Beware of Online Cancer Fraud
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http://www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/cancerfraud061708.html
While health fraud is a cruel form of greed, fraud involving cancer treatments can be particularly heartless—especially because fraudulent information can travel around the Web in an instant.
"Anyone who suffers from cancer, or knows someone who does, understands the fear and desperation that can set in," says Gary Coody, R.Ph., the National Health Fraud Coordinator and a Consumer Safety Officer with the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Office of Regulatory Affairs. "There can be a great temptation to jump at anything that appears to offer a chance for a cure."
Medicinal products and devices intended to treat cancer must gain FDA approval before they are marketed. The agency's review process helps ensure that these products are safe and effective.
Nevertheless, it's always possible to find someone or some company hawking bogus cancer "treatments." Such "treatments" come in many forms, including pills, tonics, and creams. "They're frequently offered as natural treatments and 'dietary supplements,'" says Coody. Many of these fraudulent cancer products even appear completely harmless, but may cause indirect harm by delaying or interfering with proven, beneficial treatments.
"Advertisements and other promotional materials touting bogus cancer 'cures' have probably been around as long as the printing press," says Coody. "However, the Internet has compounded the problem by providing the peddlers of these often dangerous products a whole new outlet."
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Unproven 'Remedies,' False Promises
Coody cites black salves as one of the fake cancer "remedies" that indeed have proven to be harmful. "Although it is illegal to market these salves as a cancer treatment, they are readily available online," he says.
The salves are sold with false promises that they will cure cancer by "drawing out" the disease from beneath the skin. "However, there is no scientific evidence that black salves are effective," says Janet Woodcock, Director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). "Even worse, black salves can cause direct harm to the patient."
The corrosive, oily salves "essentially burn off layers of the skin and surrounding normal tissue," says Woodcock. "This is not a simple, painless process. There are documented cases of these salves destroying large parts of people's skin and underlying tissue, leaving terrible scars."
Another unproven "remedy" that has been hawked for decades is an herbal regimen known as the Hoxsey Cancer Treatment. "FDA has taken regulatory and enforcement action against this discredited course of therapy beginning in the 1950s," says Coody.
"There is no scientific evidence that it has any value to treat cancer," he adds. "Yet consumers can go online right now and find all sorts of false claims that Hoxsey treatment is effective against the disease."
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Red Flags
Coody says that firms engaged in cancer treatment or prevention fraud often use exaggerated and bogus claims to promote these products. He adds that consumers should recognize the following phrases as red flags:
"Treats all forms of cancer"
"Skin cancers disappear"
"Shrinks malignant tumors"
"Non-toxic"
"Doesn't make you sick"
"Avoid painful surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or other conventional treatments"
"Treat Non Melanoma Skin Cancers easily and safely"
"Unproven claims are also found in unverified testimonials, research results, or even in product and website names," says Coody. He offers important points that consumers seeking cancer treatments should keep in mind:
Always consult with your health care professional before starting a new treatment or adding one to existing therapies. "Some products may interact with your medicines or keep them from working the way they are supposed to," says Coody.
Understand the difference between fraudulent drug products and what FDA calls "investigational drugs." Investigational drugs undergo clinical testing to determine if they are safe and effective for their intended uses. Fraudulent products, on the other hand, are unapproved and typically have never been clinically tested or reviewed by FDA for safety and effectiveness. Marketing them is a violation of federal law.
"There are legal ways for patients to access investigational drugs," says Coody. "The most common way is by taking part in clinical trials. But patients can also receive investigational drugs outside of clinical trials in some cases." For more details on this, visit www.fda.gov/oashi/speedaccess.html.
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Agencies Take Action
FDA and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in collaboration with other North American government agencies, have announced a new initiative to prevent these deceptive products from reaching consumers. Coody says that as part of the joint campaign, FDA and FTC have sent approximately 135 warning letters and two advisory letters to firms that market these products online.
The initiative originated not only from consumer complaints, he says, but also from a Web surf for fraudulent cancer products by FDA and members of the Mexico-United States-Canada Health fraud working group (MUCH).
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Personally I'd be working on that anger level more than worrying about LDL levels.
Treatments have side effects. Accepting that is part of the whole process of accepting that you have cancer. Wishing otherwise is just looking for magic.
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He's back..
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Wow..thanks for the warning. I guess I should sue that Alternative Company THAT SAVED MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In one ear and out the other...you are an idiot.
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nixie,
Can you tell us why? Just curios...
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I am scared to death of what the mainstream medicine 'business' , the pharmaceutical companies and the FDA might accomplish...I was diagnosed stage IV cancer mets to the bone. I got on an alternative treatment immediately, sailed through chemo (felt and looked so good, I was told that people were wondering if I was faking) and now it is very possible that one year later, I am cancer free. My doctor is presenting my case at a medical conference, because he sees nothing, and can't believe it. I attribute the success to the alternative treatment I took as well as changes in my lifestyle.
'truthseeker' calls alternative treatments fraud...talks about black salve, for example, and how there is no scientific evedence of it's effectiveness...I TRIED IT!!! It attacks cancerous sells, leaves the healthy cells alone. My sister used it on several cancerous spots on her arm and leg...The cancerous spots are gone. The healthy skin is intact. He wants us to place our hope and our lives in the hands of the drug companies and the doctors, the FDA, FTC...No THANKS
I tried to get to the link re the Hoxey clinics from one of your posts. I kow there was a problem with it, but I looked a bit further. I want to read the book. My fear is that (according to truthseekers last paragraph) alternative treatments and lifestyle recommendations that SAVE LIVES will be supressed, made illegal and become impossible to access. I think to discourage alternative treatments is just wrong. My God...Look at the damage chemo causes to our immune systems, our kidneys, heart, joints...If we choose chemo, we HAVE to give our bodies the support to withstand the side effects. I can;t stand the posts saying that these women will worry about strengthening their immune systems AFTER their chemo is complete...Because their doctor said so. So they wear masks in public, or avoid going out altogether for fear of catching a virus, while the board of directors and salespeople of the chemo drugs drink expensive wine in an exclusive setting. Laughing all the way to the bank. And we let them, because it's just easier to place the responsibility of our lives in the hands of these people and the doctors they court, rather than usinng our common sense and taking control of our health. And God forbid we do that...What would these rich &%%holes do???? I am babbling.I hope I made sense.
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nixie
At the first instance I felt sad for you but after reading further I really felt very happy for you as you had found the cure in alternative medicine which I always believed they would cure cancers though not all of them.
The medical industry is full of politics, conspiracy and supressions all beacuse of money and power.
I always hear of people getting cured of cancer but after a few years went into remission and this is simply due to the fact that chemoteraphy and drugs prescribed by doctors simply do not slove the root problem that cancers are caused by factors such as weak immune system and others.
What puzzles me is the fact that medical practitioners refused to accept the fact that chemo do not help people and thier refusal to accept alternative medicine is very disturbing as we are trained to believe that doctors are the only ones we should listen to.
I think that we are on the same line of tought.. but waht actually did you find out about hoxey?
Can you describe what you treatment you took that healed you?
Thanks
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'truthseeker' calls alternative treatments fraud...talks about black salve, for example, and how there is no scientific evedence of it's effectiveness...I TRIED IT!!! It attacks cancerous sells, leaves the healthy cells alone. My sister used it on several cancerous spots on her arm and leg...The cancerous spots are gone. The healthy skin is intact. He wants us to place our hope and our lives in the hands of the drug companies and the doctors, the FDA, FTC...No THANKS
I tried to get to the link re the Hoxey clinics from one of your posts. I kow there was a problem with it, but I looked a bit further. I want to read the book. My fear is that (according to truthseekers last paragraph) alternative treatments and lifestyle recommendations that SAVE LIVES will be supressed, made illegal and become impossible to access. I think to discourage alternative treatments is just wrong
You are putting words in my mouth. It is the ACS and the NCI who say that Black Salves are frauds. Regardless, there may well be some alternative treatments that save lives, although to put your faith in an unproven alternative treatment at the expense of known treatments is plain silly. Now do I think that the Hoxsie cure is a fraud? Absolutely. Do i think the Tiajuana clinics are frauds? Absolutely. They are proven frauds and there is no verifiable documentation that they have ever cured one person from cancer. Do I think there are lot of scammers out there? Absolutely. But do I think that there might well be viable alternative treatments out there? Of course. Conventional medicine doesn't know everything. Certainly the right diet and vitamins and minerals may help prevent or even cure cancer, although a recent study by the NCI belies that assertion. I just think that anytime you talk about an area where an alternative medicine practitioner is looking for a lot of money that you need to be very, very skeptical. And since anybody can come to these boards and claim anything, you need to be very skeptical about people who come here and claim to have been cured of their cancers by alternative medicines.
I simply do not believe it remotely possible that science is sitting on a cure for cancer, hiding it, so that the medical establishment can continue to make money. That theory is naive and ridiculous
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I still don't know anything about Hoxey. I am so busy, I don't have time to do all of the things I would like to do. The treatment that worked for me was the Amazon Protocol by Nutranomics. I followed the protocol in it's entirety, including the diet and lifestyle instructions. I was an absolute Nazi re this protocol. I added some other supplements as well. I believe there are alot of frauds, out there, and awful people who will take advantage of the vulnerability of someone with an illness. The PROBLEM is that there are also many good, effective alternative treatments out there that appear to be fradulent because the user does not comply with the recommendations of the alt. company. We want a 'magic pill' to loose weight, improve our skin...blah blah blah. The user takes the magic pill, and swallows it down with a cheeseburger and a coke... the treatments fail and so the treatment is deemed ineffective. We have to do the work...it's like the guy that had cancer that was on an alternative treatment and wasn;t improving...who was still smoking like a chimney...duh. I am not so far south that i don't think there is a place for traditional medicine. i was also on traditional chemo. i was successful, because i made sure my body was strong enough to withstand the traditional treatment, and i think that the combination did did the job. I am not convinced that i couldn't have done it without the chemo...but my family would have killed me! I know the alternative treatment is going to be key in preventing the cancer from coming back...
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If only it were so easy, take an herb or two and you are cured. Of course, there is no scientific evidence that this is possible, but we all sure wish it was.
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science is not going to tell us this is possible...and of course it isn't as easy as that, but there is proof out there about the alternative treatments. We just need to open our minds. I am living proof.
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I do alternative treatments along with mainstream treatments and believe in both. But, having said that, it is not possible for anyone to say they are cured of metastatic disease when their diagnosis of same was such a short time ago.
Case in point... After being dx'ed with lung mets, I did several things. I totally changed the way I ate, no white flour, rice, potatoes, etc... ate a lot of wild salmon, and went to an alternative doctor who had me take certain "off label" drugs for breast cancer... always accompanied by research.
I also went on Femara and Zolodex. This entire regimen first stabliized my mets, then reduced them and then eliminated them..... I was cured.... right? WRONG.
I was merely in remission (or NED... no evidence of disease) for three years. Then, two years ago, my mets came back and then spread to my liver. I'm doing OK and right now, Tamoxifen is helping me but it took two solid years of progression... while all the while continuing my alternative regimen and trying two different chemos and two different aromitase inhibitors, before my doctor decided to think out of the box and put me on Tamox. which I never went on after my intitial dx.
My point is that I did it all... at least to the extent that my alternative and mainstream doctors wanted me to do... and it did not stop the cancer from coming back. So, Nixie, while I am thrilled for you that your mets are gone... and I hope they stay gone... you need a lot of time under your belt above and beyond two months to say that your alternative methods cured you.
I do not say this to be a downer, just trying to inject some objectivity here between two warring factions. I do not think there is a right and a wrong answer.
Robin
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I really like all the post. You all are honest and not afraid to upset the apple cart. I've been looking into alternative cancer medicine. I prefer the alternative route as it is less invasive, more affortable, and absent of side affects....plus I can keep my breast. But, I want to make an intelligent decision.
I've been dx with my second bout of dcis grade 3. I've flip-flopped in deciding about a lumpectomy verses a mastectomy with reconstruction...dependent on upcoming report from mri.
BUT...I've read a lot about alternative medicine that is making me think twice about even having surgery. I don't have all the answers...I have lots of questions, doubts and I'm really wrestling with this second bout of cancer treatment plan.
Here goes the question to those who are pro's and con's.
Have you heard anything about baking soda type solutions into the site of the cancer to eliminate the cancer tumor? Why is Hoxkey a hoak? What about the mushroom therapy...that' suppose to shrink cancer? What about injecting Essiac into the tumor? What about iodine?
Since my cancer now is non-invasive, do I have time to try alternative without conventional treatment for a year...to see if it cures it?
Truthseeker do you think the testimonies on the alternatives sites are a hoak?
B
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Barry,
The Sloan-Kettering website's section on Integrative Medicine ( http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/1979.cfm ) has info on various herbal/alternative preparations:
Hoxsey Herbal Therapy: http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/69258.cfm
Essiac: http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/69215.cfm
You'll need to agree to their disclaimer before you can enter their site, but they don't ask for any personal ID as a part of that. Using their search engine, you'll find discussions of various mushrooms (not sure which mushrooms you were asking about). I didn't see anything about iodine or baking soda. However I found the entire "Integrative Medicine" section of their website interesting reading. (There's also a 30-minute video on herbal medicine that I'll listen to tonight.) At any rate, I was impressed by a description of the web-site's approach (from the site's FAQs):
"7. What is your research methodology?
The minimally regulated field of dietary supplements has drawn increasing numbers of people, including patients, to use botanicals, vitamin mixtures and other agents. Health care professionals frequently confront their patients' use of products about which both they and the patient know very little. Our goal is to provide easy access to concise, clinically relevant information about botanicals, vitamins, and related products for health care professionals and consumers. The website also provides monographs on alternative or unproved methods such as oxygen therapy and antineoplastons.
Monographs on each product, authored by an oncology-trained pharmacist who is also a botanicals expert or a cancer nutrition specialist, are based on results of methodologically sound studies, including randomized, controlled, double-blind trials when available. Research is gathered through electronic searches of databases such as Medline, the Cochrane Library and Cancerlit. Information from relevant journal articles, textbooks and reference books is carefully scrutinized, reviewed for quality, and compiled into a complete picture of the herb or supplement. The quality review enables critiques of the most important published studies, which are included with each monograph. Each monograph then undergoes review by at least two other editors or panel advisors before publication.
The website is updated daily as new findings or warnings are released. A site-wide review of each monograph is performed twice a year to ensure that all information is current."
HTH,
LisaAlissa
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RobinWendy - I really appreciate your reality check on how unpredictable and aggressive this disease can be. I also use a lot of alternatives such as supplements and changed diet to strengthen my immune system and hopefully keep the bc beast in submission.
Barry - My IDC tumor had a center of DCIS and probably was an aggressive form of DCIS to start and spread to my lymphnodes. A small percent of DCIS does come back or become IDC and spread. In my humble opinion don't mess around with a monster that is unpredicatible but attack it with every thing you can.
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Recommending the Sloan Kettering's web site as an authorative source is like asking the fox to judge the hen house.
MSK is the absolute LAST place to look for alternative therapy info. Since Dr. Ralph Moss blew the whistle on their saying laetrile studies were worthless when they were in fact promising, Sloan Kettering has completely lost credibility. That hospital is just a mouthpiece for the drug companies. And I'm not one of those people who hates the drug companies.
Also, I've heard a lot of complaints about patients getting inaccurate info. Add to that, they have a surgical consent form that they won't allow any modifications on. So if you consent to, for example a mastectomy, you consent to let the surgeon do anything he/she wants. Remove nodes-- anything!
In my opinion and others who have dealt with them, Sloan Kettering is an unscrupulous, unreliable outfit. Someone will probably delete this message but I'm telling the truth. This is checkable information.
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Anomdenet...I don't see why someone would delete what you wrote. It's refreshing to hear that someone isn't fearful about saying what they really think. I checked out the Sloan Kettering information. I took it with a grain of salt. It didn't give me enough information to make up my mind either way...except for the possible side affects. I will check it out further...
But it did make me concern the essiac might promote breast cancer???? Istead of putting it in tea I put it as a lotion on my breast. It's good for prostate not for breast. I wonder if it promotes estrogen?
Hmmmm...we'll see.
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Hi Anomdenet,
As someone who doesn't know much about alternative medicine to make many decisions, but I did see that Sloan was highly recommended by this ranking system in US News and World Report.
http://www.usnews.com/directories/hospitals/index_html/specialty+ihqcanc
Your thoughts?
Thanks!
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Barry:
Please, please do not waste your money on Essiac, using it as a lotion. Regardless of the formulation now being sold, it was NEVER used that way by Rene Caisse (see previous posts under "Essiac"). And among the many studies done on its effectiveness (or lack thereof), one study showed that it enhanced the development of mammary tumours in rats. For that reason alone, I feel it should never be used by breast cancer patients.
Just my opinion of course.
Linda
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Anomdenet:
I was treated at Sloan for awhile and I must say, they SUCKED!!! You wait for hours to see your doctor. Then you wait for hours to get your treatment. By the end of each tx day, I was done... stick a fork in me.
I left because of insurance issues and I'm so glad I did. I am with a small private office where "everybody knows my name" and they don't keep you waiting for hours on end. Sloan is a FOR profit hospital and it seemed to me that all of us patients were just numbers. The place is a cancer mill. I believe all their top people are on the boards of the big pharma companies. I just hate them and everything about them.
Well, now that I've vented my spleen, I feel so much better!!!
Robin
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I've heard some negative as well about Sloan and this seems to confirm hearing from more sources.
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What is a blind study trial? I am going in January for a protocol since I now have mets to lumbar spine L4 and have started Abraxane but only was able to get 2 treatments so far due to low platelets. I said maybe I should go to New York and that is when my onc suggested the protocol with a Dr. Antionette Tan with Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Jersey, but I have no idea what this entails. Can anyone help me.
Thanks
Geech
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Geech,
Blind trial means you "may" or "may not" get the drug promised. They give in randomly to patients. There is NO reason to do this kind of trial for bone mets in my book. Have they tried radiation? See other online. Ask for the drug info and search the Internet for studies world wide. I did a trial at MD Anderson that just about destroyed my nerve endings. Come to find out Germany knew this was a dangerous drug with no benefit to breast cancer patients five years earlier. You can also look under clinialtrial.gov and see if there any completed trials. Only due Phase II or Phase II trials. Phase I is nothing but "how Much of this drug" can a patient stand before server side effects. Not if it will work!
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FloridaLady
Thank you so much for the information you gave me. I will start checking things out.
Take care,
Geech
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