Dr. Stanislaw R. Burzynski

TerriD

I fought this a while back with my ins co, cause my chemo was covered 100%, the bottle of Tamox said chemotherapy drug (not sure if it still says that - this was 2004)...BUT teh Tamox was treated just like regular scripts with a co-pay ...so I was like, WHY is my IV chemo free, and pill chemo an expensive co-pay...

Anonymous

In March, I came upon another example of what might count as Burzynski
treatment failure:

A supposed "non-Hodgkins lymphoma survivor" who has been featured at the
Burzynski Patient Group Web site and who appeared on screen briefly in the
Burzynski movie (released in 2010) to confidently attribute his recovery to
Burzynski treatment died in 2010 of cancer complications. See
http://bit.ly/H5gLx8 <http://t.co/IqhXrlTD>

He's dead.  But according to that movie, he is alive and well.

Anonymous

More from Orac:

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2012/05/two_more_tragic_tales_of_burzynski_patients.php

Mardibra

Unfortunately, im not surprised. Burzynski is a total nut job.

Anonymous

That he is.

sweetbean

Ugh.  What a bummer.

KatRNagain92

I remember watching his videos with much interest but I also remember my gut telling me there was a falsehood about this man.  It wasn't that he has an accent or a different vernacular, it was more about voice pitch and the speed of his speech. 

When he was speaking about peptides and the science behind the antineoplastins he was very engaging.  But when the topic would change to success rates or FDA investigations...or any topic he was clearly uncomfortable speaking about, he would always add an "okay?" at the end of every sentence.  You know how you can tell when your kids are lying...touching their noses, looking in the wrong direction...this is how he acted.

Or maybe it was just that he reminded me of Tony Soprano!  HA! 

AnnE16

I have recently started looking into this as well.  I haven't watched the movie yet.  It is on my netflix list.  I am trying to track down some of the people and talk to them about their experience.  Just with every kind of treatment...not everyone makes it.  Have any of you had to say goodbye to anyone on their death bed?  I did and she did everything conventional treatment and it DIDN"T WORK and she died.  So... I am not going to be quick to throw this guy under the bus because it appears he has had success stories.  And to me he seems to actually be trying to find a REASON for cancer.  Some of us are lucky and don't have reoccurance or mets after treatment.  But for those of us like me that do...I want to find out WHY my body is making cancer.  And my so called ivy league trained oncologist has no fucking clue!!!  These medications that a lot of us are on....they are bandaids.  So this guy actually does sound like he knows a little bit more about cancer than our run of the mil oncologists!  And the fact that of all the doctors out there and the FDA is trying so hard to control him...something tells me he may be on to something! 

Mardibra

Or, the FDA knows about him because he is peddling a bunch of bunk. Beware.

AnnE16

Yeah, that is true.  But what is the difference between him and any oncologist saying "take this....and we hope it works."  The only difference is that insurance covers our chemo and these pills we take so it isn't coming out of our pockets.  His prices are in the same price range as our chemo's.  I get a bill every month showing my insurance company just paid out 4-6K.  And what is funny about that is I have the same treatment every month yet every month my bill is different.  I have called them on this b/c I think someone is padding the bill.  it shouldn't range with a difference of 2k.  it isn't coming out of my pocket so i really shouldn't care but my insurance company is getting screwed in the butt I am sure.  But there is just as much failure with conventional treatment as I am sure there is with alternative treatment.  Cancer has not made any improvements in the last 50 years.  So at least someone is trying to figure it out rather than just following the standard protocol. 

Mardibra

BC alone has made great strides...tomoxifin, Herceptin just two name a few. My MO has never said "take this and I hope it works". My Mo has given me meds that are proven. Meds based in science. Dr. B is experimenting on humans with a bunch of stuff that has no hope of doing anything except toying with desperate people. Real clinical trials don't charge people to use them. Real clinical trials share their results with the rest of the medical community. IMHO.

Anonymous

There is clearly more money in treatment than there is a cure which I'm sure is why insurance will not pay.

AnnE16

Oh absolutely lizdehart...definitely more money in treatment!  What would our oncologists do if there was a cure and no one got cancer!

What is IMHO?  Dr. B is experimenting on humans with a bunch of stuff that has no hope of doing anything?!  You might not get it Mardibra even though you are a stone's throw away from being stage 4 but when a person actually is stage 4.....all these chemo's and pills end up being experimental and they are just throwing them at us hoping something works. At the end of my friends life, they gave her high doses of estrogen even though her cancer was hormone postiive and all these years they had told her not to have hormones.  She asked her doctor if any of his patients were doing this and the doctor told her "no, just you."  She was certainly a guinea pig at that time.  But again, insurance covered it because that is our health system.  It will pay for all the chemicals and toxins but God forbid someone think outside the box.  And if you are so against this guy or alternative treatment in the first place, why are you even on this thread?!

Mardibra

Firstly,I don't need you to remind me of my mortality. Secondly, IMHO is short for in my humble opinion.



I've never had drugs thrown at me that were not proven solutions for my "stones throw from stage IV" situation. I don't buy into the alleged conspiracy theories either. Are doctors and their families immune from cancer?



Sorry about your friend but you can't assume the entire medical community behaves the way your friends doctor did. Plus I'm sure there is a lot more to that story.



I'm all for alternative therapies as long as they work, are proven, and are not a ploy to get money from desperate people. Dr. B is a scam artist plain and simple. Do your research. Reputable medical organizations don't charge people to be involved in clinical trials nor do they have clinical trials that go on and on and on without publishing results to the rest of the medical community so those results can be vetted.



You might think about keeping your angry posts in check...it may make people think your screen name is a contradiction.

AnnE16

These cancer drugs you are calling "proven" are not proven because they don't work on everyone.  If they were proven, we would have 100% efficacy.  You are wanting perfect results and "proven efficacy" from anything alternative but we don't even have that in the conventional treatment of cancer so why would you expect to get if from the alternative side of things?!   From the research that I have done...he is using conventional medicine (like Femara) but he is also adding his antiogens to the protocol.  He isn't saying no to conventional treatment.  But he is adding something to it.  He won't even see a patient unless chemo and radiation has failed them.  Were you even aware of that?  So a patient has to go through conventional treatment before even getting in to see him. 

Again, I just don't even see why you are on this thread.  If you would never even entertain the idea of going to see him...why are you on this thread?  That is what confuses me.  The people who do have interest here are big girls and we can make our own decisions.  We can read about the scam reports on the internet and come to our own conclusions. 

My posts are just calling it like I see it.  Nothing more.

leggo

My mother-in-law went to him for treatment when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I don't know much about him or his treatment, but in the end she was glad she gave it a shot. She lived 2-1/2 years. Don't know if that would have been the same with or without his treatments. When I found myself out of options, I didn't consider his treatment, but that's just me. If you have the scratch and feel it's the right choice for you, the decision's yours. I have not heard of any great success stories with his treatment. Perhaps there are some out there. Good luck with whatever you choose.

AnnE16

 Gracie,

Sorry for the loss of your MIL.  Patrick's Swayze's wife was just on Today show.  It appears she is heading to Washington to try to get a new bill passed for pancreatic cancer b/c not enough money going to research.  She said normal life expectancy for pancreatic cancer after diagnosis is 3-6 months (conventional treatment only).  I would say your MIL got a good amount of time considering that particular cancer.  I think that is all any of us really want....more time!

leggo

Thanks Smiley. She made my life miserable, so I know it's harsh to say, but her death didn't have much effect on me. I used to tell my husband she lived so long just so she could continue screwing with us. She made my husband's whole life hell too. You are so correct...we just want more time. I'd do anything to see my baby graduate high school (two more years!) Please, please, please.

AnnE16

Gracie,

My MIL was horrible at the begining of our marriage too!  I remember telling a friend she was toxic.  After my diagnosis she changed gears after my husband cried about my diagnosis to her.  Maybe then she saw I wasn't so bad!  But our relationship has now changed for the better.  i had a lot of work to do too on the relationship!  She can still play her games at times but I think I cope better now.  Anyway, thanks for the laugh..."she lived so long just so she could continue screwing with us!"  I hope you get to see your baby graduate from highschool too!!

rosemary-b

I want every one of us to see our kids and grandkids graduate from High School. Dr Burzynski is unique in the way he prescribes chemo for people.(With either cuuting edge or way out there ideas and combinations-take your pick) but he does charge for his clinical trials. That is not the norm. Patients have to buy their meds from his pharmacy and the prices are much higher than tried elsewhere. Those last two are reasons I would not go to him but that's just me.

sweetbean

Yes, he only gives the anti-neoplastons to brain cancer patients, because he is doing a big study.  I had a friend who was considering going, but he was only going to give her chemo and Vit C infusions and nothing was covered by insurance.

AnnE16

THanks Rosemary and Sweetbean...I didn't know that the anti-neoplastons were only given to brain cancer patients.  It seems at one time he gave them to everyone but I guess if he is donig this study than he is concentrating his effort on brain cancer.  I can find other places to get Vit C.  THanks for the heads up!

Lily55

Take a look at this for a relatively proven non standard treatment - bear in mind this photodynamic therapy has been in existence for 100 years but poorly developed.

http://www.opalclinic.com/PDTSDT.htm