CONFRONTATION AT OAM MEETING

From The Cancer Chronicles #17
© Sept. 1993 by Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

An otherwise productive OAM [ad hoc] advisory board meeting on 7/14 and 7/15 [1993] was marred by several ugly confrontations. For example, when OAM advisor Richard Bloch [co-founder of H&R Block] complained that he saw little progress, Director Joe Jacobs punctuated his answer by banging on the table.

On the following day, in a discussion of whether or not advisors could publicize their affiliations with the office--Jacobs said no--he told a dissenting Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D., "you can call yourself any goddamn thing you want." Moss told Jacobs not to yell and certainly not to curse at him. He then went on to ascribe many of the problems of the office to Jacobs's unpredictable personality. Jacobs quickly apologized.

In the afternoon, Dr. Michael Friedman [who is now acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, ed.] and Ms. Mary McCabe of NCI were closely questioned by Frank Wiewel, Berkley Bedell, and others about what happened to the $1 million in OAM money that was given to NCI to investigate antineoplastons and other unconventional therapies. Wiewel and other advisors expressed great dissatisfaction with NCI's answers and felt that that only Sen. Harkin would be able to get a full accounting of NCI's conduct in this matter. Harkin has spoken of holding hearings on this issue in the fall.

Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D. is the author of many books and documentaries on cancer-related topics. He has been an advisor on alternative cancer treatments to the National Institutes of Health, Columbia University, and the University of Texas. He researches and writes The Moss Reports on cancer. For information, please contact coordinator Anne Beattie @ 144 St. John's Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217; Phone 718-636-4433; Fax 718-636-0186.


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