Quackery costs sloB—report

Press, 2 June 1984, Page 11

Quackery costs sloB—report

NZPA-Reuter Washington

Fake cancer and arthritis cures and products that promise to make people beautiful or young again are costing Americans more than $lO billion a year, a House of Representatives’ committee was told yesterday. r ‘Some of the quack remedies identified by the committee include ‘moon dust' (sand) sold as a cure for arthritis, cancer cures composed of ground diamonds, and serums containing human urine and fecal

matter,” the House’s ageing committee chairman, Claude Pepper, said at the start of the hearing. “We conservatively estimate that quackery costs this nation more than $lO billion a year,” a committee staff report said. “Phoney cancer cures account for the largest part of that — about $4 billion to $5 billion a year.

“Arthritis cures and various products said to reverse ageing and restore youth account for about $2 billion a year.” The report said

about 30 per cent of health fraud victims were elderly. It said many phoney products were dangerous. Among the items displayed at the hearing were a product said to be a cure for several ailments that turned out to be an enema bag, and another advertised as a cure for ulcers that was a tape recording of music and strange sound effects. “Some of the products reviewed were found to be narcotic and cause addiction,” the report said. “Others could cause nervous

conditions, cirrhosis of the liver, cancer, convulsions, cataracts, hemorrhaging, heart palpitations and insulin shock for diabetics.” Much of the money spent on cancer cures goes to doctors in Mexico who treat patients, many of them with terminal cases, with laetrile or other products banned in the United States. Several victims of those treatments told the committee they had spent thousands of dollars on cures and travel expenses with no results.