I recently flew to Houston to have a first-hand look at what this persecution is doing to the Burzynski Research Institute. I met with Dr. and Mrs. Burzynski, with patients, and with his attorney, Rick Jaffe. What I saw left me frightened.
You cannot help but be inspired by Dr. B. He is like that indomitable bird, the storm petrel. It soars above the waves, deriving an inexhaustible source of energy from the turbulence it finds beneath its wings.So Burzynski goes on, day by day, treating his patients, trying to do some good in the face of his implacable enemies—cancer and some agencies of the federal government.
I have always enjoyed talking science with Dr. Burzynski. Now it is a bittersweet experience. We discuss the relationship of ras oncogenes and methylation. Yet there is a sadness: all these potential breakthroughs will be moot if Dr. B. winds up in an orange jumpsuit. Not much biomedical science gets done in prison.
I came away from Houston in a state of muted alarm. I believe the situation is much worse than most of us imagined. We have naively assumed that someone (A reporter? A Congressman? The President?) would expose, and thereby put an end to, this outrage. But there are people in the FDA and the Houston US Attorney's office who are dead set on putting Burzynski away for a good long time. The judge seems hostile and eagerly subscribes to the government's flimsy arguments.So forget the Hippocratic oath, the Helsinki Declaration or freedom of choice. And never mind whether Dr. B. has really helped people! This is what the war on cancer really comes down to—a war by our government on the most promising non-toxic treatments.
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Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D. is the author of eight books and three documentaries on cancer-related topics. He is an advisor on alternative cancer treatments to the National Institutes of Health, Columbia University, and the University of Texas. He researches and writes individualized "Healing Choices" reports for people with cancer. For information on Healing Choices, you can contact coordinator Anne Beattie @ 144 St. John's Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217; Phone 718-636-4433; Fax 718-636-0186.