Texas charges controversial doctor with false ads

[SidDithers]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/08/texas-charges-controversial-doctor-with-making-false-ads/4373163/

Texas medical authorities have filed new charges against a controversial Houston doctor who was the subject of a USA TODAY investigation.

In a complaint filed Dec. 11, the Texas Medical Board said Stanislaw Burzynski marketed his experimental cancer therapies online and in news releases in a way that is "false, misleading and violated federal law."

In a statement Wednesday, the Burzynski Clinic dismissed the charges as "frivolous," arguing that he has a constitutional right to make truthful statements about his research.

The charges are the latest attempt by Texas medical authorities to discipline Burzynski, 70, who has wrangled with the state board since the 1980s over his use of experimental drugs that he claims can cure certain cancers.

According to the National Cancer Institute, Burzynski has no definitive evidence to support his claims about the drugs, called antineoplastons, which are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. According to the NCI, "no randomized, controlled trials showing the effectiveness of antineoplastons have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals."

Burzynski is a medical quack, taking advantage of desperate people and raking in millions of dollars.


Orac's take on the whole thing here:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2014/01/09/its-2014-and-stanislaw-burzynski-has-begun-his-counteroffensive/


Sid

[factsarenotfair]

1. Fabio brought his sister from Italy for cancer treatment at the Burzynski Clinic.

Sadly, it did not help.
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2013/09/16/the-sad-saga-of-fabio-lanzonis-sister-christinas-battle-with-ovarian-cancer-partially-revealed/

[SidDithers]

2. Gorski has been a long-time, dogged critic of Burzynski...

and with good reason. Burzynski is a crank of the highest order.

And Orac is always good.

Sid

[Orsino]

3. The lesson: if you're going to defy federal law and endanger patients in Texas...

...be sure to get elected governor first.

[msanthrope]

4. you scientific materialist you....nt

[SidDithers]

6. Long live the claque!...nt

Sid

[MineralMan]

5. Antineoplastons, eh?

Let's look those up at a leading cancer website, shall we?

http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/pharmacologicalandbiologicaltreatment/antineoplaston-therapy

The OTA report criticized Burzynski's research process and noted that his definitions of advanced cancer and of complete and partial cancer remission were not used in accordance with generally accepted definitions. One example they pointed to was a patient said to have had a complete remission after treatment with antineoplastons. The report concluded that this claim was inappropriate because the cancer had been removed by surgery before the antineoplaston treatment was started.

Fairly well debunked at the link, I'd say.

[SidDithers]

7. Yup, there's no there there...

And Burzynski charges tens of thousands of dollars for treatments.

Sid

[MineralMan]

8. And he's gotten away with it for a very long time, too.

Rooting out the quacks can be very difficult, especially the ones that are actual MDs.

[ProgressSaves]

9. This needs to happen more often. nt

[etherealtruth]

10. If people's very lives were not at stake

I would say: A fool and his money are soon parted.

Peoples lives are at stake with every outright lie ... every anecdotal story.

for God sake ... seek competent treatment ... or seek no treatment (and at least save your money).

[jmowreader]

11. He's on Quackwatch

http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/burzynski1.html