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EDITORIAL: CHEMO NOW?
From The Cancer Chronicles #22
© July 1994 by Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.
"Millions of people no longer automatically believe what the
leaders of the cancer establishment tell them. They are resisting
the introduction of carcinogens into the environment; demanding
alternative forms of therapy; suing companies; signing petitions;
writing, picketing, and protesting."
I wrote those words in The Cancer Industry, first published (as
The Cancer Syndrome) in 1980. These words are even truer
today. There has been an upsurge of activism among prostate,
kidney, and breast cancer patients, unimaginable 15 years ago.
Last year, breast cancer activists marched on Washington,
delivering a petition with 2.6 million signatures. They demanded
more research money for breast cancer, and received the support
of, among others, Sen. Tom Harkin, who himself lost two sisters
to the disease.
What do these patients really want? I find that they are looking
for radically new treatments and prevention strategies, which
utilize the body's own natural healing abilities. Some exciting
examples are given in The Cancer Chronicles.
However, there are also people who are trying to bend this
movement to their own ends. These are the drug industry
boosters, chanting "Chemo Now!" from the sidelines. They hope
to harness the justifiable anger of women, and of all cancer
patients, to get increased funding for the toxic drug agenda.
Their watchwords are tamoxifen, taxol, and bone marrow
transplantation. But these "new" treatments are basically old
hat. They are often ineffective and cause suffering for
many patients. They also diminish chances of success when
patients attempt to use natural, immune-based approaches.
Patient activists should be discriminating about what they
support. Non-toxic approaches are safer and more promising.
Coordinator Anne Beattie
@ 144 St. John's Place,
Brooklyn, NY 11217;
Phone 718-636-4433
Fax 718-636-0186