It is hard to think of anything to compare with this: an immigrant scientist, with $20 in his pocket, flees the tyranny of postwar Poland seeking freedom of conscience in the New World. Once here, he rises to a position of some prominence at a major medical center. All the while, he dreams of implementing his new theory and non-toxic treatment for cancer.
But when he attempts to put this theory to the clinical test, treating advanced cancer patients at his own clinic, legal in Texas at the time, he is hampered, harassed, prosecuted, and, yes, persecuted. Malicious individuals go to work on his good name, raising outrageous allegations about his background and character. And as a Þnal insult, government scientists who publicly denigrate his work simultaneously lay claim to his discoveries. Perhaps the major media has Þnally adopted Dr. Burzynski's cause.
Perhaps. But it is also clear that the forces that oppose him will do almost anything to destroy this man and his work. An FDA raid on the very day he appears on national TV may seem suicidal for a beleaguered agency. But desperate people do desperate things to achieve their goals. An indictment of Dr. B. will probably mean the end of his clinic, and a devastating blow to over 200 people currently on his treatment. But it will also be a defeat for millions who will never Þnd out about antineoplastons.
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