Re: OFF TOPIC - just this once more, it's too important

[Norman Bauman nbauman@xxxxxxxx]

>On Tue, 6 Nov 2001, Young For Life Products, Ltd wrote:
>
>> Sorry for this, but I can't ethically NOT post this. The FDA is once
>> again using terrorist methods against an alternative treatment with
>> demonstrated benefit for terminal cancer patients.
>
At 07:18 PM 11/6/01 -0500, Dorothy Day wrote:
>
>I hate to jump into such an undisciplined and frequently ill-informed
>discussion, especially on the XY list. The FDA is not the bogeyman it's
>often made out to be (see below).
>
>> Pray you're not a terminal cancer patient someday who finds an
>> alternative treatment that helps you; it is very likely the FDA will
>> take it away from you and leave you to die.

And I've written about alternative medicine in the treatment of prostate
cancer. The urologists who attend the American Urological Association
meeting and the oncologists who attend the American Society of Clinical
Oncology meeting every year are very interested in "complementary and
alternative" treatments. I've reported on several panels and presentations.

>>Ivan Danhof; MD, PhD, the developer of Albarin, is regarded by many to be
the
>>leading authority on the aloe vera plant. Working out of the North Texas
>>Research Laboratory in Grand Prairie, TX, Danhof has impeccable credentials
>>B.S in biochemistry, M.S in Nutrition and Microbiology, PhD in Physiology,
>>and an MD with specialties in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology. He has
>>written 80 research papers throughout his career. Additionally, he has
served
>>as a Fulbright scholar in Afghanistan investigating Botanical medicine.

Danhof didn't write 80 research papers in the medical literature. I only
found 15 on Medline, and the last was from 1982. None of them were about
Albarin. According to the American Medical Association Doctor Finder, he is
inactive. While he has a "specialty" in gastroenterology, he is not
board-certified.

I could spend a lot more time checking this out, but this is enough for me.
If these people have discovered anything useful about treating cancer with
this drug, they should publish it in the peer-reviewed medical literature.
I have seen first-hand that there are plenty of doctors and journals that
would be glad to accept a well-written paper. If they can't get published,
then it's because their research isn't any good.

If they haven't published anything in the peer-reviewed literature, then
their using their patients as guinea pigs. If they're using patients as
guinea pigs, then then shouldn't *charge* them for being experimental
subjects -- they should *pay* them, if anything.

If they're charging money to cancer patients for a treatment that has not
been reported in the medical literature, or is not being investigated under
the supervision of an independent ethics committee and monitoring
committee, then they're committing fraud, and in my opinion they belong in
jail.

I'm interested in other peoples' outside interests, but this kind of
posting doesn't belong on the XyWrite mailing list.

Norman


-------------------------------------------------------
Norman Bauman
411 W. 54 St. Apt. 2D
New York, NY 10019
(212) 977-3223
http://www.nasw.org/users/nbauman
-------------------------------------------------------