In a major loss to the cancer world, Virginia C. Livingston, MD, died on
June 30. The 84-year-old physician was on a European tour with her daughter
when she fell ill. She had just attended her 60th reunion of Vassar College
and had departed for Europe on the Concorde on June 11. In the Greek Islands
she developed chest pains and succumbed to heart failure before she could
be moved to a Paris hospital for further treatment.
Born in Meadville, Pennsylvania, Livingston received her MD degree in
1936 from Bellevue Medical School in New York, where she specialized in
internal medicine. Her father and grandfather were physicians and her
own medical career spanned 54 years. Livingston made major discoveries
in cancer and immunology. She was a longtime advocate of the bacterial
theory of cancer and discovered a microbe, Progenitor cryptocides, which
she held responsible for most cancer in animals and humans. A woman of
indomitable courage, she held to her belief that cell wall deficient bacteria
were capable of inducing cancer and that immunity to these bacteria protected
organisms from certain forms of cancer. The evidence for this view was
recently reviewed by Professor P.B. Macomber in "Medical Hypotheses" (1990;32:
19).
In 1974 "Dr. Virginia," as she was affectionately known, startled the
scientific world when she claimed this bacteria could produce a human
hormone, HCG, in the testtube. To many orthodox scientists this seemed
like further nonsense. But a few years later her contention was confirmed
by orthodox scientists at Princeton Laboratories, Allegheny General Hospital
and Rockefeller University.
Dr. Virginia made many other scientific discoveries and operated the
Livingston Medical Center in San Diego since 1971. She pioneered a vaccine
to counteract the effects of Progenitor cryptocides and employed diet
and other natural means to fight cancer. She also postulated that a natural
food constituent, abscisic acid, had anti-cancer properties.
Last February, Kenneth W. Kizer, California Health Director, issued
ordered her clinic to "cease and desist from prescribing and using autogenous
vaccines in treating patients." Livingston was never contacted by the
authorities before the order was implemented. Nor were there any patient
complaints about the clinic or its treatment. This prosecution of Dr.
Virginia gives a good idea of what the California health department has
in mind when its officials drafted the witch-hunting bill "S.B. 2872"
(see p.1 story).
In March, Dr. Virginia made the trek to Washington and spoke eloquently
at the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) hearing. She received an
ovation for her defiant speech. She could also demonstrate great warmth
and spontaneity. In April we received a late night telephone call from
her, congratulating us on The Cancer Industry,
which contains a chapter on her work.
Virginia Livingston was a great person and a great scientist. Sadly,
she never received the recognition she deserved in her lifetime. The true
scope of her achievements will only become known in years to come.
