The Chemotherapy Mafia

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Colleagues,

Whether we agree or disagree, people are talking about this, and we may

be called upon to voice an opinion. - ne

The Chemotherapy Mafia

What We Now Know

Week of 8/8/06

http://www.caseyresearch.com/publications.php.

On July 20, 1995, the Washington State Medical Quality Assurance

Commission raided the office of Glenn Warner, MD, an oncologist with

unusual views on healing, and revoked his medical license. Allegedly,

Warner had cured more than 1,000 patients from terminal cancer—not with

chemotherapy and radiation but with diet and exercise regimens, certain

immunotherapeutic drugs, and other holistic methods. When he appealed

his case in court, the commission’s attorney, Beverly Goetz, argued that

cancer patients were “incapable” and “unqualified” to decide whether

they received quality care or not. Only experts—like the members of said

commission—were capable of making that judgment call, she said.

Unfortunately, this standpoint seems to prevail in the United States

these days. Self-determination takes a backseat in favor of

state-mandated “health care.” A fact that becomes eerily obvious in

cancer cases where minors are involved.

But first, we should ask how valuable chemotherapy really is. There is

no doubt that cancer is big business in the U.S. While in 1990, $3.53

billion was spent on chemotherapy, the number more than doubled to $7.51

billion only four years later. By 2009, so the latest projections,

cancer therapy products and services will rake in over $27 billion.

As the unfortunate Glenn Warner put it: “We have a multi-billion-dollar

industry that is killing people, right and left, just for financial

gain. Their idea of research is to see whether two doses of this poison

is better than three doses of that poison.”

Other experts agree.

Alan C. Nixon, PhD, former president of the American Chemical Society,

states, “As a chemist trained to interpret data, it is incomprehensible

to me that physicians can ignore the clear evidence that chemotherapy

does much, much more harm than good.”

Alan Levin, MD, of the University of California Medical School agrees:

“Most cancer patients in this country die of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy

does not eliminate breast, colon or lung cancers. This fact has been

documented for over a decade. Yet doctors still use chemotherapy for

these tumors. . . Women with breast cancer are likely to die faster with

chemo than without it.”

His opinion is echoed by Ralph Moss, former assistant director of public

affairs at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and author

of the book The Cancer Industry: “In the end, there is no proof that

chemotherapy actually extends life in the vast majority of cases, and

this is the great lie about chemotherapy, that somehow there is a

correlation between shrinking a tumor and extending the life of a patient.”

Even the General Accounting Office (GAO) found in a 1987 study on the

progress of cancer treatment that “For a majority of the cancers we

examined, the actual improvements have been small or have been

overestimated by the published rates. . . Progress has been made, but

not as great as that reported.”

More and more cancer patients and their families are feeling skeptical

about the value of chemotherapy and radiation as well. However, not

allowed to think for themselves, some states have imposed mandatory

treatment.

The first widely published case was that of Wernecke, a

12-year-old Texan who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease in January

2005. After undergoing four rounds of chemotherapy, her cancer went into

remission.

The doctors advised subsequent radiation treatment, but father

Wernecke had informed himself on the Internet and was taken aback by an

article in the New England Journal of Medicine, written by

DeVita, former director of the National Cancer Institute. DeVita stated

that radiation “by itself increases the risk of late second solid tumors

in the irradiated field and the incidence rises steeply when

radiotherapy and chemotherapy are combined.” Other mentioned side

effects were stunted growth, sterilization, and an increased risk of

breast cancer.

Worried about the harmful long-term effects, ’s parents decided to

forego the radiation and follow up with holistic therapies. When

Wernecke took her child out of the hospital despite protests of

the oncologists, the Texas State Department of Child Protective Services

issued an Amber Alert. The mother was arrested and sent to jail for

kidnapping. was put into foster care, along with her three

brothers who were later released.

At a court hearing in June, a radiologist asserted that ’s cancer

had returned and that she needed to undergo treatment again. Even though

said in a video statement that she was not willing to undergo

radiation, she was ordered by the courts to do so. What’s more,

convinced that the Werneckes negatively affected her decisions, CPS cut

off all communication with their daughter. Left to her own devices, the

12-year-old decided to make the choice herself, resisting treatment by

pulling catheters out of her arm and disobeying doctors’ orders.

After a ten-month ordeal, at the end of October 2005, a district judge

ruled that could rejoin her family and seek alternative treatment

out of state. “On June 11th, celebrated her 14th birthday at home

with family and friends,” her father writes in his blog. “ is doing

very well. . . but she is not cancer free yet, so there is still a

battle to win. She is in better physical condition than ever.” A happy

ending?

Recently, another story broke the news: The case of Virginian teenager

Starchild Abraham Cherrix. The 16-year-old, diagnosed with Hodgkin’s

Disease last summer, had undergone three months of chemotherapy that, in

his own words, left him weak and nauseated. When the doctors told him in

February that the cancer was back, he refused more chemotherapy.

“I think it would kill me the second time,” said Abraham, who instead

opted for a sugar-free, organic diet and herbal treatments at a clinic

in Mexico. Here, too, Child Protective Services and the courts became

involved, and a six-month-long battle began. In May, a judge ruled that

Abraham’s parents were guilty of neglect for supporting their son’s

decision; he also ordered shared custody between the parents and the

Accomack County Department of Social Services, with the possibility of

the Cherrix’ losing custody entirely.

Yet Abraham refused to comply with court orders, cheered on by

supporters of holistic medicine: " I think it's my body. I can choose

what's best for my body. If I don't have the right to do that, then I

don't have any rights at all anyway. "

At the Cherrix’ request, a second judge stayed the first court order

until trial, scheduled to begin on August 16.

--

ne Holden, MS, RD < fivestar@... >

" Ask the Parkinson Dietitian " http://www.parkinson.org/

" Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease "

" Parkinson's disease: Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy "

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