Killing Us Softly Read Online Free Page A

cancer.” Brown believed that his small family court in Saratoga County had witnessed a miracle—a breakthrough that would soon turn cancer therapy on its ear. To Judge Brown, the notion that laetrile and coffee enemas could treat Joey Hofbauer wasn’t a matter of opinion; it was a “Finding of Fact.”
    T here was another force working against Joey Hofbauer in Judge Brown’s courtroom that day—a force far more powerful than clinicians like Michael Schachter or laetrile promoters like Ernest Krebs Jr. or ideologues like Robert Bradford. It was revealed during an exchange between the Hofbauers’ lawyer, Kirkpatrick Dilling, and Victor Herbert, a cancer specialist. Dilling was questioning Herbert about the value of bonemeal.
    D ILLING :Calcium, is that an essential nutrient?
    H ERBERT :Yes.
    D ILLING :Are you familiar with the fact that bonemeal is very high in calcium?
    H ERBERT :I’m familiar with the fact that bonemeal is a dangerous quack remedy because of its lead content and people have died from being given bonemeal instead of calcium properly in milk and milk products.
    D ILLING :Isn’t bonemeal widely available?
    H ERBERT :Certainly is, your organization pushes it.
    Dilling froze. His organization? Herbert had revealed something that wasn’t evident to most in the courtroom that day—exactly who was paying for the Hofbauers’ defense. Recovering, Dilling went on the offensive. “I want to state for the record,” he said, “that I’m proud to represent the National Health Federation and I would appreciate it if the witness would keep his views to himself.”
    The National Health Federation (NHF) is an organization that represents the financial interests of the alternative medicine industry. At the time of Joey’s trial, these therapies had become quite lucrative. Kirkpatrick Dilling was general counsel to the NHF. Against these powerful financial interests, Joey Hofbauer didn’t have a chance.
    Michael Schachter was never held accountable for his treatment of Joey Hofbauer. On the contrary, since Joey’s death Schachter has thrived, directing the Schachter Center for Complementary Medicine, in Suffern, New York. In 2010, a promotional brochure claimed he “has successfully treated thousands of patients using orthomolecular psychiatry, nutritional medicine, chelation therapy for cardiovascular disease, and alternative cancer therapies.”
    J oey Hofbauer’s story, while extreme, contains much of what attracts people to alternative therapies today: a heartfelt distrust of modern medicine (John and Mary Hofbauer didn’t believe the advice of hematologists and oncologists); the notion that large doses of vitamins mean better health (Joey was given massive doses of vitamin A, which was likely to have been to his detriment); the belief that natural products are safer thanconventional therapies (the Hofbauers preferred laetrile, pancreatic enzymes, coffee enemas, and raw liver juice to radiation and chemotherapy); the lure of healers whose charisma masks their lack of expertise (Michael Schachter, a psychiatrist, convinced the Hofbauers he could cure their son, even though he had no expertise treating cancer); the power of celebrity endorsements (Steve McQueen was one of the most popular movie stars of his day); and, perhaps most of all, the unseen influence of a lucrative business (Kirkpatrick Dilling’s NHF, still active today, is one of many lobbying groups that have influenced Congress to offer special protections to the fourteen hundred companies that manufacture alternative remedies in the United States).

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Rediscovering the Past: Mehmet Oz and His Superstars
    Oh, no, my dear; I’m really a very good man, but I’m a very bad Wizard.
    â€”
The Wizard of Oz
    F ew celebrities are more recognizable than Oprah Winfrey. At the height of her syndicated talk show, which attracted more than 40 million viewers a week,