HEALTH FRAUDS AND QUACKERY HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON FRAUDS AND MISREPRE- SENTATIONS AFFECTING THE ELDERLY OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING UNITED STATES SENATE EIGHTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION Part 1.-San Francisco, Calif. JANUARY 13, 1964 Printed for the use of the Special Committee on Aging U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 31-135 WASHINGTON: 1964 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington., D.C. 20402 -Price 45 cents SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING GEORGE A. SMATHERS, Florida, Chairman PAT McNAMARA, Michigan EVERETT McKINLEY DIRKSEN, Illinois CLAIR ENGLE, California BARRY GOLDWATER, Arizona HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, JR., New Jersey FRANK CARLSON, Kansas MAURINE B. NEUBERGER, Oregon WINSTON L. PROUTY, Vermont WAYNE MORSE, Oregon KENNETH B. KEATING, New York ALAN BIBLE, Nevada HIRAM L. FONG, Hawaii FRANK CHURCH, Idaho E. L. MECHEM, New Mexico JENNINGS RANDOLPH, West Virginia EDMUND S. MUSKIE, Maine EDWARD V. LONG, Missouri FRANK E. MOSS, Utah EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts RALPH W. YARBOROUGH, Texas J. WiLmamaa NORMAN, Jr., Staff Director JoHIN Guy MILLER, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON FRAUDS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS AFFECTING TEE ELDERLY HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, JR., New Jersey, Chairman MAURINE B. NEUBERGER, Oregon KENNETH B. KEATING, New York WAYNE MORSE, Oregon WINSTON L. PROUTY, Vermont FRANK CHURCH, Idaho HIRAM L. FONG, Hawaii EDMUND S. MUSKIE, Maine E. L. MECHEM, New Mexico EDWARD V. LONG, Missouri EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts RALPH W. YARBOROUGH, Texas WILLIAM E. ORIOL, Professional Staff Member NOTE.-Four hearings on health frauds and quackery were held and they are identified as follows: Part 1-San Francisco, Calif., Jan. 13, 1964. Part 2-Washington, D.C., March 9, 1964. Part 3-Washington, D.C., March 10, 1964. Part 4b Washington, D.C., April 6, 1964. (Eye care.) II CONTENT S CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WITNESSES Page Opening statement of the chairman 1 Hon. Maurine B. Neuberger, U.S. Senator from Oregon- 3 Hon. John F. Shelley, Mayor City of San Francisco- 4 Charles A. James, Assistant Attorney General of California- 4 Dr. Hamlet C. Pulley, Assistant Director, State Department of Public Health - 14 Joseph F. Bottini, Program Supervisor, State Bureau of Food and Drug Inspections - 34 Dr. Kenneth F. Ernst, State Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy Evaluation Unit, California State Department of Public Health -66 Mrs. Tecla Tibbs - _ -------------------------------------- 75 Mrs. Bessie L. Tomlinson - 76 Mr. Harold A. Delp - 77 John W. Miner, Deputy District Attorney, Los Angeles County -79, 161 Thomas C. Schumacher, Chief Deputy Director, Department of Profes- sional and Vocational Standards, California Business and Commerce Agency -85 Dr. Eugene L. Miller, California Medical Association -88 Dr. W. Edward Naugler, Northern California Chapter, Arthritis and Rheumatism Foundation -90 Mrs. Lucelia Moore, MetroDolitan Hearing Center, Los Angeles- 98 Mrs. Virginia Nelson, Better Business Bureau -101 Dr. Cora Miller, immediate past president, Greater Los Angeles Nutrition Council ----------------------------- 103 Dr. George M. Briggs, Chairman, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of California -108 Dr. Harold Cornacchia, chairman, Department of Health Education, San Francisco State College ---------------------------- 113 Mrs. Helen E. Nelson, consumer counsel to Governor Brown, State of California - 117 Mrs. J. P. Bramer -123 McKay McKinnon, Jr., district director, Food and Drug Administration, Clinton R. Miller, National Health Federation -140, 161 Mr. Leaf Champagne -145 Charles Orlando Pratt, attorney, Washington, D.C -146 Harry Stuver -147 Marion Conrad -148 Irene Grosz I----------------------------- --------------- 148 Mrs. Mary I. Leigh ------------------------------------------------ 150 Edwin A. Verner, civil engineer ------------- 151 Marshall T. Patey - ------------------------------------------- 152 Appendix -155 California Hearing Aid Dealers Association, Edward J. White, director on the board -155 STATEMENTS Miller, Dr. Cora, immediate past president, Greater Los Angeles Nutrition Council -107 National Health Federation; Clinton R. Miller -143 Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists, California Chapter, Roy R. zumBrunnen, president -161 Williams, Hon. Harrison A., U.S. Senator from New Jersey -- 2 m IV CONTENTS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Appendix A. Summarization of various laws to protect people from fraud Page and misrepresentation, State of California -10 Bureau of Food and Drug Inspection's report on suppression of quackery 15 Greater Los Angeles Nutrition Council, Inc., leaflet -105 "Our Natural Chemical Liquefier and Discussion of H3 " reprint from "Let's Live"- -------------------------------------------- 3S Ozone, the Breath of Life, reprint of brochure -43 Quack exhibit, Northern California Chapter, Arthritis and Rheumatism Foundation -93 "Radium Radiation," brochure from Health Center -57 Recent Food and Drug Administration actions -133 Resolutions approved by Health Monopoly Congress - 137 Review of Departmental Cancer Advisory Council, 1959 to date -70 U.S. Food and Drug Administration, memorandum with three "consumer memos" under the general title "Your Money and Your Life"-129-133 "William Estep Convicted," reprinted from Texas Bulletin, April 26, 1954 62 MEDICAL QUACKERY AND HEALTH FRAUDS (Part 1) MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 1964 SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ON FRAUDS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS AFFECTING THE ELDERLY OF THE U.S. SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING, San Francisco, Calif. The subcommittee met at 9 a.m. in room 1194, State Building Annex, 350 McAllister Street, San Francisco, Calif., Senator Harrison A. Williams, Jr., chairman. Present: Senator Harrison A. Williams, Jr., and Senator Maurine B. Neuberger. Also present: William E. Oriol, professional staff; John Guy Miller, professional staff of the minority; and Patricia Slinkard, chief clerk. Senator WILLIAMS. I think we will bring this hearing to order and get underway. I would like to say that Senator Neuberger and I are very happy indeed to be in this city of San Francisco, so ably administered by our former colleague, Mayor Shelley, who is with us this morning. We have a long witness list today, and everybody has agreed that they will try to present their material as succinctly as possible. I know I have a statement that I will put into the record rather than read it completely at this time. I will summarize the points made there. The Senate Committee on Aging recognizes that quacks and other promoters have made the elderly the major target for unscrupulous selling campaigns, and quackery is certainly the worst of these. To combat these pitchmen and promoters, we have established this Subcommittee on Frauds and Misrepresentations Affecting the Elderly. The first hearing of this subcommittee is the one here today, and we expect that there will be much to be learned from this hearing. We expect that it will be very useful, because enforcement crackdown by Federal and State agencies have forced quacks to camouflage their operations. Promoters have become more subtle, and thus they are potentially more dangerous. We believe that this hearing will help us gather information on new methods of staying within or just beyond the letter of inadequate law. We also want to hear more about State laws on cancer quackery control and the regulation of fraudulent medical devices. It is quite possible that such legislation could encourage Federal and State cooperation for mutual goals. Our final reason for coming to California is that there is an influx of elderly into the State. We have been told there has been a cor- responding increase in some forms of quackery. We want to hear more about this problem and about the efforts of public agencies and private citizens to overcome this problem. 1 2 HEALTH FRAUDS AND QUACKERY We have divided the hearing roughly into two parts. We will hear about lawv enforcement programs in the morning and educational programs this afternoon. Each witness has been told that he may supplement his statement today and supplement his statement within 2 weeks. This after- noon, we hope at 4 o'clock or so to open the meeting to a general town meeting type of discussion. (The prepared statement of Senator Williams is as follows:) PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR HARRISON A. WILLIAMS Our hearing today continues the work begun last year when the Senate Special Committee on Aging began its inquiry into major frauds and misrepresentations that victimize older Americans. Three full days of preliminary testimony gave us dismaying insight into the special problems facing older consumers today. We learned that men and women near or past retirement age have become the chief target of schemers who see them simply as a new and growing market for exploitation. We learned that pitchmen and promoters of all kinds have made greedy inroads into the pension incomes or savings of many older Americans. Frankly, we were shocked that so many Americans-at a time in life when they can least afford to be cheated or endangered by worthless offerings-apparently do not have sufficient protection or information to be safe from salesmen of frauds, sorrow, and loss. We were most shocked by the information we received about medical quackery and health frauds. Witnesses told us that quackery of all kinds cost all age groups at least $1 billion a year. This was an estimate based on information collected a few years ago. As I learn more about the problem, I become more convinced that this estimate is too low. It seems to