Burzynski: The Movie **SKEPTIC ALERT**

Wow

My husband had warts when he was a kid. He ate Miracle Whio sandwiches (I know-ick) and they went away. If I find 2 more people they worked for is that a cure for warts? (Yes I know about the power of suggestion-my point was the rule of 3)

I do not believe anyone who only has testimoials as proof.

I haven't seen the movie, but I'm not qualified to judge it anyway if my history of believing in quackery is any evidence.  (I blame my ignorance on having a horrid science education.)  lol  I love Orac and the other bloggers on scienceblog.com.  They've helped me see the error of my beliefs on many subjects and I'm trying to make up for lost time.

Excellent article from Discovermagazine.com about Burzynski's clinic's threats to sue anyone who publicly criticizes him.  Amazing the lengths some people will go to to be allowed to take advantage of others.

Stanislaw Burzynski, MD, PhD, is a biochemist practicing in Texas who developed (using his own money) a nontoxic gene-targeted cancer therapy called antineoplastons. It has been shown to effectively help cure some of the most "incurable" forms of terminal cancer.

Dr. Burzynski had tried to get the FDA to review and approve antineoplastons since 1977, to no avail. To make sure he would not get into trouble for using the experimental therapy in his practice, his legal team confirmed that he was acting within the law and could use antineoplastons in his own practice "to meet the immediate needs of patients." But in the 1980s the Texas Medical Board (TMB) charged him with breaking a law that didn't actually exist and tried to revoke his medical license. Numerous investigations later-including an appearance before the Texas Supreme Court-found no violation of any law or standard of care. The TMB came up empty-handed.

We have reported on the TMB's pattern of harassment against integrative doctors a number of times, discussing serious allegations from the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, the serious attacks on Dr. Bill Rea's work in environmental medicine and chemical sensitivity, and on Texas Governor Rick Perry's involvement in appointing board members who actively harass integrative physicians.

As Dr. Joseph Mercola reported in June of this year, the FDA, the pharmaceutical industry, and the National Cancer Institute all knew how promising Dr. Burzynski's therapy was proving to be. Standard cancer treatment is based on very expensive machines and very expensive toxic drugs. There is an enormous amount of money to be made in this paradigm, and Dr. Burzynski's work single-handedly threatened to overturn much of it. On the other hand, this treatment showed such promise that they wanted to get their hands on it themselves.

So first they tried to copy his invention using a single non-patented ingredient, and when that failed, they tried to steal his patents out from under him. However, they knew they couldn't use the stolen patents so long as he had the ability to defend his rights. So the government spent over $60 million to prosecute him on 75 counts of violating federal law, hoping to tuck him away in jail for the rest of his life.

For the next ten years, Dr. Burzynski was engaged in a lengthy and convoluted legal battle with the FDA. After two trials, he was found not guilty on all counts, and his antineoplastons medication is currently undergoing the FDA approval process. His fight was chronicled in a stunning documentary film, Burzynski: The Movie. More info on the documentary can be found at the film's website, while the movie itself can be viewed online for a limited time.

Now the Texas Medical Board is back. The TMB is making yet another attempt to revoke Dr. Burzynski's medical license which, if successful, would result in the closure of his clinic, the abandonment of all his patients, and would squelch any possibility of antineoplastons gaining FDA-approval.

Using the death of two of his terminally ill patients as a pretext, the TMB is charging Dr. Burzynski with the off-label use of FDA-approved drugs. It must be stressed, however, that Dr. Burzynski uses the drugs off-label in order to tailor the medication specifically to an individual's genetic profile, rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. Dr. Burzynski takes blood and tissue samples from his patients to form their molecular profile. From that he chooses from wide variety of existing FDA-approved drugs to tailor his gene-targeted therapy to his patient's genetic profile specifically.

Multi-agent targeted gene therapies are the way of future. The American Society of Clinical Oncology has stated that they want to focus on "targeted therapies and personalized diagnosis and treatment" over the next decade. Dr. Burzynski is the only one who is using such a treatment on patients today.

The TMB's complaint concerns a patient who had triple-negative breast cancer, had already undergone conventional cancer treatment without success, and initially felt better after Dr. Burzynski's treatment and was able to return to work. The board is charging Dr. Burzynski over the side effects of his treatment, though they do not seem concerned with the horrible side effects she experienced with the conventional cancer treatments.

The complaint also concerns a patient with estensioneruoblastoma, a cancer so rare that any medication use would have been "off-label" since there is no recognized treatment for this disease at all. The patient lived for five more years and the tumor decreased in size by 40%, but the TMB complaint is charging that the disease actually progressed during his treatment.

The off-label use of FDA-approved drugs is not uncommon, and it is legal. According to the American Cancer Society, a study showed that 8 out of 10 cancer doctors surveyed had used drugs off-label. And half of the chemotherapy drugs used are for conditions not listed on the FDA-approved drug label.

Please take 20 minutes to watch this brand-new video on the upcoming court case, and share it with friends. Not only does it outline the charges involved in this case, but it also gives you a glimpse at a new side of Dr. Burzynski's treatment. You'll be shocked at how flimsy the TMB's case is-and how doggedly persistent the board is in harassing Dr. Burzynski and others like him.

The Texas Medical Board v. Stanislaw Burzynski trial will begin on April 11, 2012

The commenters on Orac's blog speculate that any results Burzynski is getting are due to him underhandedly prescribing real chemo drugs off-label.  Interesting. 

I'd also note the side effects of one of his "alternative" therapies for breast cancer, sodium phenylbutyrate:

More common

Change in the frequency of breathinglack of or irregular menstruationlower back, side, or stomach painmood or mental changesmuscle pain or twitchingnausea or vomitingnervousness or restlessnessswelling of the feet or lower legsunpleasant tasteunusual tiredness or weaknessLess commonChillsfeverjoint painsore throatunusual bleeding or bruisingRareConvulsions (seizures)dizzinessdryness of the mouthfast, slow, or irregular heartbeatincreased blood pressureincreased thirstirritabilitymuscle crampsrectal bleedingswelling of the faceunusual weight gainweak pulsehttp://www.drugs.com/cons/sodium-phenylbutyrate.html

Thenewme-

That's what I was thinking. "I'll trade you one hair loss for a rectal bleeding!"

After reading about half the BC patient profiles, all I can say is Wow!  Do any of these patients understand their own cancers?  It doesn't seem like it to me.  They were given chemo, Herceptin, bisphosphonates, and AI's along with shit that doesn't work.  Most of them have only been in "complete remission" for a couple of years or less.  I was in "complete remission" for 3 years.  Doesn't mean anything.  Apparently, if you give people the complete package, ie: beautiful surroundings, lots of attention, and scientific sounding information while telling them what they want to hear, you can sell them anything.  I'm grateful that I hadn't heard about him before I learned enough to know he's a quack.  It's unfortunate that people who are in positions of authority can "sell" whatever they want and, for the most part, get away with it. 

That list of people is truly shocking.  The saddest cases, in my opinion, are the children who died because their parents did not believe in proper medical treatment.  I think that in cases like that, the parents should be charged with child neglect.

I am not completely against alternative medicine.  I think there is a place for it in cases where relief of suffering is the main objective, but it is really scary to me that people are using it to treat life-threatening diseases.  Because of the placebo effect primarily, alternative approaches may relieve pain and discomfort, and good nutrition will certainly help anybody.  But it's terrible how it can be misused to fool people into believing that they are being cured of deadly diseases, when they are not. 

This one reminds me of someone here.  Someone that I feel is well on her way to the same fate.

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2006/10/death_by_alternative_medicine_whos_to_bl.php

It is just so sad.

You people make me sad. Why are you so frightened and so willing to cling to the Medical Industrial Complex. And all of their "treatments." 

But it is all good, in the end.  I reject the MIC treatments and stand for Burzynski. And all alternative treatments. 

You can go for your MIC treatments. Although, I don't think the government should have to pay for them. If you want $100,000/year Avastin, to live another year, you should have to pay. Not me, the taxpayer.  

I know $$$$ never comes into these "cancer treatments" that you all want. But in case you had not noticed, our country is bankrupt.

This MIC house of cards is ending, soon. The real answer is to just eat right, exercise, D3, the FOCC, and just live well.  Because what you seek, these "treatments" that you don't pay for, will no longer be available. 

It is just a matter of time. 

 I have read that the people who appear to do welll with alternative treatments are those who had no agressive cancers that can be treated wtih surgery alone.  That certainly seems to be the case for you, Leia.  The surgery you had is adequate treatment for your cancer.  Whatever alternative treatmetns or diets you have chosen to follow have nothing to do with it 'curing' your cancer.  

I avoided chemotherapy because it didn't offer me much of an advantage, as my breast cancer  was also non agressive and  er positive.   I am not frightened and clinging to the MIC.  I  made my treatment decision based on fact and would do the same if I had a more agressive cancer, even if that meant chemotherapy.

Too funny, Black-cat.