NCAHF Newsletter articles from July 1998

NCAHF Newsletter archives from July 1998

OREGON CHILDREN'S DEATHS FOCUS ATTENTION ON RELIGIOUS IMMUNITY LAWS.
July 1, 1998... Deaths among the children of a small Oregon-based, Followers of Christ (FOC), sect have focused attention on that state's law that protects from prosecution the parents of children who die from medical neglect. The matter brings to attention a...

FAILURE TO DISCLOSE ADVERSE HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF A PRODUCT CONSTITUTES HEALTH FRAUD.
July 1, 1998... by Morse Mehrban, Esq., Copyright, 1998 One usually associates health fraud and quackery with certain representations about the health benefits of a product. However, health fraud encompasses much more than that. For instance, while...

NUTRITION SUPPLEMENTS FOR DOWN SYNDROME.
July 1, 1998... No group of consumers is more susceptible to extravagant claims than the parents of handicapped children. Among the persistent promotions are nutritional supplements containing vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, hormones, or other...

AMERICAN COLLEGE OF RHEUMATOLOGY PUTS OUT A POSITION STATEMENT ON ALT-COMP THERAPIES.
July 1, 1998... The American College of Rheumatology states that it appreciates the current interest in "complementary" and "alternative" therapies and medicine and understands those frustrations and motivations leading to patients' interest in them. The ACR...

FAKE ACUPUNCTURE NEEDLES WILL AID RESEARCH.
July 1, 1998... Needles with blunt tips that move freely inside a copper handle so that the needle appears to have penetrated the skin when it actually has retracted into the handle have been developed at a German university to permit placebo studies of...

MCGWIRE'S USE OF DRUG EMBARRASSES BASEBALL AND HEALTH FOOD INDUSTRY.
July 1, 1998... The revelation that Mark McGwire takes androstenedione, a drug that is alleged to boost testosterone(a) has set off a flap. Organized baseball was embarrassed when the media revealed that androstenedione was banned by the National Football...

SINGLE PHOTOCOPIES OF ARTICLES CITED MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE NCRHI RESOURCE CENTER, 300 E. PINK HILL, INDEPENDENCE, MO 64057.
July 1, 1998... $2 members, $3 nonmembers for each article requested. Payment must accompany orders. Please indicate the newsletter issue in which the requested article(s) appeared.

PLANT ESTROGENS AND MENOPAUSE SYMPTOMS.
July 1, 1998... The North American Menopause Society estimates that 16-20% of women who have gone through natural menopause take hormones to reduce symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness. Side effects include bloating, headaches,...

CHIROPRACTOR JAILED FOR MAKING PARTYGOERS SICK.
July 1, 1998... David Bricker, 30, a California chiropractor was sentenced to three months in prison, three months in a halfway house, and fined $2,000 for illegally distributing tainted liquids that sickened more than 100 partygoers at a 1996 New Year's Eve...

WEIGHT-LOSS SCAMMERS GET RICH BEFORE SHUT-DOWN.
July 1, 1998... Slim America's full-page newspaper ads for Absorbit-ALL, Absorbit-ALL PLUS, and SLIM-Again HCA ran for about a year. A 30-day supply cost $49.95, and a 60-day supply cost $89.95. People were encouraged to order by telephone. The Federal Trade...

USE OF ALT-COMP TREATMENTS BY CANCER PATIENTS.
July 1, 1998... Ernst and Cassileth (Cancer, 1998;83: 777-82) reviewed the literature on the use of nonstandard cancer treatments by cancer patients. They reported on 26 surveys from 13 different countries. The review is useful because it provides a...

"WELLNESS" DOC BARRED FROM TREATING PATIENTS.
July 1, 1998... The Minnesota Board of Medical Practice has barred Dr. Keith Sehnert from treating patients because he failed to live up to a previous disciplinary agreement. Sehnert, 72, had been disciplined in January, 1997 after an audit found that he was...

UNFOUNDED HEALTH SCARES.
July 1, 1998... The American Council on Science & Health (ACSH) reviewed 27 health scares that turned out to be unfounded. The incredible aspect of many of these is that the media still reports on many of those on the list as still valid. Why? The reason is...

ESSIAC, A DIE-HARD.
July 1, 1998... Essiac is an herbal remedy alleged to prevent and treat cancer. Its name is Caisse spelled backwards. Rene Caisse was a Canadian nurse who learned of the Ojibwa Indian herbal mixture from a woman who claimed to have cured herself of breast...

The NCRHI Bulletin Board July/August, 1998.
July 1, 1998... The NCRHI Bulletin Board is sent to NCRHI members and complimentary media NCRHI Newsletter recipients only. It is intended to stimulate and aid in activism against health fraud, misinformation and quackery at the local, state & national levels....