[INTERESTING IN THE LIGHT OF WHAT WAS TO COME--ED]
Antineoplastons are naturally occurring peptides (small proteins) found in human blood and urine. Burzynski has used them to treat cancer since 1977. In March, 1983 the FDA filed a lawsuit against him, alleging interstate shipment of medicine. But U.S. District Court Judge McDonald ruled that Federal law did not prohibit Burzynski from treating patients with antineoplastons within Texas altough he could not ship them across state lines.
This was a setback for the FDA; soon another government agency, the US Attorneys office, began a Grand Jury investigation. After some early activity this investigation died down.
"In the meantime," says Trombetta, "in 1986, one of Dr. Burzynski's patients sued their insurance company, Aetna, for payment of treatment. Dr. Burzynski joined the suit and was then countersued by Aetna and charged with racketeering."
On April 6 of this year Dr. B's lawyer moved to have Aetna's RICO case dismissed. It was at this point that the Grand Jury investigation suddenly became active again. "We have reason to suspect that Aetna has conspired with the government in the current action against Dr. Burzynski," Trombetta said.
In June, Burzynski's attorneys, Abady & Jaffe, fought back with a racketeering charge against Aetna, and "quackbuster" Grace Powers Monaco, who has served as Aetna's consultant on their suit. They are hoping that others who have been denied payments by the giant company will join the suit.
The same US Attorney, Henry Oncken, who brought the case against Dr. B. was himself recently forced to resign because of his role in the growing savings and loan (S & L) scandal. Eleven Houston attorneys sent a letter to Sen. Phil Gramm complaining that Oncken was soft on big-time criminals. "There seems so little being done to punish these mega-buck bandits," they wrote. But his office made sure to subpoena Dr. B. the day before Oncken was forced out.
This trouble comes as Burzynski's scientific star is rising. The International Journal of Tissue Reactions published a special supplement on "Antineoplastons: Tissue Culture and Chemoprevention Studies". This peer-reviewed journal has an editorial board with respected scientists from over a dozen countries. The editor, A. Bertelli of Milan, has himself studied antineoplaston A10. He observed "significant growth inhibition" on a human colon adenocarcinoma cell line with no major side effects at all but the highest concentrations.
There is now intense interest in antineoplastons in Japan, China, Italy, Poland, and other countries. Dr. B. was recently featured in a highly favorable article in Oncology News, sponsored by Adria Laboratories.
In May a Houston federal judge ordered Trans–america Occidental Life Insurance Co. to pay medical bills for a patient who received antineoplastons. The patient benefited from the treatment, according to her attorney, but died when she "stopped the treatment after she and her husband sold their house to pay medical bills." The judge ruled that her bills were covered because "they involved medical services made by a licensed physician."
The establishment is not trying to put Dr. B. out of business for being a charlatan, but precisely because he is one of the most respected doctors in the alternative field. He is the one who publishes most regularly in the peer-reviewed literature and doggedly fights for FDA approval. This shows that the quackbusters demand for peer-reviewed studies is a "red herring": when you do publish, they go after you with double force....
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