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Nutrition Cultism and 1974, All at Columbia University , 111111111111111D8517823551111111 111111111 Victor Herbert, M.D., J.D. LAETRILE (B-17) ... gives 16 tips on how PANGAMIC ACID (B-15) to spot food quacks; how to evaluate what is MEGAVITAMIN THERAPY nutrition; what is a DIETS & VITAMINS vitamin; what is a proper diet; nutritional anemias; the organic food fallacy; and legal recourses for victims of nutrition fraud! Do you believe Adelle Davis' suggestions that if you follow her nutrition advice, you won't get cancer? Did you know that Adelle Davis died of cancer? Do you believe that "more is better" for vita­ mins? Do you know that large doses of almost any vi­ tamin can be harmful? Do you believe laetrile-promoting Georgia Con­ gressman Larry McDonald successfully defended the laetrile malpractice suit brought against him? Did you know his lawyers paid the widow $30,000 to forbear from pursuing the suit, as stated in the article "McDonald Pays, Widow Drops Case" in the June 20, 1979 Atlanta Constitution? Do you believe that eating enzymes or taking them by enema or by injection helps fight cancer? Do you know that the enzymes we eat are de­ stroyed by acid and enzymes in our stomach and intestine, and therefore are worthless against any cancer; that rectally given enzymes can do no good and only harm, and that injected enzymes can pro­ duce fatal anaphylaxis (allergic reaction)? Marilynne Herbert photo Do you believe that "vitamin B15" (pangamic acid; pangamate) is the "miracle vitamin?" Victor Herbert, M.D. , J .D., is Chief of the Did you know that "B 15 " and "pangamate" are Hematology and Nutrition Laboratory, Bronx VA trade-names created by the same twice-convicted Medical Center and Professor of Medicine at State criminal who created the multi-billion-dollar laetrile Universit of New York Downstate Medical industry , and that the allegations of nutritional Center. value are at best deceptive and misleading and at A native of New York, Dr. Herbert, after serving worst downright fraudulent? in World War II as a paratrooper, received his B.S. in chemistry in 1948, M.D. in 1952, and J.D. in To protect yourself against nutrition cultism and 1974, all at Columbia University. He has taught quackery, you should realize that what is true about at four major medical schools. nutrition is not sensational and what is sensational A member of numerous scientific societies, he isn't true. Nutrition is a science and not black has published over 400 papers. He received the magic. 1972 McColl um Award of the American Society for The overlap of cultism and quackery, the allure Clinical Nutrition in recognition of his outstanding of quackery, and the playing off of specious logic research in nutrition. He has testified several times against the logic of science are discussed in this before Congress on health and nutrition subjects, is book, as is the worthlessness of anecdotal and testi­ Chairman of the Committee on Life Sciences of the monial claims. American Bar Association , and has served as medical-legal expert for the U.S. Government and several State governments. President of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, he is the only person in the world listed in both World Who's ' Who in Science and Who's Who in American Law. Jacket Design by Alber Associates NUTRITION CULTISM FACTS AND FICTIONS To those I cherish; that they may not fall victim to the gurus, the hucksters, or the arrogance qt ignorance. NUTRITION CULTISM FACTS AND FICTIONS VICTOR HERBERT,M.D., J.D. Chief, Hematology and Nutrition Laboratory, Bronx VA Medical Center; Professor of Medicine, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center. GEORGE F. STICKLEY COMPANY 210 W. WASHINGTON SQUARE PHILADELPHIA, PA 19106 Permission has been granted by the publishers to reprint the following articles by Vic­ tor Herbert, M.D., J.D.: Laetrile: The Cult of Cyanide. American Journal of Clinical Nutri­ tion, Vol. 32, May, 1979. (Copyright by the American Society for Clinical Nutrition.); The Health Hustlers. In The Health Robbers (S. Barrett and G. Knight, Eds.) Philadelphia, George F. Stickley Co., 1980; The Nutritionally and Metabolically Destructive "Nutri­ tional and Metabolic Antineoplastic Diet" of Laetrile Proponents. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Vol 32, Jan., 1979; Letters to the Editor: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Vol. 33, Jan., 1980; Pangamic Acid ("Vitamin B-15"). American Journal of Clin­ ical Nutrition Vol. 32, July, 1979; The Rationale of Massive-dose Vitamin Therapy: Mega­ vitamin Therapy (Hot Fictions vs. Cold Facts). In Proceedings, Western Hemisphere Nutrition Congress IV. (P.L. White and N. Selvey, Eds.) Acton, Mass., Publishing Ser­ vices Group, Inc., 1975; Facts and Fictions About Megavitamin Therapy. Resident and Staff Physician, Dec., 1978; The Vitamin Craze. A.M.A. Archives of Internal Medicine Vol. 140, Feb., 1980; Vitamin. In The World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago, World Book-Child­ craft International, Inc., 1980; Water Soluble Vitamins. Nutritional Assessment: Present Status, Future Directions and Prospects. (Report of Second Ross Conference on Medi­ cal Research, Sept., 1979.); Nutritional Anemias. In Nutritional Disorders of American Women (M. Winick, Ed.) New York, John Wiley and Sons, 1977; AMA Concepts of Nutri­ tion and Health. Journal of the American Medical Association Vol. 242, Nov. 23, 1979; Toward Healthful Diets. Report of the Food and Nutrition Board, National Research Council. Washington, D.C., National Academy of Sciences, 1980; Acquiring New Infor­ mation While Retaining Old Ethics. Vol. 198, Nov. 18, 1977. (Copyright 1977 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.); Medical, Legal and Ethical Considerations in the Use of Drugs Having Undesirable Side Effects. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Vol. 28, May, 1975. COPYRIGHT@ 1980-1981 byVictorHerbert, M.D.,J.D. Fifth Printing, September 1983 Library of Congress Catalog Card :fl:80 51835 ISBN-0-89313-020-6 All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the author. CONTENTS FOREWORD 1 Stephen Barrett, M.D. INTRODUCTION 5 Victor Herbert, M.D., J.D. PART I. NUTRITION CULTISM 15 LAETRILE: THE CULT OF CYANIDE-PROMOTING POISON FOR PROFIT Chemistry 15 The laetrile cult and the billion dollar laetrile industry 19 Cyanide poisoning from laetrile and apricot kernels 23 Laboratory diagnosis of poisoning 28 Clinical signs of poisoning 29 Factors affecting toxicity 32 Worthlessness of anecdotal and testimonial claims 33 The placebo effect 35 Laetrile is a fake "cancer cure" 38 The specious "freedom of choice" and "terminal cancer" arguments 41 Laetriles may cause cancer 42 Nutrition quackery as murder 43 The Allure of Quackery: Specious Logic vs. the Logic of Science; The Overlap of Cultism and Quackery 43 Agencies for complaints against quackery 47 Conclusion 49 Epilog 51 The Chad Green Case: Cyanide poisoning from laetrile and vitamin A poisoning from emulsified vitamin A 52 Laetrile industry promoters: The National Health Federation, the Committee for Freedom of Choice, and the "metabolic doctors" 55 Lethal effects of cult propaganda 59 THE HEALTH HUSTLERS 75 The "Basic Four" of Good Nutrition 75 The Health Hustlers are usually charlatans and quacks 78 Recognizing the Quack-Sixteen Tips 79 The Weakness of the Law 88 Recommended Reading 91 THE DESTRUCTIVEVEGETARIAN "NUTRITIONAL AND METABOLIC ANTINEOPLASTIC DIET" OF LAETRILE PROPONENTS 93 A Defense of "Metabolic" Cancer Diets 99 The Holes in the Defense of "Metabolic" Diets 102 PANGAMICACID ("Vitamin B-15") 107 CAN 8 15 (PANGAMATE)CAUSE CANCER.? 119 THE RATIONALE OF MASSIVE-DOSEVITAMIN THERAPY (Megavitamin Therapy: Hot Fictions vs. Cold Facts) 121 When is massive-dose vitamin therapy rational? 121 Dangers of massive-dosevitamin therapy 123 FACTS AND FICTIONS ABOUT MEGAVITAMIN THERAPY 129 THE VITAMIN CRAZE 141 PART II. ETHICAL MEDICINE Acquiring New Information While Retaining Old Ethics 151 Medical, Legal and Ethical Considerations in the Use of Drugs having Undesirable Side Effects 161 Fat, Cholesterol and Free Scientific Inquiry 170 ., PART Ill. NUTRITION FACTS WHAT IS A VITAMIN? 171 Recommended dietary allowances for vitamins 174 IN DEFENSE OF THE CHOLESTEROL REPORT 177 WATER SOLUBLE VITAMINS: DIAGNOSING DEFICIENCIES 179 SUMMARY OF "NUTRITIONAL ANEMIAS" 188 NUTRITIONAL ANEMIAS 189 AMA CONCEPTS OF NUTRITION AND HEALTH 199 FOOD, NUTRITION AND A DEFAMATORY ATTACK ON SCIENTISTS 206 TOWARD HEALTHFUL DIETS-NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 207 Membersof Food and Nutrition Board 207 Introduction 208 Quest for guidelines toward healthful diets 209 Obesity 211 Cardiovascular disease 213 Hypertension 216 Cancer 218 Diabetes mellitus 219 Decision-making in public health 220 COMMENTARY ON "TOWARD HEALTHFUL DIETS": MARK HEGSTED 224 INDEX 226 Foreword The modem food quack is a supersalesman. He plays on your fears. He caters to your hopes. And once he has you, he keeps you coming back for more ... and more ... and more. Seldom do his victims realize how often or how skillfully they are being cheated. Does the mother who feels good as she hands her child a vitamin think to ask herself whether he really needs it? Does the buyer of "organic" foods pause to ask whether they are actually better than-or even different from-conventional foods? Do subscribers to health food publications realize that articles are often slanted to stimulate business for their advertisers? Not usually. Most people think that quackery is easy to spot. But it isn't. The modem quack wears a cloak of science. He talks in "scientific" terms. He writes with scientific references. And he is introduced on talk shows as the "scientist ahead of his time." The very word "quack" helps his camouflage by making us think of an outlandish character selling snake oil from the back of a cov­ ered wagon-and of course no intelligent person would buy snake oil nowa­ days, would he? Well, maybe snake oil isn't selling so well lately. But vitamin pills? "Or­ ganic" foods? The latest diet book? Bee pollen? Tonics? Or a B-12 shot to pep you up? Business is booming for the food quack.
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