Citizen Sane Winners

These letters were published in the March 25, 2004, edition of the Syracuse Post-Standard newspaper and swept CSICOP's 2004 Citizen Sane Awards. Eva Briggs's letter was the winner, and Janet Factor's and Lisa Goodlin's letter was the runner-up.

Sad to see doctor promoting false hope

To the Editor:

I found the article about Joseph Gold March 15 one-sided and exceptionally poorly researched. Dr. Gold has been claiming for 30 years that the big, bad medical establishment is suppressing an inexpensive miracle cure for cancer. But hydrazine sulfate is not a wonder drug, and there is no conspiracy. The entire story is long and complex, but I will attempt to summarize the key points.

In the early 1970s, Dr. Gold did some research on the effects of HS on tumors in rats. He reported results suggesting a possible inhibition of tumor cells. These preliminary findings led him to conduct a study of the effect of HS in 84 terminal cancer patients. He reported beneficial effects, but it was a poorly designed study with a number of scientific flaws.

Those preliminary results led other researchers to conduct further, better-designed studies of hydrazine sulfate. These studies, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, failed to demonstrate any benefit in patient survival, weight loss or quality of life.

Supporters of HS claimed the NCI studies were flawed and demanded an investigation. At the request of Congress, the General Accounting Office undertook an investigation matter and concluded the NCI studies were not flawed, and that indeed HS does not have any proven anti-cancer effects.

The sad part of this story is not that the spirits of Joseph Gold are dampened when he thinks about children who are deprived of a worthless, possibly dangerous drug. It is that even years after HS has been demonstrated to be useless, Joseph Gold persists in promoting a worthless treatment and offering false hope to the desperate.

Equally sad is that you printed a poorly researched article and failed to investigate even the most basic facts. I'd like to see an interview with at least a local bona fide oncologist, given the fact that Syracuse is home to an academic medical center, University Hospital. Or you could have made at least the minimal effort required to speak to experts who have published articles debunking Gold's theories.

It's unfortunate that this sort of health misinformation has taken on a life of its own. The myth of an inexpensive, miracle cure for cancer is just that--a myth.

Eva F. Briggs, M.D.
Marcellus, New York

Cancer cure? Don't bet on it
Medical practioners bear great responsibility

To the Editor:

We read with interest Monday’s report on Dr. Joseph Gold and his advocacy of hydrazine sulfate as a treatment for cancer (March 15, 2004, Health Notes by Amber Smith, CNY Doctor Fights Cancer Establishment). While the inclusion of the American Cancer Society's three questions for evaluating cancer treatments was helpful, having Dr. Gold provide the answers was not. Anyone can say their treatment is effective and that findings confirming their claim have been published in peer-reviewed journals. But is it accurate?

Before many studies had been done, there was cause to think hydrazine sulfate might be effective against cancer. Reputable doctors and scientists studied the issue, first in animals and then in people. Unfortunately, it didn't pan out. This is often true for anti-cancer compounds that seem promising in theory, but don't work in fact. Cancer is a very complicated disease.

On Dr. Stephen Barrett’s Web site on alternative medical practices, there is a section on alternative therapies for cancer including an article on hydrazine sulfate. This article, with extensive footnotes, explains how it acts and what the studies have shown.

An excerpt from the article is instructive:
"In June 1994, three papers [published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and the European Journal of Surgical Oncology] described the effects of adding HS [hydrazine sulfate] to the chemotherapeutic regimens of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer and leukemia, advanced colorectal cancer, and with newly diagnosed non-small-cell lung cancer. All three placebo-controlled double-blinded clinical trials yielded results leading authors to conclude: 'This study demonstrates that there is no benefit from the addition of HS to an effective cytotoxic regimen.'"

While Dr. Gold can cite numerous studies of hydrazine sulfate, evaluating these studies is something most people cannot do. So, although it is true that studies of hydrazine sulfate have been conducted, and the results have been published in peer-reviewed journals, the evaluation of these studies shows that hydrazine sulfate is not an effective cancer treatment.

Stories about near-miraculous cures for cancer are moving, and to those who are desperate to believe, convincing. However, the great vulnerability of cancer patients and their families only imposes a greater ethical burden on medical practitioners to be certain of their facts. Those who are challenged by the overwhelming and frightening possibility of death must be able to trust their doctors to be honest about what they are facing and to tell them what their choices truly are.

Cancer patients seeking comprehensive and reliable information may wish to visit the National Cancer Institute website at <http://www.nci.nih.gov/cancerinfo>.

Lisa Goodlin, Syracuse
Janet Factor, Ithaca

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