in large quantities, a health watchdog has decided.
Jamieson Labs Arthrimin GS with Zinaxin
May 28, 2002Health Canada may curb latest Jamieson attempt to sell the public as yet unproved claims for their amazing new nutraceutical. Why it even says it on the label.
Wasting Big Bucks On Alternative
Medicine - Time Magazine May 27, 2002Why are the feds spending millions studying questionable
treatments? It was no accident, then, that the OAM, the NCCAM and their advisory
committees have been loaded with New Age gurus like Andrew Weil,
assorted mystics, quacks ¤ like the one that treated Harkin's allergies
with bee pollen ¤ as well as various hangers-on who apparently think
that "placebo" refers to one of the Three Tenors.
CH-TV's Body & Health Show on chelation therapy - transcript -
May 1-2, 2002This show whitewashes the negative press and research on therapy and is a fine example of the biased attitude of the so-called health shows on TV today. We invite those of you who disagree with the show to let CH know how you feel.
FTC and Competition Bureau team up to crush cancer quacks
FTC Actions - April 4, 2002
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.
His web site is now dead, but his registration on Network Solutions gives this information.
WALKER, DAVID Dlwconslt@AOL.COM
DLW CONSULTING, INC.
1001 COOPER POINT RD. SW SUITE 140-389
OLYMPIA, WA 98502
360-866-8991 (FAX) 360-866-2249
State of Washington charge cancer quack - David L WalkerAn Olympia man who used theInternet to promote an alternative cancer treatment with a purported 95 percent success rate has been sued by Attorney General Christine Gregoire for allegedly engaging in deceptive practices.
When Medicine is Murder
Sharon Lerner in the Village Voice - March 27, 2002
Should a psychiatrist who used wacko combination of inhaled gases to treat young woman face criminal charges? After all it was part of his treatment, only this time the patient died, another victim of repressed memory scam.
Quackbusters attack U.S. Presidential commission report
Stephen Barrett, MD - Quackwatch
The head of Quackwatch and NCAHF go for the jugular in this attack on the legitimacy of the President's CAM Commission. For detailed information about the final report of
the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Policy (WHCCAMP), which was released on March 25th. The information
features a paragraph-by-paragraph analysis of the entire report plus
the "minority report" in which two Commissioners lay bare the
intellectual dishonesty of the rest.
Positive and negative
Magnets attract admirers but also many skeptics
By Janet Stoodley - Chicago Tribune
Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! Let me show you this simple little gadget! Guaranteed to cure cancer, diabetes, arthritis,
high blood pressure, dysentery and gout! All with this simple little magnet I have here!
Alternative Medicine: All in Your Mind - University of Wisconsin The latest addition to the University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate school's
Why Files (first mentioned in the August 9. 1996 _Scout Report_) is about
alternative medicine and the actual biological effects that alternative
medicine has on the human body. For many years, alternative medicine was
considered "quackery", but this Web site presents some of the science behind
the placebo effect and hypnosis. There is also a page on some of the effects
of and concerns about St. John's Wort. A bibliography and links to related
Why Files provide additional resources for those users who are not satisfied
by this brief glance at the topic.
U.K.'s National Health Service should not pay for homeopathy - BMJ - Mark Hunter Leeds
No evidence exists to justify the use of homoeopathy in the NHS, an in-depth analysis of published data has concluded.
The study, carried out by the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, based at York University, reviewed data
from over 200 randomised clinical trials of homoeopathy in a variety of conditions.
It concluded that not only was there little evidence to support the efficacy of homoeopathy, but the data that did exist
were of poor quality and came from trials that were often deeply flawed.
NCAHF Position Statement on White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Medical ethics dictate that before any medical practices are adopted or spread,
they should be validated by appropriate scientific studies. Doing less would endanger the public and remove safeguards that
have evolved over centuries in the practice of rational and caring medicine.
FTC zaps false claims by cellphone shield makers The Federal Trade Commission has charged two companies that sold
devices that purportedly protect users from electromagnetic radiation
emitted by cellular telephones with making false and unsubstantiated
claims.
BioSource affiliates use streaming video on their web sites. ABC News can't do a thing about it. Why won't they pull the plug on their web site?
Divisional Court uphelds CPSO decision on Vegatest doctorJozef Krop argued the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario investigation into his use of a Vegatest machine was improper and the case against him involved a bias on the part of college members and an abuse of process. However, Ontario Divisional Court in Toronto dismissed his claims and found no fault with either the investigation carried out by the CPSO or the decision of the disciplinary committee.
CBC Television Disclosure stings Quebec chiropractor for VegatestOutlandish Claims: People depend on health care professionals to give them critical advice and to treat them ethically. So what happens when one of those professionals provides questionable diagnoses and charges thousands of dollars for treatment? Disclosure catches a Montreal practitioner engaging in some questionable behaviour.
Quack clinic faces new state scrutiny: Health officials revive doubts about "electrodermal" tester Repeated investigations into practice of Washington quack by State officials focused on EAV meters. He's been running rings around investigators in two states. He has a mailorder diploma, is not licensed and yet Oregon and Washington States have failed to put him away, or close him down.
Kline calls himself Dr. Kline, based on his having a Ph.D. in 1984 from Columbia Pacific University in Novato, Calif. The unaccredited school closed its doors in 1999 after being sued by California's Attorney General.
Attorney General Christine Gregoire has filed a lawsuit against a self-proclaimed natural medicine practitioner for making unsubstantiated medical claims about the effectiveness of "electro-dermal testing" to diagnose certain health conditions.
The AG's Office believes Monte Kline and Pacific Health Centers in Bellevue and Spokane have violated the Consumer Protection Act and can be charged a penalty of up to $2,000 per violation. They have treated thousands of patients. Kline has a mailorder degree which has abolutely no validity in the State of Washingon.
Tiuana UndercoverOn Thursday, January 24, 2002 ABC News PrimeTIME aired a 3-segment report on "alternative" cancer clinics in Tijuana, Mexico. The report featured hidden-camera segments that expose what patients experience. Click the link above to order the transcript from ABC directly.
Cellu-System Magnetic Toning Shorts at Shoppers Drug MartWe've nomininated this one for the worst scam for this year, because it crosses over to both a diet scam and a magnetic scam. So, if you want to try some on and go through the metal detector at the airport and be sniffed by dogs when you fly to Tijuana for your cancer treatment, be my guest. You'll really look smart as your cellulite and your cancer cells just get sucked out, thanks to the power of magnets that draw all that good medicine to where it's needed. Leave it to Diny Petty to step up to the mike and hawk this one. After all, it would appear that she was part of the company, according to sources.
Natural Health Products Directorate - Canada Download the .pdf or look at the .html files on the new Regulations and Impact Statement. Will Canada really address dangerous products and their quack promoters?
PhytoPharma and Plant Macerat exposed on W-FIVE CTV's Special
Jan. 6, 2002 - Terry Polevoy, and Ron Reinhold guided CTV through a web of deceptive practices on this award winning Canadian program.
FTC WARNINGS - Nov. 19, 2001 Quack anthrax treatments will be prosecuted. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is giving Web site operators one week to remove from their site any product claims that their items will protect against, detect or treat biological and chemical agents, including anthrax.
This may be just the tip of the iceberg. Hulda Clark and her supporters and marketers of "Zappers", wormwood and black walnut tinctures, colloidal silver,will have a hard fight on their hands after this. We don't understand why the FTC doesn't go after Hulda Clark and her organization.
But, one question remains, why doesn't Health Canada do the same thing about hundreds, perhaps thousands of businesses, and web sites that operate in Canada that market these products?
Suzanne Somers - does she or doesn't she?
When Larry King interviewed Suzanne Somers about her "cancer" she dropped a bombshell:
In CSICOP's latest Web feature, Generation SXeptic columnist Matt Nisbet examines how the mass media promote pyschic mediums.
Talking to Heaven Through Television:
How the Mass Media Package and Sell Psychic Medium John
Edward
When psychic medium John Edward appeared March 6 on CNN's Larry King Live, viewers deserved a balanced treatment of his claims, especially considering that the Larry King Live guest panel included two skeptics and a rabbi critic. Instead, quantitative and qualitative analysis of the program's transcript indicates that King and his producers offered viewers a carefully controlled and framed promotion of psychic ability.
Q-Ray Bogus and Fraudulent claims
Q-Ray Canada runs ads on CBC NewsWorld - On May 2, 2004 I was watching the Fifth Estate at 6 a.m. and was floored by the advertisement for Q-Ray. Their web site is qray.ca. They operate this scam out of Richmond Hill, Ontario. We can't understand how the Competition Bureau and Health Canada allow them to operate.
Q-Ray marketers charged with deceptive advertising - June 2, 2003 -
The FTC is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, including redress, to consumers who purchased the Q-Ray Bracelet. A federal district court has issued a temporary restraining order freezing defendants' assets and prohibiting misleading or deceptive claims.
Q-Ray Bracelet Marketed with Preposterous Claims - Quackwatch
QT, Inc., of Elk Grove Village, Illinois, markets "ionized" bracelets claimed to benefit people by balancing the body's flow of "electromagnetic energy." It is said to have been invented in 1973 by Manuel L. Polo, a chiropractor living on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
Ken MacQueen's article focuses on what is happening in the TCM community in British Columbia. My personal thoughts are that just because snake-oil is alive and well in Vancouver is no reason to give it credibility. The struggle to control quackery and dangerous herbs has just begun. Why put the fox in charge of the chicken coup? Canada has failed to control dangerous herbs, contaminated with hormones, heavy metals and worse. How in the world does certifying someone in the use of those unproved and dangerous remedies going to improve things.?
CMAJ flips on new Canadian Natural Health Products Directorate
Well, well, the esteemed Canadian Medical Association Journal has changed its tune on natural health care. Just a year or so ago, their editorial staff featured Bill O'Neill and his CCRG, the notoriously bad-acting and foulmouthed quack promoter from the Ottawa area. Now, they've asked us all to take a look at the wacky world of the regulation of natural health products, Canadian style. Unfortunately, the editorial is unsigned. Let's send them some good messages. And another curious thing, their web site is still the Office of Natural Health Products. When does an office become a "directorate"?
As Indian alternative medicine is enjoying a surge in popularity in Britain it is now under investigation following fears over health risks. A series of cases from Europe of poisoning from other treatments that contain heavy metals and organophosphates have raised fears about the quality of the herbs used.
It was the best of times....it was the worst of tmes, and last night on the Michael Coren Show on the CTS-TV cable show he decided that it was not proper to discuss the real intentions of the Consumer Health Organization's latest quack expo. We've filed our usual complaint with the Cable Television Standards Council, but we don't think they will do a thing to correct the serious errors made by a well-known Canadian physician.
Jewish group protests Eustace Mullins at Toronto's Total Health Expo 2001
Libby Gardon, the high priestess of the Total Health Expo, continues her campaign to discredit science by allowing a known anti-semitic, racist, Holocaust revisionist to be featured at her so-called health expo. Is she part of this conspiracy to defame scientists who are not of her own ethnic or religious background?
Libby Gardon says that she never heard that Eustace Mullins had any anti-semitic views. The Canadian Jewish Congress'Bernie Farber was interviewed on Toronto's CBC Radio ONE in Toronto on February 21, 2000, and he didn't split hairs. The CJC issues this press release to go along with this outrage:
"We are shocked that an organization concerned with health matters would involve itself with
such an individual," said CJC, Ontario Region Chair, Keith M. Landy. "In the course of his racist career, Eustace Mullins has claimed that the Jews poison American children via the Polio vaccine, and that Jews murder children to drink their blood."
I don't know about you, but if the CJC thinks that Libby Gardon and the Consumerhealth.org are concerned with "health matters", I don't think they really know what their true agenda has been over the years. Gardon's organization sells Mullins' books, and they provide a platform for wacko survivalists, alien abductees, and paranoid messianics of all stripes and colors. Their Expos have nothing to do with the provision of useful health information. The fact that dentists and chiropractors and schools of natural health have booths there speaks to the sorry state of alternative health care in the world. For instance, their platforms have been used by quack cancer clinics in Tijuana to promote their unproved treatments. The name of Tyrell Dueck was introduced to 1999 show, the 13 year old boy who refused to have surgery on his leg, and ended up dying after a trip to one of their sponsor's clinics in Tijuana. Last year, Hulda Clark and Tim Bolen were there surrounded by goons in blue suits. One of them made threats to me personally.
Is the Consumer Health Organization operating as a front for right wing, fundamentalist, anti-semitic individuals, or does it just appear that way to me?
Eustace Mullins is headed for Canada
Mullins to wallow ashore at Salmon Arm instead of Toronto - CHBC-TV
A man described by the Canadian Jewish Congress as "one of the most vitriolic anti-semites in North America" is making a visit to the Shuswap this summer for a speaking engagement. Eustice Mullins is an author and notorious hate-monger who lives in Virginia. His articles have characterized Jews as blood-drinkers and baby killers. He has described blacks as satanic. The Salmon Arm based "Preferred Network" is organizing a "new age" festival this August in Salmon Arm, where Mullins will be a guest speaker. Preferred Network is a business which sells "alternative" books and videos. In February, a controversy erupted in Toronto, when it was reported that Mullins was to speak at an alternative trade show there. Mullins was barred from the Toronto show, after sponsors and other speakers threatened to cancel if he appeared.
Mullins was banned from Toronto meeting, now he's headed for Salmon Arm, B.C. to offer his opinion. Mr. Mullins' view of the world as a place where nothing is what it seems and where our most cherished beliefs are pathetic misconceptions is entirely in sync with what the alternative health movement preaches. This is why he gets invited back again and again to such events. Hard core health nuts want to hear Mr. Mullins condemn modern medicine in exactly the same way white supremacists want to hear him condemn Jews -- as an evil force that preys on the innocent.
Rogers Communications does nothing to stop colon cleansing scam
For months now, Canadian AM radio stations have broadcast a totally bogus system for cleansing your colon and improving your health. JJ Richards, one of the deans of Canadian talk radio broadcasters from the west coast teams up with Paige Matisse to convince listeners that most diseases, mainly serious ones are caused by visible and invisible parasites. If Hulda Clark's claims were unbelievable, this group goes on and on about it, not for 30 minutes, but for a whole hour. If the show are still on, you can listen to them live on radio links.
Are his claims true? Mark Weber doesn't think so. In perhaps one of the most moving and thorough accounts of a victim's search to find a cure for PLS, progressive lateral sclerosis. Mark has taken Helmut Prahl's claims and skewered them, boiled them in oil and then shredded them to bits. If there is a reason for quackwatchers or quackbusters to exist, this is it.
Weber's conclusions are a must read. Read about Prahl's other scams, false promises, the recruitment of the supplement industry to market his cures and more.
B.C. takes steps to legitimize Hokum
Globe and Mail - Dec. 30, 2000 - CAROLINE ALPHONSO
TCM to be regulated - More than a century after Chinese people came to Canada, their traditional medicine, once dismissed as hokum by Western doctors, is being recognized in British Columbia as a legitimate, regulated health profession.
(CQ Comments: O.K. So does that mean that we will have to train TCM black bear gall bladder assessors, or dog meat inspectors? This has gone too far. It's one thing to make sure that the public is protected from Chinese herbs contaminated with steroids, or valium, or prednisone. That isn't being done now. What in the world does the B.C. government expect to gain by legitimizing more quacks and dangerous practitioners? If 500 people are supposed to be able to be "tested" what will they be tested with? First they have to prove that it works. It's like chiropractic all over again. This crap about TCM being around for 2,000 years is about as scientific as saying that because laetrile is a natural substance, we should all eat apricot pits to ward off cancer. Or how about old Canadian born, DD Palmer, who by knocking the wax out of a janitor's ear founded chiropractic which as close to quackery as you can get. It too, is under government control and yet quacks thrive in it openly. They are almost never disciplined by their regulators. Who will control the TCM regulators in B.C. What about the other Provinces? What will they do about people who go to B.C. because they can get licensed there? Who will train the trainers. Two thousand years, and they can't even get acupuncture points to agree. Boy, that's progress. Most Chinese want Western medicine. Give it up for B.C. folks, it's all politics.)
Assessment of Commercial Laboratories Performing Mineral Hair Analysis - Jan. 3, 2001
Hair mineral analysis from these laboratories was unreliable, and we recommend that health care practitioners refrain from using such analyses to assess individual nutritional status or suspected environmental exposures. Problems with the regulation and certification of these laboratories also should be addressed.
BodyScan 2010 - FDA Warning
Michelle Vandepas doesn't seem to care about the FDA's warning letter that was sent to her on May 19, 2000. The president of the Colorado Springs based Phazx Systems just goes merrily along with claims for a biofeedback system that she sells and licenses to clients who treat medical problems. Some are actually chiropractors,like Walter Jaakkola, and Andy Ptak. Leonard Haimes, a medical doctor uses it along with homeopathic treatments. It's not that she's stupid or something like that. She was clearly told by the FDA what this device called BioScan 2010 could claim, and she out and out defied the regulations. Instead she placed advertisements and set up a web site to market her bogus medical device to scam artists, who could in turn defraud their clients.
Sixth Annual Report on Complementary Medicine - House of Lords - November 21, 2000The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widespread and increasing across the developed world. This raises significant issues of public health policy such as whether good structures of regulation to protect the public are in place; whether an evidence base has been accumulated and research is being carried out; whether there are adequate information sources on the subject; whether the practitioner's training is adequate and what the prospects are for NHS provision of these treatments. It was the need to consider these issues that prompted this Inquiry
Bipolar Disorder Treated with Hype and Hope
Let's wipe out all we know about the treatment of bipolar manic-depression. That's what a psychologist, and a psychiatrist from the University of Calgary, and a non-medical research group from rural Alberta want you to believe. At the Canadian Psychiatric Association meeting in Victoria a paper was delivered to the audience of mental health professionals. You've got to read it, but I warn you, it's from Canada, eh!
The Toronto Convention Centre again boasts of one of the best bunch of snake-oil sales people in Canada. Defrocked doctors, magnetic moguls, zapped couples, and even a real doctor or two are their for the scamming.
Who better to promote unproved herbal stuff in major advertising campaign than a Vancouver naturopath? While he's at it, why not solicit patients, tour the country, and appear as a guest performer at a major Toronto alt. med. show? Where are the naturopathic regulators, and Health Canada when you need them?
Mom said he'd have a magnetic personality
So, my son the doctor becomes "my son the bio-magnetic man". Why would a professor of surgery at the University of Toronto choose to become a radio huckster? It took nearly two years for TALK640 to clean up its Saturday afternoon full of the likes of Katrina Kulhay, Vincent DeMarco, Tim Bolen, and Mr. Bill O'Neill. They say "Try it you'll like it, and it's guaranteed and tested".
If it's Shoppers Drug Mart magnetic healing bracelets, Mannatech, Noni Juice, homeopathy, reflexology and a 4 foot tall plastic spine you want, then toodle on down to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario where you can see this Province's largest single display of chiropractic flambangery by Ogi Ressel, an executive with the College of Chiropractors of Ontario. And remember, they say that mall displays are o.k. to educate the public. They just don't like personal displays and don't like chiropractors talking in public about their opposition to vaccines. Well, unless I'm totally blind, this expo topped the mark so far this year for breaking the codes of ethics and policies of the CCO.
John Diamond, who has oral cancer, last week received the 2000 Health Watch Award for informing the public about reliable cancer treatments. This is an edited version of his acceptance speech.
"If orthodox doctors tried to get away with that sort of nonsense they'd be kicked out of the business in five minutes flat. But the alternativists do it all the time."
Unhealthy radio on Talk 640
Public fed weekly two-hour infomercial for unproven remedies - NOW Magazine - Nov. 2-9, 2000
By Colman Jones
Toronto radio listeners interested in alternative solutions to health problems have one less outlet since Talk 640 yanked the Saturday-afternoon The Touch Of Health show hosted by Christine McPhee.
It's a situation followers of natural health trends may find appalling given the current pharmaceutical monopoly, but many of McPhee's fans may not have been aware that the show -- which often featured big names in natural healing like Carolyn deMarco and Zolton Rona -- was in fact a two-hour paid ad.
Follow the story and you decide if a two hour paid infomercial was ever revealed by station management. They just don't get it, even now.
Finally! A how-to kit for understanding and dealing with multiple sclerosis - "MS" - one of the most commonly diagnosed diseases of the central nervous system. The true "story of multiple sclerosis' impact" - on everyone! If you have MS, or know someone with MS, you simply cannot be without this book! Cary Polevoy speaks candidly about the impact of MS and chronic disease on the lives of patients, family, friends, and co-workers, revealing critical information about the disease, the effectiveness of highly touted treatments, and what everyone should know BEFORE they find themselves stricken with a crippling disease or sidetracked by a career-ending accident: the importance of disability insurance and how to navigate the often onerous paths of insurance companies and Social Security. Everything is contained in one highly readable volume that everyone will understand. It is a necessity for anyone that has MS for dealing with the changes in their lives, family and work, and the medical community.
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