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Consumer Health Digest #16-08
February 28,  2016

Consumer Health Digest is a free weekly e-mail newsletter edited by Stephen Barrett, M.D
http://www.quackwatch.org/10Bio/bio.html
,with help from William M. London, Ed.D., M.P.H
http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/william-m-london
 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.

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Health Canada issues amygdalin warning.

 Health Canada is advising Canadians who purchased Novodalin B17 to stop using the product and contact their doctor for appropriate follow-up. It has also asked the marketers to stop selling it. The product, which is labeled to contain apricot kernel extract, may contain amygdalin, a compound that can release cyanide when ingested by humans. No health products containing B17 or amygdalin are authorized by Health Canada to treat cancer or any other condition, and no cancer treatment claims can be legally made for "natural health products."
[Novodalin B17/amygdalin" being sold online poses serious risk to health
http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/advisory---novodalin-b17amygdalin-being-sold-online-poses-serious-risk-to-health-569903801.html
Health Canada Advisory, Feb 23, 2016]

Food Standards Australia New Zealand
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/media/Pages/Sale-of-raw-apricot-kernels-prohibited.aspx
banned the sale of apricot kernels last year. Amygdalin extracts (commonly referred to as laetrile) marketed a cancer treatment were banned many years ago in the United States
[Wilson B. The rise and fall of laetrile
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/laetrile.html
Quackwatch, Jan 7, 2014]
,but apricot seeds are still available.

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Health care advertising criticized

The New York Times has examined the harmful aspects of advertising by drug companies, hospitals, and clinics.
[http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/sunday-review/ask-your-doctor-if-this-ad-is-right-for-you.html?emc=edit_th_20160228&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=9890152&_r=0
Rosenthal E. Ask your doctor if this ad is right for you
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/sunday-review/ask-your-doctor-if-this-ad-is-right-for-you.html?emc=edit_th_20160228&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=9890152&_r=0
The New York Times, Feb 27, 2016]

A study published in 2014 concluded that clinical advertisements by cancer centers frequently promote cancer therapy with emotional appeals that evoke hope and fear while rarely providing information about risks, benefits, costs, or insurance availability.
[Vater LB and others. What are cancer centers advertising to the public? A content analysis
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.691.5006&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Annals of Internal Medicine 160:813-820, 2014]

One of the study's authors told the Times reporter that their research "debunks the notion that advertising empowers patients to make better choices." The United States and New Zealand are the only two countries that allow consumer advertising for drugs. The American Medical Association has recommended that advertising for drugs and medical devices directed toward consumers be banned. A 2010 report by the study's lead author
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/18500/1/LBorgenheimer_ETD2013.pdf
provides additional insight into the problem.

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FDA questions marketing of unapproved cancer screening test

The FDA has expressed concern to Pathway Genomics of San Diego, California, about the marketing of its CancerIntercept™ Detect
https://www.pathway.com/cancer-intercept-detect/
as a screening tool. The test is claimed to detect several types of cancer early by analyzing "circulating tumor DNA" in blood specimens. In a letter to the company
http://www.casewatch.org/fdawarning/prod/2015/pathway_genomics.pdf
,the FDA stated that it knew of no evidence that the test had been properly validated.

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Burzynski’s activities examined

Newsweek has examined the decades-long struggle between Stanislaw Burzynski, M.D. and regulatory authorities that have tried to stop him treating cancer patients with questionable treatments.
[Wilner T. Cancer 'visionary' Stanislaw Burzynski stands trial for unprecedented medical malfeasance
http://www.newsweek.com/2016/03/04/stanislaw-burzynski-cancer-medical-malfeasance-429057.html
Newsweek, Feb 22, 2016]
In 2014, the Texas Medical Board charged Burzynski with false advertising and patient mismanagement
http://www.casewatch.org/board/med/burzynski/complaint_2013.shtml
Hearings on these charges began last year, but after Burzynski was diagnosed with a heart condition, the remainder of the trial was postponed until May. The Newsweek article also revealed a startling admission from Burzynski's long-time attorney, Richard Jaffe. About 20 years ago, the FDA permitted Burzynski to set up a clinical trial that included all of his nearly 200 patients. Clinical trials are supposed to test the safety and/or efficacy of a treatment. But in 2008, Jaffe wrote that since these patients were already on treatment, "there could not be any possibility of meaningful data coming out of the so-called trial."
[Jaffe R. Galileo's Lawyer. Thumbs Up Press, Houston, TX, 2008, pp 106-108]

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Continuing request for help from Dr. Barrett

In June 2010, Doctor's Data, Inc. sued Dr. Barrett because it didn’t like what he wrote about its urine toxic metals test on Quackwatch and in this newsletter. The events leading up to the suit are described at
http://www.quackwatch.org/14Legal/dd_suit.html

In November, 2011, about half of the allegations were dismissed, but discovery was permitted for more than a year. The rest of the suit is ripe for dismissal; and we are waiting for the judge to rule on a motion to dismiss that was argued 20 months ago. So far, the proceedings have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even small donations, if sent by enough subscribers to this newsletter, will be very helpful. Contributions can be made by mail or through
http://www.quackwatch.org/00AboutQuackwatch/donations.html

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=================================

Stephen Barrett, M.D.
Consumer Advocate
Chatham Crossing, Suite 107/208
11312 U.S. 15 501 North
Chapel Hill, NC 27517

Telephone: (919) 533-6009

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