EDITORIAL:
WHY THE DELAYS?

 

From The Cancer Chronicles #23
©Sept. 1994 by Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

The Alternative Medicine Program Advisory Council (AMPAC) is getting ready for its Þrst meeting, 8/30 9/1 [1994]. The job of this Board is to oversee the activities of the OfÞce of Alternative Medicine. It must confront serious questions about the performance of OAM.

It is now over two years since OAM began. Yet to date, no evaluation of an alternative treatment has been completed. Evaluations of antineoplastons, shark cartilage, the Revici method, and bee pollen are moving so slowly that it often appears nothing is happening. This is troubling. Congress set up this ofÞce to investigate and validate alternative treatments for cancer and other major diseases. Instead, weve gotten conferences, meetings, and a plan, unapproved by the advisory board, to give away money to so-called "centers of excellence" in academia.

Will all this activity answer the burning questions of our movement, e.g., do the various alternative treatments really work? Delays are very demoralizing to staff and advisors alike. The alternative-using public is growing weary of what it sees as bureaucratic delays.

So, daunting questions confront AMPAC as it holds its long-awaited Þrst meeting:

  • Will the next OAM director be able to forge a better rapport with the alternative community than did his predecessor?
  • Are these proposed >centers of excellence< the best way to conduct alternative research?
  • Is it proper for OAM board members themselves to apply for or receive OAM grants?

    The 18 advisors serve on AMPAC to Þght for the interests of patients. The people want to know the truth about various alternative treatments. AMPAC members should demand serious Þeld trials now, so that the vision we had two years ago can Þnally become a reality.

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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.

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