Cancer Quackery
Posted 9/19/2012
Posted in
This is one of those things that just won't go away. There are CAM treatments that surely won't hurt and might even be helpful (acupuncture, Reiki, meditation) and others that clearly are scams and maybe dangerous (shark cartiledge, some expensive herbal "remedies"). Cancer patients, especially people who are dealing with advanced cancer or very difficult side effects, are so vulnerable and often willing to suspend good judgment and common sense and grasp at any straws. I met with a woman last week whose family has scraped together enough money for her to go to Germany to some whack-o sounding clinic for body cleanses and special diets in the hope of curing her rapidly advancing Stage IV lung cancer. It is not going to help, and will, instead, use precious resources of energy and time and money that she could spend elsewhere.
This is an excellent article from Oncology about some of these scams and why they are so persistent:
Cancer Quackery: The Persistent Popularity of Useless, Irrational 'Alternative' Treatments
By Barrie R. Cassileth, MS, PhD1, IIan R. Yarett, BA 1,2
August 20, 2012
ABSTRACT: At a time when many readily believe that vaccines cause autism, or that governmentscientists created AIDS as a weapon of black genocide, it is not surprising that medical quackery, especially cancer quackery, remains a flourishing and lucrative business throughout the developed world. This review provides a brief recap of its history and an overview of the various types of unproven or disproved cancer therapies popular now in the United States and elsewhere.
Read more...
Tags: