The Unhealthy Alliance

Contents

Introduction

The National Health Federation is an alliance of promoters and followers who engage in lobbying campaigns and many other activities. The Health Alternatives Legal Foundation, led by attorneys, is working primarily through the courts. The American Quack Association is a mutual support network of "holistic" practitioners. The Coalition for Alternatives in Nutrition and Health Care is primarily involved in lobbying. All four groups are antagonistic toward accepted medical practices and use the words "alternative" and "freedom" to suit their own purposes. Many of their leaders have been involved in questionable health activities, and some have even been convicted of crimes involving such methods.

The National Health Federation (NHF)

The National Health Federation is headquartered in Monrovia, California and maintains a legislative office in Washington, D.C. Its members pay from $20 per year for "regular" membership to a total of $I ,000 or more for "perpetual" membership. NHF members receive occasional mailings and a monthly magazine called Health Freedom News (formerly called Public Scrutiny and the NHF Bulletin). According to the National Health Federation Handbook, any two members can start a local chapter by adopting NHF's constitution and bylaws, naming temporary officers and receiving clearance from NHF headquarters. Currently NHF has 78 chapters in 29 states and about 20,000 members.

Since its formation, NHF's stated purpose has been to promote "freedom of choice" by consumers. As expressed for years in its Bulletin:

NHF opposes monopoly and compulsion in things related to health where the safety and welfare of others are not concerned. NHF does not oppose nor approve any specific healing profession or their methods, but it does oppose the efforts of any one group to restrict the freedom of practice of qualifed members of another profession, thus attempting to create a monopoly.

At first glance, this credo may seem "democratic" and somehow related to unfair business competition. What NHF really means, however, is that government should not help scientifically-based health care to drive unproven methods out of the marketplace. NHF wants anyone who claims to have an effective treatment or product to be allowed to market it without scientific proof that it works.

NHF promotes questionable health methods and has little interest in medically acceptable types of treatment. Health Freedom Newscontains ads for questionable treatments and products that are being marketed illegally. Nutritional fads, myths, and gimmicks are mentioned favorably by NHF publications and convention speakers. Worthless cancer treatments, particularly laetrile, have been promoted in the same ways. Articles in NHF publications look with disfavor on such proven public health measures as pasteurization of milk, immunization, water fluoridation, and food irradiation. Use of nutritional supplements is encouraged by claims that modern food processing depletes our food supply of its nutrients. "Natural" and "organic" products are promoted with suggestions that our food supply is "poisoned." Chiropractic, naturopathy and homeopathy are regarded favorably. Books that promote questionable health concepts are given favorable reviews. Antiquackery legislation is condemned. Underlying all these messages is the idea that anyone who opposed NHF's ideas is part of a "conspiracy" of government, organized medicine and big business against the little consumer.

NHF is very active in the political arena. It presents testimony to regulatory agencies and sponsors legislation aimed at keeping government interference with the health food industry to a minimum. To bolster the influence of its lobbyist, it generates letter-writing campaigns that urge legislators and government officials to support NHF positions. These campaigns typically include charges of persecution, discrimination and conspiracy. NHF also files lawsuits against government agencies and helps defend people prosecuted for selling questionable "health" products or services. Not surprisingly, most of NHF's leaders have been economically involved with the issues it has promoted.

NHF was founded in 1955 by Fred J. Hart, who was president of the Electronic Medical Foundation, a company that marketed quack devices. In 1954, Hart and his foundation were ordered by a U.S. District Court to stop distributing 13 devices with false claims that they could diagnose and treat hundreds of diseases and conditions. In 1962, Hart was fined by the court for violating this order. Hart died in 1976, but his widow still serves as NHF's executive secretary.

Royal S. Lee, D.D.S., a nonpracticing dentist who died in 1967, helped Hart found NHF and served on its board of governors. Lee owned and operated the Vitamin Products Company, which sold food supplements, and the Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research, which distributed literature on nutrition and health. One of the vitamin company's products was Catalyn, a patent medicine composed of milk sugar, wheat starch, wheat bran and other plant material. During the early 1930s, a shipment of Catalyn was seized by the FDA and destroyed by court order because it had been marketed with false claims of effectiveness against serious diseases. In 1945, Lee and his company were ordered by the FDA to discontinue illegal claims for Catalyn and other products. In 1956, the Post Office Department charged Lee's foundation with fraudulent promotion of a book called Diet Prevents Polio. The foundation agreed to discontinue the challenged claims. In 1962, Lee and the Vitamin Products Company were convicted of misbranding 115 special dietary products by making false claims for the treatment of more than 500 diseases and conditions. Lee received a one-year suspended prison term and was fined $7,000. In 1963, a prominent FDA official said Lee was "probably the largest publisher of unreliable and false nutritional information in the world."

NHF's board chairman

Kurt W. Donsbach, D.C., N.D., D.Sc., Ph.D., has been chairman of NHF's board of governors since 1975, when he replaced Fred Hart. His other activities and enterprises have been so numerous and complex that no one including Donsbach himself seems able to document all of them with certainty.

Donsbach (pronounced Dons-bah) graduated in 1957 from Western States Chiropractic College, in Portland, Oregon, and practiced as a chiropractor in Montana, "specializing in treatment of arthritic and rheumatoid disorders." From 1961 to 1965 he worked in "research development and marketing" for Standard Process Laboratories (a division of Royal Lee's Vitamin Products Company) and the Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

While Donsbach worked for Lee, he lived in California, did literature research, and gave nutrition seminars (primarily to chiropractors) on how to determine nutritional deficiencies. In 1962, he acquired a doctor of naturopathy (N.D.) degree from the now-defunct Hollywood College of Naturopathic Medicine and became licensed as a naturopath in Oregon. After Lee became ill, Donsbach left his employ and opened Nature's Way Health Food Store, in Westminster, California, and Westpro Laboratories, in Garden Grove, California, which repackaged dietary supplements and a few drugs.

In 1970, undercover agents of the Fraud Division of the California Bureau of Food and Drug observed Donsbach representing to customers in his store that vitamins, minerals and/or herbal tea were effective against cancer, heart disease, emphysema (a chronic lung disease) and many other ailments. Most of the products Donsbach "prescribed" were packaged by Westpro Labs. Charged with nine counts of illegal activity, Donsbach pleaded guilty in 1971 to one count of practicing medicine without a license and agreed to cease "nutritional consultation." He was assessed $2,750 and served two years' summary probation.

In 1973, Donsbach was charged with nine more counts of illegal activity, including misbranding of drugs; selling, holding for sale, or offering for sale, new drugs without having the proper applications on file; and manufacturing drugs without a license. After pleading "no contest" to one of the "new drug" charges, he was ordered to pay a small fine and was placed on two years'summary probation with the provision that he rid himself of all proprietary interest in Westpro Labs. In 1974, he was found guilty of violating his probation and was fined again.

Donsbach sold the company to RichLife, Inc., of Anaheim, California, a subsidiary of Moxie Industries, of Atlanta, Georgia, for $250,000. He was also promised $20,000 a year for occasionally conducting seminars and operating the company's booth at trade shows. The agreement also gave RichLife sole right to market Dr. Donsbach Pak Vitamins, which RichLife later described as "specialized formulas" to "help make your lifeless complicated, more healthy." Among the products were Arth Pak, Athletic Pak, Dynamite Pak, Health and Beauty Pak and Stress Formula Pak.

Donsbach then became president of Metabolic Products, a company specializing in "orthomolecular concepts," which he sold in 1975. According to literature from Metabolic Products, its garlic extract could "prevent cellular deterioration," Its alfalfa product had "anti-toxin properties" which could help to overcome "-itis diseases," and so on.

In 1975, Donsbach began producing Dr. Donsbach tells you everything you always wanted to know about . . ., a large series of booklets on such topics as acne, arthritis, cataracts, ginseng, glandular extracts, heart disease, and metabolic cancer therapies. According to Donsbach, more than eight million have been sold. The booklets were published by the International Institute of Natural Health Sciences - operated by Donsbach - which sold distribution rights to RichLife.

In 1980, the District Attorney of Orange County charged RichLife with making false and illegal claims for various products, including some originally formulated by Donsbach. In a court-approved settlement, RichLife paid $50,000 and agreed to stop making the Cairns. In 1986, RichLife was charged with violating this agreement and was assessed $48,000 more in another court-approved settlement.

In 1984, Donsbach was sued by Jacob Stake, of Urbana, Illinois, who claims that he became ill and was hospitalized as a result of ingesting large amounts of vitamin A over a 2 1/2 year period. The suit papers state that Stake began taking the vitamin at age 16 because it was recommended in Donsbach's booklet on acne. The case is still pending.

During the mid-1970s, Donsbach affiliated with Union University, an unaccredited school in Los Angeles, where he says he acquired a master's degree in molecular biology and a Ph.D. in nutrition. In a deposition in the Stake case, he testified that he also was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree from Christian University, an unaccredited school which had operated in Los Angeles. However, two reporters have said he told them that his "D.Sc." was obtained from a Midwest Bible college.

In 1977, Union University formed a Department of Nutrition, "with Kurt Donsbach, Ph.D., Sc.D., as Dean of the Department." RichLife then offered scholarships to its retailers who wished to further their education. Later Donsbach launched and became president of his own school, Donsbach University, which in 1979 was "authorized" by California to grant degrees. This status had nothing to do with accreditation or other academic recognition, but merely required the filing of an affidavit which describes the school's program and asserts filing of an affidavit which describes the school's program and asserts that it has at least $50,000 in assets.

Donsbach University, which operated mainly by mail, initially offered courses leading to B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. "degrees" in nutrition at fees ranging from $ 1,495 to $3,795, with a 20% discount for advance payment. Most of the "textbooks" required for the "basic curriculum" were books written for the general public by promoters of questionable nutrition practices, including Donsbach, Carlton Fredericks, Lendon Smith, and Robert Atkins. The original "faculty" had seven members, including Donsbach, and Alan H. Nittler, M.D. (who, according to NHF, "lost his medical license in 1975 because he utilized nutritional therapies"). But ads for the school promised "the finest quality nutrition education available anywhere." Donsbach University also offered courses in iridology, homeopathy, herbal therapy, and chiropractic business administration, as well as a $495 "minicourse" in nutrition for retailers who wanted a "Dietary Consultant" certificate.

In 1980, one of the school's advisors, Benjamin Colimore, was prosecuted by the Los Angeles City Attorney for conduct during the operation of a health food store owned by him and his wife. Prosecution was initiated after a customer complained that the Colimores had diagnosed a bad heart valve, pancreatic abscesses and benign growths of her liver, intestine and stomach - all based on an analysis of her hair - and prescribed two products from the store. After pleading "no contest" to one count of practicing medicine without a license, the Colimores were fined $2,000, given a 60-day suspended jail sentence, and placed on probation for two years.

In 1979, Donsbach began publishing the Journal of the International Academy of Nutritional Consultants, with Dr. Nittler as its editor. The first issue had a press run of about 25,000 copies, most of which were sent free-of-charge to chiropractors. The second issue explained that Academy members could be listed in a directory, and that the Academy "will in no way encourage or tolerate the practice of medicine under the guise of nutritional consultation" and would establish a legal fund to protect its members from "undue and unfair harassment by bureaucracies or agencies." Regular membership in the Academy, open to anyone, cost $10 per year (later raised to $12/year) and included a subscription to its journal. Professional membership, which cost $50 per year, included a directory listing plus a "beautiful certificate for your office." Sustaining membership, which cost $150 per year, gave a 15% discount on advertising in the journal. Most of its 50 or so sustaining members had commercial interests in methods promoted by the journal. In 1981, the journal was renamed Health Express, Donsbach took over as editor-in-chief, and efforts were made to market it through health food stores and newsstands.

One of the journal's many ads was for nutritional cassette tapes, made by Donsbach, which could be obtained by writing to "Dr. Donsbach's Tapes" at the same address as his school's. A retailer who responded to the ad was sent two price lists, not from the school, but from Health Education Products, a company apparently located nearby. One list was for Donsbach's "Health Library" (of books and booklets) and cassette tapes (which include Happier Sex Life and Herbal Medicine). The other was for food supplement formulas such as Optimum Nutrition, High Q, Anti-Oxidant Formula, Stress Nutrition, Renew-F and Renew-M. According to a catalog of Nutri-Books, the largest distributor of books and related products to health food stores, Dr. Donsbach's Nutritional Tape Cassettes are "like having Dr. Donsbach as your personal physician right in your own home. Each...gives pertinent information and direction to aid in diagnosis and remedial action."

During 1983, the International Academy of Nutritional Consultants merged with a similar group to become the American Association of Nutritional Consultants. For a few months, Donsbach was listed as chairman of the group's national board of counselors and later he was listed as a contributing editor to its journal, which also incorporated Health Express. In 1983 and 1984, Donsbach was listed as publisher of the Journal of Ultramolecular Medicine, a publication for homeopaths who use computerized galvanometers to diagnose disease. He has also published a 4-page newsletter called Herb-Letter.

In 1982, Donsbach formed and became board chairman of Health Resources Group, Inc., which sold supplement products to health food stores through HRG Enterprises (formerly called D&B Enterprises) and a multilevel company called Nutrition Motivation. HRG also operated Preventive Medicine and Nutrition Care Centers in Huntington Beach and Monrovia, California, and a syndicated radio talk show called "Let's Talk Health," which Donsbach hosted. HRG's products were promoted frequently during the broadcasts, which were beamed by satellite to about 20 small stations. Listeners were invited to call in questions on a toll-free number.

In 1984, Donsbach announced that he had repurchased from RichLife the right to sell products with his name, and HRG began promoting such products as Orachel (claimed to be effective against heart disease), C-Thru (claimed to be effective against cataracts) and Prosta-Pak ("nutritional support for the prostate gland").

In June 1985, the FDA sent Donsbach and HRG a regulatory letter indicating that claims made for Orachel made it an unapproved new drug that was illegal to market. A few months later, New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams had Orachel seized from several retail outlets in the New York City area and filed suit to block further sale and distribution of the product throughout the state. It turned out, however, that before either of these actions were taken, Donsbach had transferred ownership of HRG Enterprises to a business associate. Marketing of Orachel was stopped, but Ora-Flow, an identical Donsbach product, is still being marketed.

In July 1985, Abrams brought actions against Donsbach, his University, and the International Institute of Natural Health Sciences, charging that they lacked legal authorization to conduct business within New York Slate and that it was illegal to advertise unaccredited degrees to state residents. Abrams also charged that the Institute's Nutrient Deficiency Test was "a scheme to defraud consumers" by inducing them to buy dietary supplements to correct supposed deficiencies reported with the test.

This test was composed of 245 yes/no questions about symptoms. When the answers are fed into a computer, a report of supposed nutrient deficiencies and medical conditions is printed out. However, experts who have evaluated the questions did not believe they provide a basis for evaluating nutritional status. Moreover, a scientist with the FDA's Buffalo district office who analyzed the test's computer program in connection with prosecution of a Donsbach University "graduate" found that no matter how the questions were answered, the test reported several "nutrient deficiencies" and almost always recommended an identical list of vitamins, minerals and digestive enzymes. The questionnaire also contained a section with questions about the subject's food intake during the past week. However, the answers given did not affect the printout of supposed deficiencies!

In 1986, Donsbach and the Institute agreed to: 1) restrict the sale of its Nutrient Deficiency Test to health care professionals legally authorized to practice within New York State; 2) stop marketing in New York State all current versions of its nutrient deficiency questionnaire and associated computer analysis services; 3) place conspicuous disclaimers on future versions of the questionnaire to indicate that the test should not be used for the diagnosis or treatment of any disease by either consumers or professionals; and 4) pay $1,000 in costs. Donsbach and the University agreed to disclose in any direct mailings to New York residents or in any nationally distributed publication that the school's degree programs are not registered with the New York Department of Education and are not accredited by any accrediting commission recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. The University also agreed to pay $500 to New York State.

During 1986 and part of 1987, Donsbach was "therapy coordinator" of the BioGenesis Institute in Baja, Mexico, which offered "chronic and acute care for degenerative disorders." Included in its scope were "aging rejuvenation, allergies, arthritis, cancer, cardiovascular, cataracts, immune stimulation, and multiple sclerosis." The treatments offered included oral and intravenous chelation therapy, laetrile, live cell therapy, homeopathy, DMSO, and colonics. Hydrogen peroxide was also used intravenously, orally, and in ear drops, a nasal spray, a tooth gel, a pain gel, breath drops and enemas. The cost of treatment at Biogenesis Institute was $795 for the 4-Day Executive Program, $2,750 for the 11 Day Rejuvenation Program, and $5,000 for the 24 Day Total Care Program. But the Institute's information packet included a 20% discount certificate and stated that "there will be no charge if your condition is unimproved by the time you leave."

In 1987, Donsbach University announced that Donsbach had resigned as president and board chairman and that the school would be renamed International University for Nutrition Education. Donsbach also began operating the newly-built Hospital Santa Monica, in Baja, Mexico, whose 21 Day Total Care Program is similar to that advertised for the BioGenesis Institute. Brochures from Hospital Santa Monica describe it as a 60-bed multimillion dollar facility and state that payment in advance is required. Patients without insurance must pay $5,000 with cash or a cashier's check, while those with satisfactory insurance must deposit $2,500.

Donsbach has claimed that thousands of people have enrolled in his university and that more than 1,000 have graduated. As his graduates began representing themselves to the public as nutrition professionals, the American Dietetic Association began a drive for passage of state laws to restrict use of the word "nutritionist" to qualified professionals with accredited training. NHF is opposed to such legislation.

Donsbach's logo is "Health is Wealth." Despite his apparently enormous gross income, he filed for bankruptcy in March 1987, listing no assets and over $3 million in debts claimed by more than 100 creditors.

Other NHF leaders

During NHF's early years, Andrew S. Rosbenberger served as the group's "nutrition chairman" and spoke at NHF conventions. For many years, he and his brother Henry operated a large chain of health food stores called Nature Food Centers. In 1938, their firm made an agreement with the FTC to stop making therapeutic claims for more than 20 products.

During the 1950s, the Post Office Department filed a number of complaints against the firm for making false therapeutic claims for various products. In each case, the company agreed to discontinue the claims. In 1962, the Rosenberger brothers were fined $5,000 each and given 6-month suspended prison sentences for misbranding dietary products. Nature Food Centers was fined $10,000.

Clinton Miller has been NHF's legislative advocate since 1962 and has also served as NHF's executive director. Before coming to NHF he chaired the antifluoridation committee of Utah, which helped make Utah the least fluoridated state in the U.S. In the 1960s and early 1970s he operated Clinton's Wheat Shop (a health food store) in Bountiful, Utah, and Miller's Honey Company in Salt Lake City. During this period the FDA took seven enforcement actions (two citations and five seizures) involving products marketed by these companies. One was a seizure from the wheat shop in 1962 of some "dried Swiss whey" which the FDA considered misbranded when claimed as effective in treating intestinal disorders. The whey was returned when Miller agreed to change its labeling. In 1976, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate.

NHF's 27-person board of governors has included the following people:

• David Ajay was president of the National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA), a trade association representing some 2,500 health food retailers, distributors and producers. In 1978, Ajay announced "Operation Counterattack," a series of lawsuits against "detractors of our industry who have been calling us ripoffs." In 1979, he and two other NNFA officials filed suit against Elizabeth M. Whelan, Sc.D., M.P.H., Executive Director of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) and Fredrick J. Stare, M.D., Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health and chairman of ACSH's board of directors. Even though Drs. Whelan and Stare had never mentioned Ajay or the others in their publications, the suit charged them with "recklessly, maliciously and knowingly disseminating false and defamatory remarks with respect to plaintiffs and the health food industry" through books and published articles. In 1980 the suit was dismissed by a federal judge who warned that "any further suit by plaintiffs against critics of the health food industry should be scrutinized carefully to determine whether it was brought in good faith." (In other words, plaintiffs would probably be held responsible for the defendants'legal bills.)

• Robert Atkins, M.D., is author of Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution, Dr. Atolls' Superenergy Diet, and Dr. Atkins' Nutrition Breakthrough. He refers to himself and like-minded colleagues as "the pioneers of Nutrition medicine who risked their professional standing to develop the methodology that led to the Nutrition Breakthrough." Atkins condemns the medical profession as "pill poppers," and drug pushers, but he does not hesitate to recommend large doses of nutritional supplements for a wide variety of diseases and conditions.

  Atkins directed The Atkins Centers for Complementary Medicine in New York City. Prospective patients were asked to list their symptoms and health problems and to complete a 56-question Atkins Health Indicator Test which asks mainly about symptoms of tension. An evaluation cost $380 for the initial visit plus $200 for blood tests at an outside laboratory and $125 for the followup visit with Dr. Atkins. All patients undergo hair analysis, chiropractic screening, glucose tolerance testing, and an electrocardiogram. An Atkins Psychodiagnostic Test Battery ($150) and a Cytotoxic Food Sensitivities Test ($180 or more) are strongly recommended. A consultation with Carlton Fredericks was $200. Vitamins prescribed as part of Atkin's "Nutritional Treatment Plan" are extra.

• Norman J. Bassett was publisher of Let' s Live, a magazine that promotes questionable health methods.

• Jeffrey S. Bland, Ph.D., a former biochemistry professor, is the health food industry's most prolific interpreter of nutrition-related scientific developments. He appears frequently at trade shows, writes and edits books, publishes the magazine Complementary Medicine, produces audio and video tapes, and conducts courses for professionals. He has also been a research associate at the Linus Pauling Institute of Medicine and has directed its nutrient analysis laboratory.

• Walter Douglas Brodie, M.D., has been convicted twice of failing to file income tax returns. In 1977 he was sentenced to six months in prison, and in 1987 he was fined $10,000 and sentenced to one year in prison and five years' probation. In a 1983 letter describing how he has prescribed laetrile and other "alternative" cancer treatments, he stated that he had moved his practice to Nevada after "political persecution" by the California State Board of Medical Quality Assurance, which had unsuccessfully attempted to discipline him several times.

• Kirkpatrick Dilling, NHF's general counsel, is an attorney who specializes in the issues in which NHF has been involved. He has also been the attorney for the Cancer Control Society, a group that promotes questionable methods of cancer treatment.

• H. Ray Evers,M.D., is a leading practitioner of "chelation therapy" for a wide range of chronic diseases, but primarily for coronary artery disease. He claims to have treated more than 20,000 patients and supervised more than 500,000 chelation treatments since 1964. In 1976, at the FDA's request, a Louisiana federal judge prohibited Evers from using chelation therapy in Louisiana. Testimony in the case suggested that at least 14 patients had died from this therapy at Evers' hospital.

  Evers subsequently set up practice in Montgomery, Alabama, where despite FDA efforts, an Alabama judge allowed him to continue the use of chelation therapy. Patients admitted to Evers' clinic signed a doctor-patient agreement which read in part:

  I understand that the type of therapy given at the RA-MAR CLINIC may not be in perfect agreement with the so-called orthodox methods of treatment as approved by the AMA, FDA, or HEW. I understand that the... therapy given here is the type that the Physician and I both agree is the correct future of medicine. (By the use of nutrition, enzymes, physical therapy, magnetic medicine, use of pyramids, etc., or any other modalities that may be used to benefit mankind). . I willingly request this type of therapy and will abide by the results.

  In 1979, Evers moved his practice to the Bahamas. According to the January 1980 NHF Bulletin, he left the U.S. because he was "tired of FDA harassment," he faced million-dollar lawsuits by survivors of two of his patients who died, and he was unable to obtain insurance coverage as a result of these various legal actions. However, in 1980 he returned here and opened the 90-bed Evers Health Center at Sealy Springs, a 665-acre mineral bath resort in Cottonwood, Alabama According to a chiropractic associate, Evers left the Bahamas because he was unable to obtain necessary work permits from the Bahamian government.

  Evers' letter of welcome to prospective patients states that his practice has been "limited to the diagnosis and treatment of chronic degenerative diseases by the nutritional, non-toxic, metabolic method including chelation therapy. In addition...we have special regimes of treatment for the various diseases such such as arthritis, ALS, MS, diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's disease, etc." Since 1983, his weekly rates have been from $2,400 to $2,750 for non-cancer patients and $3,100 for cancer patients, with one week's payment required in advance. A typical day at the clinic includes a visit with Dr. Evers, spinal manipulation by his chiropractic associate, chelation therapy (3 hours), and other therapies such as hyperbaric oxygen and colonic irrigation.

  One of the diagnostic devices used at the Evers Health Center is the Accupath 1000. This is the galvanometer attached to a computer programmed to interpret "electromagnetic energies emanating from points corresponding to the body's various organs and structures." Touching a probe to various points in the hands and feet supposedly enables a technician to determine where the patient's physical problems lie by reading data on the computer screen. According to the clinic brochure:

  Once your electromagnenc blueprint has been drawn up and programmed into the computer, our technicians ask the computer to search its memory for appropriate medical treatrnents. . In many cases the medications or other treatments recommended will be preventive in nature, designed to correct potential problems before they result in actual illness." [Although the brochure does not mention it, the Accupath 1000 is used to select homeopathic remedies, not conventional drugs. The FDA considers the device a "significant health hazard."]

  In December 1986, the Alabama Medical Licensure Commission revoked Evers' medical license, but a circuit court judge stayed the revocation while he appeals it in state court. Evers is also appealing a suit challenging the basis of the licensing law. According to an article in Alternatives, the proceedings against Evers were based on his use of an herbal salve to treat a 37-year-old woman who had cancer and died several months later, presumably of her cancer. The revocation was for "engaging in the practice of medicine in such a manner as to endanger the health of [the patient]," "using untruthful or deceptive or improbable statements concerning the effects or results of his proposed treatment," and "demonstrating unprofessional conduct in the treatment of [the patient]." The Commission also concluded that Evers' actions constituted "gross malpractice." His fee schedule now states that he no longer treats cancer patients.

• Michael Gerber, M.D., had his California medical license revoked after hearings before the California Board of Medical Quality Assurance in which he was accused in 1984 of improperly administering to patients. One patient was a 56-year-old woman with treatable cancer who had allegedly died as a result of Gerber's neglect while he treated her with herbs, enzymes, coffee enemas and chelation therapy. The other patients were 3-year-old twin boys with ear infections for which Gerber had prescribed 70,000 or more International Units of vitamin A daily and coffee enemas twice daily for several weeks. After his medical license was revoked, Gerber acquired a homeopathic license and began operating a chain of clinics in Nevada.

• Garry Gordon, M.D.,has been president of the American Academy of Medical Preventics (currently called the American College of Advancement in Medicine), a group of doctors who do chelation therapy. He has also been medical director and board chairman of Mineralab (a large commercial hair analysis laboratory) and director of its subsidiary, Professional Health Products. This company's "supplement" products included Membron II ("for immediate and visible improvement and relief for your allergy and arthritis patients") and Cardioguard ("a unique, adjunctive formula for use in prevention and treatment of vascular disease"). In 1985, Professional Health Products was sold to Advanced Medical Nutrition, Inc.(AMNI), but Gordon stayed on as technical and medical consultant.

• Bruce Halstead, M.D., was convicted in 1985 of 24 counts of cancer fraud and grand theft for selling an herbal tea called ADS to ten patients with cancer and other serious diseases for $125 to $150 per quart. Although Halstead maintained that ADS was a "nutritional supplement," analysis showed it to be 99.4% water and a brownish sludge composed mainly of coliform bacteria (the same bacteria found in human feces). Halstead, who operated the Halstead Preventive Medicine Clinic in Colton, California, has been a leading promoter of laetrile, chelation therapy, and many other questionable practices. Following the trial, which lasted five months, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Hyatt Seligman called him "a crook selling swamp water." He was fined $10,000 and sentenced to four years in prison, but is still practicing while appealing his conviction. According to an article in Alternatives, Halstead maintained during his trial that he was the target of a "Medical Gestapo" out to destroy health practitioners who deviate from orthodox cancer therapies such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Halstead has been board chairman and is now vice president of the Committee for Freedom of Choice in Medicine, which promotes unproven methods of treatment for cancer and other serious diseases.

• Bruce Helvie had vitamin and mineral products seized by the FDA because they were marketed with false and misleading claims for the treatment of more than 25 diseases and conditions. The seized products were destroyed by consent decree in 1960.

• John Hemauer, who died in 1976, had been president of the National Association of Naturopathic Physicians.

• Bob Hoffman, who died in 1985, published two bodybuilding magazines (Strength and Health and Muscular Development) and sold bodybuilding equipment and food supplement products through his company, York Barbell Co., of York, Pennsylvania. In 1960, the company was charged with misbranding its Energol Germ Oil Concentrate because literature accompanying the oil claimed falsely that it could prevent or treat more than 120 diseases and conditions, including epilepsy, gallstones and arthritis. The material was destroyed by consent decree.

  In 1961, 15 other York Barbell products were seized as misbranded. In 1968, a larger number of products came under attack by the government for similar reasons. In the consent decree that settled the 1968 case, Hoffman and York Barbell agreed to stop a long list of questionable health claims for their products. In 1972, thc FDA seized a shipment of three types of York Barbell protein supplements, charging that they were misbranded with false and misleading bodybuilding claims. A few months later, the seized products were destroyed under a default decree. In 1974, the company was again charged with misbranding Energol Germ Oil Concentrate and protein supplements. The wheat germ oil had been claimed to be of special dietary value as a source of vigor and energy. A variety of bodybuilding claims had been made for the protein supplements. The seized products were destroyed under a consent decree.

  Despite his many brushes with the law, Hoffman achieved considerable professional prominence. During his athletic career, first as an oarsman and then as a weightlifter, he received over 600 trophies, certificates and awards. He was the Olympic weightlifting coach from 1936 to 1968 and was a founding member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. These activities helped make Hoffman a major factor in the growth of nutritional fads for athletes.

• Max Huberman has been president of the National Nutritional Foods Association and a board member of the American Natural Hygiene Society.

• Victor Earl Irons, who was vice chairman of NHF's board of governors for more than 20 years, received a one-year prison sentence in 1957 for misbranding Vit-Ra-Tox, a vitamin mixture sold door-to-door. In 1959, shipments of eight products and accompanying literature shipped by V.E. Irons, Inc., were destroyed under a consent decree because the products were being promoted with false or misleading claims. Other seized products were ordered destroyed in 1959 and 1960.

  Irons claims that virtually everyone has a "clogged colon," that deposits of fecal material cause "toxins and poisonous gases" to "seep into your blood and poison all your organs and tissues," and that "if every person in this country took 2-3 home colonics a week, 95% of the doctors would have to retire for lack of business." Consistent with these ideas, literature from V.E. Irons, Inc., of Natick, Massachusetts, states that "the most important procedure toward regaining your Health is the COMPLETE and THOROUGH cleansing of the colon, no matter what or how long it takes." This is the goal of the "Vit-Ra-Tox Seven Day Cleansing Program," which involves eating no food, drinking a quart or more of water daily, using herbal laxatives and various supplement products, and taking at least one strong black coffee enema each day. Products for this program cost $60, while those for maintenace after the seventh day cost about $100/month.

• Bernard Jensen, D.C. , is a leading proponent of iridology, a system of diagnosis based upon examination of the eye. He formulated the products and is chairman of the health advisory board of Nova Nutritional Products, Inglewood, California, a multilevel company that calls itself "the ultimate in nutritional science." Nova's products include Stress-Buster, Immune Forte, and Endurance Plus. He also helped found and was board chairman of Vitality International, a Seattle-based multilevel marketing company whose products included a "life extension formula" called New Youth.

• Terence Lemerond is president of Enzymatic Therapy, Inc., of Green Bay, Wisconsin, which sells more than 100 "nutritional formulas" containing vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids and/or glandular tissue intended for the treatment of health problems. Illegal therapeutic claims for many of these products have been made in advertisements, seminars, newsletters, "confidential reports," testimonial messages, and "research bulletins" given to health food retailers for distribution to their customers. A recent "professional price list" distributed to health food stores lists the name and number of 50 formulas, each of which has a corresponding "research report" containing therapeutic claims that cannot be made legally on product labels. In 1986 the company's public relations firm issued a news release claiming that Enzymatic Therapy's Liv-a-tox "helps relieve liver congestion." Company publications state that Lemerond studied nutrition for 20 years and was a nutritional consultant for nine years.

• Andrew R. L. McNaughton has been a central figure in the worldwide promotion of laetrile. In 1977, he was placed on two years' probation after pleading guilty to a criminal charge of conspiracy to facilitate the transportation of smuggled laetrile. He had a prior conviction in Canada for a stock fraud.

• Robert S. Mendelsohn, M.D., was NHF's president from 1981 to 1982. He speaks frequently at their conventions and produces a newsletter and a syndicated newspaper column, both called The People' s Doctor. Although he has taught at several medical schools and been chairman of the Illinois state licensing board, Mendelsohn considers himself a "medical heretic." He opposes water fluoridation, immunization, and licensing of nutritionists. One of this books charges that"Modern Medicine's treatments for disease are seldom effective, and they're often more dangerous than the diseases they're designed to treat"; that "around ninety percent of surgery is a waste of time, energy, money and life"; and that most hospitals are so loosely run that "murder is even a clear and present danger."

  Mendelesohn is also president of the New Medical Foundation, a tax-exempt organization formed in the late 1970s to support "innovative forms of medical education of the public and the medical profession." At a meeting sponsored by this group in 1984, he said:

  Doctors complain that quacks keep patients away from orthodox medicine. I cheer! Since all the treatments, both orthodox and alternative, for cancer, coronary heart disease, hypertension, stroke, and arthritis, are equally unproven, why would a sane person choose treatment that can kill the patient_

  During the past two years, Mendelsohn has appeared in ads by Naturally Vitamin Supplements of Scottsdale, Arizona, advocating daily use of Bio-Strath, a product described as an herb and yeast mixture containing "10 B-vitamins, 19 minerals, 18 amino acids and important active enzymes." (There are only eight Bvitamins.) According to Mendelsohn, Biostrath "can help people who experience daily tiredness, fatigue and difficult concentration...may stimulate the immune system. And may actually help us to assimilate more natural fuel from the foods we eat." These claims are illegal in advertising and labeling. In 1986, the National Nutritional Foods Association gave Mendelsohn its annual Rachel Carson Memorial Award for this "concerns for the protection of the American consumer and health freedoms."

• Betty Lee Morales, who died in 1987, was president of the Cancer Control Society. She published two newsletters, owned a health food store, and was co-owner of Eden Ranch, the company which marketed Betty Lee Morales Signature Brand food supplements. Promotional material from Eden Ranch suggests that Americans who do not use food supplements run a significant risk of developing deficiency diseases. Among its many supplement products are Lipotropic Plus, to relieve "liver stress," and Nia-Flex, to relieve stiff joints.

  During her career, Mrs. Morales also provided "nutritional consultations" by telephone and by mail. In 1976, the Lehigh Valley Committee Against Health Fraud (LVCAHF) tested the quality of her advice after answering an ad in Let's Live magazine for Eden Ranch products. The reply contained a 2-page health questionnaire which LVCAHF returned, indicating that the writer, "age 61," was in good health except that:

  For several years I have had (on and off) pain and swelling in the joints of my fingers and toes. During the past few months, I have had attacks of blurred vision. Sometimes my eyes ache and I see halos around lights at night. Your suggestions would be most welcome.

  The arthritis symptoms, while not specific, were compatible with a diagnosis of gout, a type of arthritis that can sometimes benefit from a special diet. The eye symptoms were taken from a textbook description of glaucoma, a condition that could soon lead to blindness if not medically treated. Mrs. Morales' reply contained a disclaimer that her advice was for:

  public education...and to assist individuals to cooperate with the doctors of their choice in building better health. . .in the event that the information is used without the supervision or approval of a doctor, that is prescribing for yourself, which is your constitutional right, but we assume no responsibility.

  Her "highly personalized nutrition program" consisted of "detoxification" with a special diet and enemas, plus 15 different food supplements that could be purchased from Eden Ranch or a health food store. Based on an enclosed price list, the supplements would cost more than $40 per month. They are of no medically recognized benefit for either arthritis or visual difficulty. Mrs. Morales did not appear to recognize that the writer's symptoms might be serious or require urgent medical attention.

• Roy F. Paxton headed a firm which marketed Millrue through agents, health food stores, and ads in an NHF publication. In addition, Paxton consulted personally with prospective customers, diagnosing them and recommending Millrue for such diseasees as cancer, arthritis and diabetes. In 1958, he and his company were fined a total of $ 1,200 for false and misleading labeling claims for Millrue. When they persisted in selling the product and promoting it through an NHF publication, the FDA again brought prosecution for misbranding. In 1963 the year that Paxton's term as NHF governor expired he and the company were fined a total of $4,000 and he was sentenced to three years in prison.

• Donald F. Pickett is board chairman of Neo-Life Corporation, a multilevel marketing company that sells food supplements.

• James R. Privitera, Jr., M.D., was convicted in 1975 and sentenced to six months in prison for conspiring to prescribe and distribute laetrile. In 1980, after the appeals process ended, he served 55 days in jail. Then, because he had been prescribing unapproved substances (including laetrile, calcium pangamate and DMSO) for the treatment of cancer, the California Board of Medical Quality Assurance suspended his medical license for four months and placed him on 10 years'probation under Board supervision. During the probationary period, Dr. Privitera was "prohibited from making any representation that he is able to cure cancer through nutrition." He was also forbidden to tell a patient he has cancer unless the diagnosis has been confirmed in writing by an appropriate board-certified specialist.

  Privitera has founded two companies which market devices for doing "live cell analysis," a procedure in which blood obtained from a patient's finger is placed under a dark-field microscope to which a television monitor has been attached so that both the practitioner and the patient can examine cells and particles in the blood. Proponents claim that this method can be used to detect "multiple vitamin and mineral deficiencies, toxicity, tendencies toward allergic reaction, excess fat circulation, liver weakness and arteriosclerosis." However, the test has little or no value in diagnosing such conditions.

• John N. Ritchason, N.D., is author of The Vitamin and Health Encyclopedia (1986) and The Little Herb Encyclopedia (1982), both of which recommend vitamins, minerals and/or herbs for more than 150 health problems. The books state that Ritchason has a Ph.D. from Donsbach University and is a naturopath, iridologist, herbalist, Touch-for-Health Instructor, and Registered Healthologist.

• Maureen Kennedy Salaman, NHF's president since 1982, hosts a radio talk show and has been very active in promoting questinable cancer remedies. In 1977, her husband, Frank, was convicted of conspiracy to smuggle laetrile into the United States. Her 1983 book, Nutrition: The Cancer Answer, claims that "the American Cancer Society advocates treating cancer rather than preventing it."

• Miriam Spaulding is a leading distributor for Neo-Life Corporation.

• Emory Thurston, who died in 1981, was an active promoter of laetrile and displayed pamphlets he edited at a booth at NHF conventions. At a 1973 convention, when approached by an agent of the California Bureau of Food and Drug who said she had cancer of the uterus, Thurston said he could supply her with laetrile. He instructed the agent to contact him at his office at the Institute for Nutritional Research in Hollywood. She did. During his next meeting, Thurston sold laetrile to the agent and advised her not to have surgery. After additional evidence against Thurston was gathered, he was convicted, fined, and placed on probation for two years.

• Paul J. Virgin, who has served as NHF treasurer, was public relations director of the Alta-Dena Dairy, the leading producer of certified raw (unpasteurized) milk. This dairy has been implicated as a source of Salmonella infection in raw milk consumcrs in California.

• Floyd Weston is a former insurance executive who said in an interview in NHF's Public Scrutiny that he had organized a group of businessmen in 1975 "to conduct a worldwide search for the answer to good health." One of his "discoveries" was an "electrodiagnosis" machine based on the theory that there is "an electric wiring system in the body - each organ having a wire that goes to a standard location in the hands and feet." Weston claimed such devices can "verify the exact condition of individual organs throughout the body," "differentiate between acute, chronic or degenerative stages," and "discover these pathologic processes when regular clinical diagnoses cannot detect them." Treatment is then administered with homeopathic remedies, vitamins and/or minerals.

  Articles in the Las Vegas Review-Journal indicate that in 1979 Weston set up Health Management Corporation (HMC), in Las Vegas, Nevada, with subsidiaries to operate a homeopathic clinic (The Nevada Clinic) and to market electrodiagnostic devices and homeopathic remedies. Weston opened The Nevada Clinic in 1980 with F. Fuller Royal, M.D., the leading American practitioner of electrodiagnosis, who later became chairman of Nevada's homeopathic licensing board. But in 1983 they parted company, and in 1984, Royal became sole owner. Homeopathy, Inc., another HMC subsidiary, distributed homeopathic remedies from 1984 through 1986 until the state revoked its corporate charter for failure to pay annual fees. HMC has also marketed remedies through two multilevel companies. In 1986, Weston became president of the U.S. Homeopathic Association after purchasing the rights to its name and logo. He told the Review-Journal reporter that bringing to Nevada therapies not practiced elsewhere in the United States can answer the state's need for economic diversification.

• Sid Williams, D.C., is a prominent chiropractor who founded two chiropractic colleges and has been president of the International Chiropractors Association, the second-largest chiropractic group in the United States. Williams also operates practicebuilding seminars in which chiropractors are taught how to persuade all comers to have monthly spinal examinations. During the late 1970s, ads for the seminars claimed that its top instructors saw 200 to 400 patients daily.

• Jonathan Wright, M.D., is a physician who specializes in "nutritional therapy" and writes articles for health food publications. He is also president of the American Quack Association.

NHF's "Vitamin Bill"

NHF's most notable campaign occurred during the 1970s with a bill to weaken FDA jurisdiction over vitamins. In 1972, after lengthy study, the agency had proposed that food products be labeled so that ingredients, nutrient content and other information would be displayed in a standard format. These provisions became regulations with little controversy and are still in use today. But the FDA proposal also said that labeling could neither state nor imply that a balanced diet of ordinary foods cannot supply adequate amounts of nutrients.

Because this struck at the heart of health food industry propaganda, NHF filed lawsuits and proposed legislation to remove FDA jurisdiction over vitamins. Crying, "Fight for your freedom to take vitamins," NHF organized its members and allies into unprecedented political activity. Article after article urging support of the anti-FDA bill appeared in the NHF Bulletin, in various health food industry magazines, and in chiropractic journals. Letter-writing kits uere distributed by chiropractors, by health food stores and in special NHF mailings. At a Congressional hearing on this issue, several Congressmen reported that they had received more mail about vitamins than about Watergate.

In 1976, as a result of this pressure, Congress passed the Proxmire Amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Though not as restrictive as NHF's proposal, this law prevents the FDA from regulating food supplements unless they are inherently dangerous or are marketed with illegal claims that they can prevent or treat disease.

NHF has also promoted "Medical Freedom of Choice" and "Food are not Drugs" bills. Federal laws now require that all new drugs be proven both safe and effective before they are marketed. NHF's proposed bills, which would remove the efficacy requirement, would open the door to any supposed "remedy" that doesn't kill people on-the-spot.

NHF Promotion of Laetrile

Because laetrile lacks FDA approval, it is illegal to market in interstate commerce. In 1977, a federal court set up an "affidavit" system under which personal supplies of laetrile could be legally imported into the United States by cancer patients certified by a physician as "terminal." The plaintiff in the case was Glen Rutherford, a Kansas seed salesman who believed that laetrile was nceded to keep him alive. Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Rutherford in 1979, the affidavit system was not dismantled until 1987. During the appeals process, Rutherford became an NHF governor, Kirkpatrick Dilling became one of his lawyers, and NHF took care of his attorney fees.

From 1978 to 1982, NHF published Public Scrutiny, a monthly newspaper (later converted to a magazine) whose primary focus was on laetrile and "metabolic therapy." Most of its original staff members were prominent promoters of laetrile, and three of its advisers had been convicted of laetrile-related crimes. Each issue of Public Scrutiny contained a full-page ad from the Laetrile Information Center, a company near the Mexican border which would arrange for legal importation. Mexican clinics and other sellers of laetrile also advertised regularly in Public Scrutiny.

After NHF governor James Privitera, M.D., was charged with a laetrile-related offense, appeals in Public Scrutiny raised more than $5,000 to help defend him; and after he was convicted, NHF generated more than 10,000 form letters asking California governor Jerry Brown to pardon him. NHF also gave $5,000 toward the legal expenses of the parents of Chad Green, a 3-year-old boy with leukemia, and an NHF governor served as a lawyer for the parents.

Chad attracted nationwide attention when his family moved to Mexico to defy a Massachusetts court order that the boy receive proper therapy and stop getting laetrile. The October 1979 issue of Public Scrutiny described how Chad was thriving, how his father was studying for a career as a "nutrition consultant," and how Chad's mother had stopped his chemotherapy without telling the Mexican clinic doctor. A few days after the newspaper was distributed, the boy died. Chad's parents continued to promote laetrile and claim that he died because he "lost the will to live." However, the autopsy showed recurrent leukemia, and cyanide was found in his liver and spleen.

NHF also assisted the parents of Joey Hofbauer, an 8-year-old-boy with Hodgkin's disease, a form of cancer usually curable in its early stages. In 1977, New York State authorities sought custody of Joey because his parents chose laetrile over effective treatment for the boy. With NHF attorney Kirkpatrick Dilling representing the parents, the court ruled that they were "concerned and loving" and "not neglectful" in rejecting orthodox treatment. After 18 months of laetrile and megavitamin treatment from Michael Schachter, M.D. (a New York psychiatrist who occasionally lectures at NHF conventions), Joey was moved to the Bahamas for another type of questionable treatment. He died in 1980 with lungs full of tumors.

A bill to exempt laetrile from FDA jurisdiction was introduced by Public Scrutiny's legislative advisor, physician Congressman Larry McDonald (D-GA). In 1979, a malpractice suit against him by survivors of a patient he treated with laetrile was settled for $30,000. NHF's efforts to exempt laetrile petered out after McDonald was killed in the crash of the Korean plane shot down by the Russians in 1983.

NHF Opposition to Fluoridation

Adjusting community drinking water to about one part fluoride to one million parts of water is a safe, simple and inexpensive way to help prevent tooth decay. Although NHF's leaders claim to be interested in preventing disease by "proper nutrition," they are rigidly opposed to fluoridation.

Over the years, NHF has assembled a great many documents which it claims are "proof" that fluoridation is dangerous (which it is not). Close examination of these documents, however, shows that they contain reports of poorly designed "experiments," twisted accounts of actual events, statements by respected scientists taken out of context to change their meaning, misinterpreted statistics and other forms of faulty reasoning. Given enough publicity, however, these items have convinced many communities that fluoridation is too risky.

In January 1972, NHF granted $16,000 for a fluoridation study to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a group led by former associates of Ralph Nader. To help raise this money, a special mailing to NHF members announced that a clinically controlled test was being conducted by "FRIENDS of indisputable, scientific reputation." The mailing also claimed that the information would arm NHF with "unassailable, uptodate, scientific data to help defeat fluoridation."

When CSPI learned about this message, it protested, stating that the study would be a scientific review of available knowledge and that is outcome was certainly not fixed against fluoridation. NHF apologized, claiming that the fundraiser had been mailed "without being cleared by appropriate officials" and contained "serious errors" about the nature of the study. NHF members were never told of these errors, however. Nor were they informed when the study concluded that "the known benefits of fluoridation far outweigh any risks which may be involved."

In 1974, NHF announced that opposing fluoridation would be its number two priority and that a biochemist named John Yiamouyiannis had been hired to "break the back" of fluoridation. Yiamouyiannis soon began issuing reports based on misinterpreted government statistics, claiming that fluoridation causes cancer. He was joined in this effort by Dean Burk, a retired National Cancer Institute employee who is also a leading promoter of laetrile. In 1978, after Consumer Reports criticized their work severely, Yiamouyiannis filed suit for libel. The suit was dismissed a few months later by a federal court judge. A three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals subsequently upheld the dismissal, commenting that the Consumer Reports article "exemplifies the very highest order of responsible journalism." A further appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was also unsuccessful.

In 1980, Yiamouyiannis left NHF and founded another group whose structure and activities were similar. Although NHF remains opposed to fluoridation, it has had little political involvement since Yiamouyiannis departed.

Health Alternatives Legal Foundation (HALF)

The Health Altematives Legal Foundation, 105 N. Foster St., Dothan, AL 36303, is described in its literature as a "nonprofit public interest law center." It was fommed in 1986 to defend "alternative" health care practitioners and to initiate antitrust litigation challenging medical practice laws.

HALF's newsletter, Alternatives, describes the group's philosophy and reports news (mostly legal troubles) involving promoters of unproven methods. According to the newsletters "Powerful elements of organized allopathic medicine, led by the American Medical Association, have been waging an expensive, well- orchestrated political and economic campaign designed to stifle competition from alternative health care providers. This campaign has been advanced by advocates of the medical establishment who, for financial or philosophical reasons, seek. . . to eliminate the ability of altemativc health care providers to practice in the American marketplace. Maverick doctors, chiropractors, osteopaths, homeopaths, acupuncturists, naturopaths, podiatrists, nutritionists, midwives and eclectic physicians have felt the full brunt of this organized attack."

HALF's brochure states that "alterrnative health care practitioners deserve proper recognition by state legislators, regulation by review boards of their own peers, and reimbursement for services from health insurance companies. Our attorneys defend individual health practitioners against charges of operating outside the scope of standard medical practice."

HALF's executive director is attorney Michael S. Evers, of Dothan, Alabama, whose father, H. Ray Evers, M.D., is discussed previously in this report. Evers also operates Project Cure, which collects funds and distributes publications and form letters. According to Evers, Project Cure has more than 160,000 contributors on its mailing list. So far it has campaigned for "alternative" cancer methods and against food irradiation and nutritionist licensing.

The chaimman of HALF's board of directors is attorney William H. Moore of Savannah, Georgia. In 1984 Moore attempted to intervene in Glen Rutherford's laetrile case with an action designed to stop virtually all interference with "unorthodox" methods, but he withdrew when Rutherford and NHF objected. HALF's 9-person board also includes Evers, Floyd Weston, Catherine Frompovitch (CANAH's president), and Audrey Goldman, executive director of the Association for Cardiovascular Therapies (ACT), a group that promotes chelation therapy.

American Quack Association (AQA)

The American Quack Association, P.O. Box 550, Oviedo, FL 33765, has about 300 members, most of whom are health professionals. Founded in 1985, its main purposes appear to be providing emotional support to its members, poking fun at their critics, and stimulating positive public feelings toward unorthodox practitioners. Noting that "Discrimination, legal investigation, persecution, prosecution, and even imprisonment have variously been the fate of those few physicians and others who have publicly counseled alternative means of health care," AQA's "Articles of Health Freedom" demand that "No law or regulations shall be made prohibiting the right of people to freely assemble for healing of any type." They also oppose "any penalty whatsoever against anyone employing any form of treatment for cancer or any other disease for him or herself or others, except in cases of fraud, deception or the use of force."

AQA's vice president is Roy Kupsinel, M.D., a "holistic" practitioner in Ovieda, Florida. Kupsinel edits and publishes Health Consciousness, a bimonthly magazine which contains articles on cosmic philosophy, conservative causes, and the "persecution" of unorthodox practitioners. It also contains ads for unproven products and services. Its last few pages are printed upside down as the Journal of the American Quack Association, edited by AQA president Jonathan V. Wright, M.D., of Kent, Washington. AQA's logo depicts a stressed but smiling duck flying through the "Q" of AQA. Dues are $6.00 a year. According to Kupsinel:

Quack usually has a negative connotation. My idea is to take something that is negative and turn it into a positive, combining it with a sense of humor. We usually do get a laugh out of it. It stands for Quality (QUA) Care (C) with Kindness (K). so you have the name "Quack" in Quality Care With Kindness, and that's what we physician members of the AQA render. But we also have lay members too."

In a recent issue of Health Consciousness, Kupsinel described how he was expelled from his county and state medical societies during the 1970s. Later he began treating large numbers of patients for hypoglycemia [a condition that scientific practitioners believe is rare]. He also stated that he has suffered from many of the other conditions he claims to treat.

Coalition for Alternatives in Nutrition and Healthcare (CANAH)

The Coalition for Alternatives in Nutrition and Healthcare, P.O. Box B12, Richlandtown, PA 18955, is a nonprofit corporation established in 1984 "to educate the public in nutrition and altemative healthcare...through lobbying, public awareness presentations, and timely presentations." CANAH's founder, president and "legislative advocate" is Catherine J. Frompovitch, Ph.D., who practices "nutritional consultation" in Richlandtown. Her "Ph.D." is from Columbia Pacific University, an unaccredited correspondence school. Before she acquired it, her publications described her has "a practicing natural nutritionist who has a Doctor of Science in Diet and Nutrition [and] a Doctor of Naturopathy." Ms. Frompovitch also operates C.J. Frompovitch Publications, and edits CANAH's Health Rights Advocate, a comprehensive quarterly report on political developments. Advertisements are now being solicited for this publication.

Two years ago CANAH reportedly had 400 members, but no current figure has been publicly released. No officer other than Ms. Frompovitch has been identified in the group's publications, but the 28-person advisory board listed on its letterhead includes Jeffrey Bland, Bruce Halstead, Roy Kupsinel, Robert Mendelsohn, William Moore, Michael Schachter, and:

• Daniel Clark, M.D., a Florida physician whose license was revoked in 1985 for unprofessional practice. Subsequently, he was convicted of practicing medicine without a license and sentenced to 15 years' probation. The conviction has been upheld by a Florida District Court of Appeals, but the sentence has been suspended while further appeals are litigated.

• Richard Crews, M.D., President of Columbia Pacific University.

• Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D., author of Earl Mindell's Vitamin Bible and numerous other publications promoting questionable uses of food supplements. His "Ph.D." is from the University of Beverly Hills, an unaccredited school. He helped found the Great Earth chain of health food stores, which is now the nation's second largest.

• Richard Passwater, Ph.D., author of numerous publications promoting questionable uses of food supplements. His "Ph.D." is from Bernadean University, an unaccredited diploma mill that never had government authorization to issue degrees.

• Carl Pfeiffer, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Princeton Brain Bio Center, Skillman, New Jersey, which offers "nutritional" treatment for "the schizophrenias and biochemical deficiencies associated with aging, alcoholism, allergies, arthritis, autism, epilepsy, hypertension, hypoglycemia, migraine, depression, learning disability, retardation, mental and metabolic disorders, skin problems, and hyperactivity."

• Barbara Reed, Ph.D., a former probation officer who is now devoted to promoting her theory that criminal behavior can be attributed to poor diet and corrected by dietary reform. Her "Ph.D." is from Donsbach University.

• Lendon Smith, M.D., a prominent author and pediatrician who was placed on probation by his state board of medical examiners from 1973 to 1981 for "inappropriate prescribing of drugs" to heroin addicts. In 1987 he surrendered his medical license rather than face charges that he had signed documents authorizing insurance payments for patients he had not seen.

CANAH's activities have included support for an unproven cancer treatment (immunoaugmentative therapy) and opposition to food irradiation, water fluoridation, licensing of nutritionists, and other antiquackery legislation. Regular membership costs $20 per year. News articles and invitations to join have appeared in many health food industry publications. CANAH wants individuals denied access to or insurance coverage for "alternative healthcare" to file antitrust suits and other legal actions to "protect their rights."

CANAH's main goal is enactment of a "Healthcare Rights Amendment that would forbid Congress from restricting "any individual's right to choose and to practice the type of healthcare they shall elect for themselves or their children for the prevention or treatment of any disease, injury, illness or ailment of the body or the mind." A flyer promoting the amendment states:

Vested interest groups, certain individuals and trade associations, the American Medical Association in particular, have launched legal procedures against medical doctors who employ in their practice such modalities as natural nutrition, chelation therapy, vitamin/mineral supplementation and other means commonly referred to as alternative healthcare modalities which may not be in agreement with orthodox medicine. Practitioner and patient alike have been brought up before the bars of justice and peer review with heretofore unknown medical inquisition-like techniques. WE THE PEOPLE believe this is unconstitutional, and we therefore propose this amendment.

CANAH's logo depicts a hummingbird because it has "the freedom of choice and can go from flower to flower to satisfy its needs." The group's brochure quotes the famed philosopher/ethicist John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) as though he would support its aims: "The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental or spiritual. Mankind are great gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest." However, Mill recognized that where "there is a definite damage, or definite risk of damage, either to an individual or to the public, the case is taken out of the province of liberty and placed in that of morality or law."

Under current laws, federal and state governments can set licensing standards for health practitioners, institute public health measures, and outlaw remedies that are dangerous or ineffective. In the Rutherford case cited previously, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "selection of a particular treatment, or at least a medication, is within the area of governmental interest in protecting public health." CANAH's amendment would remove all restrictions:

• Government agencies could no longer remove unproven or dangerous remedies from the marketplace so long as a single consumer objects
• Anyone - licensed or not - could engage in any practice labeled "health care" so long as a single consumer wishes it to continue
• Courts could not protect children from parents who deny them access to effective health care, even if such neglect will result in their death
• Individuals called dangerously psychotic by psychiatrists could not be compelled to undergo treatment if anyone objected
• Compulsory immunization would end
• Community water fluoridation would end if a single person in the community objects.

Promoted in the name of "freedom," CANAH's health care rights amendment would end protection of consumers from quackery and health fraud.

Overview

During the past century scientists have developed rules for determining what methods are effective in preventing and treating disease. At the same time, laws have been developed to protect the public from methods that are ineffective, unproven, or promoted with misinformation.

NHF, HALF, AQA and CANAH are antagonistic to accepted scientific methods as well as current consumer protection laws. Instead of supporting the rules of science and law, they want to destroy them. They want the right to market methods without the responsibility of ensuring that they are effective. In my opinion, the "freedom" they espouse would be nothing more than a hunting license for quacks.

Despite their shortcomings, these groups comprise a significant political force. They are well organized and are working hard. They have friends in Congress and can generate large letterwriting campaigns which create the illusion that they represent a large constituency. They have won some significant court and legislative battles. They intend to win more.

APPENDIX : Glossary of Questionable Methods

Acupuncture: A system of treatment which purports to balance the body's "life force" by inserting needles into or beneath the skin at one more points where imaginary horizontal and vertical lines meet on the surface of the body. These points are said to represent various internal organs. Although acupuncture can sometimes relieve pain, there is no evidence that it can influence the course of any organic disease.

Autointoxication: The theory (still promoted by Victor Earl Irons) that, as a result of intestinal stasis, intestinal contents putrefy, toxins are formed and absorbed, which causes chronic poisoning of the body. This theory was popular around the turn of the century but was abandoned by the scientific community during the 1930s. No such "toxins" have ever been found, and careful observations have shown that individuals in good health can vary greatly in bowel habits.

Chelation therapy: The administration of a manmade amino acid called EDTA into the veins. Proponents claim this can restore atherosclerotic arteries to normal by removing calcium deposits or other mechanisms. In a recent review of available literature, the American Heart Association found no scientific evidence to demonstrate any benefit from chelation therapy.

Chiropractic: A system of health care based on the theory that most diseases are the result of "nerve interference" caused by spinal misalignments correctable by spinal manipulation. Although chiropractors are sometimes helpful, many of them encourage everyone they see to have their spines adjusted frequently for "preventive maintenance."

Clinical ecology: Treatment based on the theory that multiple symptoms are triggered by hypersensitivity to common foods and chemicals. The American Academy of Allergy and Immunology regards its concepts as speculative and unproven.

Colonic irrigation: A "high colonic" enema performed by passing a rubber tube into the rectum for a distance of up to 20 or 30 inches. Warm water is pumped in and out through the tube, a few pints at a time, typically using 20 or more gallons. Some practitioners add herbs, coffee or other substances to the water. Fatal infections have been transmitted with contaminated equipment.

Cytotoxic testing: A test in which "allergy" is diagnosed by examining a patient's white blood cells under a microscope to see how they react to dried food extracts. This method is not reliable.

Electrodiagnosis: Use of a device that supposedly determines the condition of internal organs by measuring their "electromagnetic energy balance." One such device is the Accupath 1000, a computerized galvanometer used to help select and prepare homeopathic remedies. To use the device, the doctor probes "acupuncture points" on the patient's hands and feet and interprets numbers on a computer screen.

"Holistic" Approach: A slogan used mainly by unscientific practitioners. Orthodox practitioners regard holistic medicine as treatment of the "whole person," with due attention to emotional factors as well as the person's lifestyle. But most practitioners who call themselves "holistic" use unscientific methods of diagnosis and treatment.

Homeopathy: A system of treatment based on the idea that the symptoms of disease can be cured by infinitesimal amounts of substances that can produce similar symptoms in healthy people. According to homeopathic theory, the more dilute the remedy the more powerful therapeutic effect.

Iridology: A system of diagnosis based on the idea that each area of the body is represented by a corresponding area in the iris (pupil) of the eye. Practitioners claim to diagnose imbalances that can be treated with vitamins, minerals, herbs and similar products.

Laetrile: The trade name for amygdalen, a cyanide-containing compound abundant in the pits of apricots and various other plants. At various times, promoters have claimed it could cure, control, and/or relieve the discomfort of cancer. However, a clinical test on 178 cancer patients at the Mayo Clinic and three other cancer centers found that not one was cured, stabilized, or relieved of any cancer-related symptoms.

Naturopathy: A system of treatment based on the belief that the cause of disease is based on violation of nature's laws. Naturopaths believe that diseases are the body's effort to purify itself, and that cures result from increasing the patient's vital force by ridding the body of toxins. Naturopathic treatments can include "natural food" diets, vitamins, herbs, tissue minerals, cell salts, manipulation, massage, exercise, diathermy, colonic enemas, acupuncture, and homeopathy. Like chiropractors, many naturopaths believe that virtually all diseases are within the scope of their practice.

Questionable method: A method or product with one or more of the following characteristics: 1) its rationale or underlying theory is contradicted by accepted scientific beliefs; 2) it has not been demonstrated effective by well designed Studies; 3) its use involves fraud or deception; or 4) it is being marketed illegally. Dietary supplements claimed to be effective against disease (except deficiency disease) may not be marketed in interstate commerce unless they are generally recognized by experts as safe and effective for their intended use. Intended use can be determined by statements in labeling, advertising, or other communication to prospective buyers.

Raw milk: Milk in its natural state. Public health authorities advocate pasteurization to destroy any disease producing bacteria that may be present. In 1987, in response to a court order, the FDA ordered that milk and milk products in final package form for human consumption in interstate commerce be pasteurized. The sale of raw milk has been banned in 27 states, but is still permitted within the rest, including California, where the largest supplier is located.