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Consumer Health Digest #23-52
December 24, 2023

Consumer Health Digest is a free weekly e-mail newsletter edited by William M. London, Ed.D., M.P.H
http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/william-m-london
., with help from Stephen Barrett, M.D
http://www.quackwatch.org/10Bio/bio.html
. It summarizes scientific reports; legislative developments; enforcement actions; news reports; Web site evaluations; recommended and nonrecommended books; and other information relevant to consumer protection and consumer decision-making. Its primary focus is on health, but occasionally it includes non-health scams and practical tips. To subscribe, click here
http://lists.quackwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/chd_lists.quackwatch.org

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Doctor sentenced to prison for killing wife with “alternative” treatments

Dr. Jeffrey Harris, 59, has been sentenced to an indeterminate term of 5–15 years in state prison, the maximum penalty, following his trial conviction for recklessly killing his wife, Tammy, by treating her improperly. In October, a New York State Supreme Court jury found Harris guilty of second-degree manslaughter for giving her “alternative” treatments, including poisonous levels of selenium, and preventing her from seeking treatment for lupus.
[D.A. Bragg announces sentencing of Jeffrey Harris for recklessly killing his wife, Tammy Harris
https://manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-announces-sentencing-of-jeffrey-harris-for-recklessly-killing-his-wife-tammy-harris/
. New York County District Attorney press release, Dec 15, 2023]

Evidence in the case indicates that in 2016, Tammy began to experience aches and pains. She was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease by her primary-care physician, who suspected she had lupus. Despite this diagnosis, Harris refused to believe her doctors, took Tammy’s treatment into his own hands and began prescribing antibiotics, antifungals, pain medication, and many herbal supplements.

Tammy’s health began to rapidly decline. She lost a significant amount of weight, became severely jaundiced, and was eventually bedridden. When they went to a hospital in August 2017, Dr. Harris argued with Tammy’s doctors, instructed her to spit out the medications they prescribed, and continued to provide her with his preferred supplements without her doctor’s knowledge. Over the next four months, Tammy would decline at home, briefly improve with hospitalization, and decline again when Harris removed her from the hospital against medical advice. In January 2018, Dr. Harris flew Tammy, who at this point weighed less than 80 pounds, to New York City to visit an “alternative medical center” in Midtown Manhattan run by a doctor that Dr. Harris admired. Testing done at that center came back negative for mercury poisoning but showed more than ten times the reference range of selenium in her blood. She died of selenium poisoning in February 2018.  Tammy’s obituary in The Lewiston Tribune, noted that she had graduated from Washington State University with a bachelor of science degree in nursing and a master’s degree as a psychiatric nurse practitioner.
Palermo A. Former area doctor charged in wife’s death
https://www.lmtribune.com/northwest/former-area-doctor-charged-in-wife-s-death/article_29f2e18c-774a-5791-ac34-9ac69e26a706.html
. The Lewiston Tribune, Nov 28, 2021]

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“Alternative” practitioner charged again with unprofessional conduct

In February 2023, the State of Washington’s Medical Commission found that “complementary and alternative medicine” practitioner Stephen L. Smith, M.D., had engaged in unprofessional conduct in his treatment of six patients in 2021 and 2022.

In 2006, Dr. Smith, was charged with unprofessional conduct
https://quackwatch.org/cases/board/med/smith/amended_complaint/
 for depending on unreliable diagnostic tests and failing to provide or refer a patient for appropriate treatment. The questionable tests included hair analysis
https://quackwatch.org/related/hair-2/
 and a provoked urine test for mercury toxicity
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Tests/mercurytests.html
. Smith’s inappropriate “working diagnoses” included mold contamination, organ inflammation due to rapid detoxification, mercury toxicity, probable Lyme disease, and a viral inflammation of the abdomen for which he prescribed intravenous hydrogen peroxide. In 2007, he was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, undergo a practice evaluation, and do what the evaluators recommend
https://quackwatch.org/cases/board/med/smith/final_order/


In 2014, Dr. Smith signed a consent agreement
https://quackwatch.org/cases/board/med/smith/charges_2014/
that stipulated that he had fallen below the standard of care in treating an autistic teenager. The agreement required him to: (a) pay a $1,000 fine, (b) stop treating patients under the age of 18, (c) stop doing provoked testing, and (d) refrain from treating adults who were not also under the care of a primary care provider or a physician who is board-certified in a subspecialty of internal medicine. In 2020, the board issued a modified agreed order requiring him to (a) obtain documentation that patients had seen a primary-care provider in the previous 12 months, (b) submit a copy of any consultation to the patient’s primary-care provider within seven days, and (c) document the communication in the patient’s medical records. The recent board action reflects concerns that Smith did not comply with the 2020 order.

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Science communicator scrutinizes microbiome-related hype

McGill University science communicator Jonathan Jarry, M.Sc., has examined popular factoids regarding the microbiome, the vast community of microorganisms (including bacteria) that grow on and inside our bodies.
[Jarry J. The microbiome and its myth-making machine
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/microbiome-and-its-myth-making-machine
. Office for Science and Society, Aug 11, 2023]

He concluded:

The number of microorganisms making up the human microbiome is sometimes claimed to be ten times larger than the number of human cells. However, the best estimate we have is that they are roughly equivalent in number
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002533

There is strong evidence
https://www.worldgastroenterology.org/UserFiles/file/guidelines/probiotics-and-prebiotics-english-2017.pdf
that taking probiotics can prevent the diarrhea that is associated with a course of antibiotics, but we do not yet know enough to recommend specific strains, dosages, or duration for these probiotics.
Many diseases have been associated with changes in the microbiome, but at this point, we cannot say these changes cause the diseases as there are too many variables at play.
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Stephen Barrett, M.D.
Consumer Advocate
7 Birchtree Circle
Chapel Hill, NC 27517

Telephone: (919) 533-6009

http://www.quackwatch.org (health fraud and quackery)
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