New Film “Second Opinion” Exposes
the Truth About a 40-Year Long Cover-Up of Laetrile Cancer Treatment
October 18, 2014
Story
at-a-glance
A new documentary chronicles how a major cancer
research center covered up positive studies about
Laetrile in the 1970s, as told by insider Ralph Moss
New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
brushed positive Laetrile studies under the rug,
bowing to politics and conflicts of interest
Laetrile, banned in the US since 1963, is made from
amygdalin, a natural compound derived from the seeds
of many fruits such as apricot pits
Sloan Kettering’s highly respected cancer scientist
Kanematsu Sugiura found that Laetrile significantly
reduced the spread of lung cancer in mice
Contemporary Laetrile studies support Dr.
Kanematsu’s findings, but Sloan Kettering still
refuses to acknowledge the truth about the cover-up
By Dr. Mercola
If you are old enough, you might recall a controversy in the
early 1970s regarding the compound Laetrile, purported to
prevent the spread of
cancer. New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
was ground zero in that firestorm.
In the early 1970s, America’s
war on cancer was in full force, and Sloan Kettering was
regarded as one of the world’s leading cancer research centers.
But Sloan Kettering’s Board of Directors swept positive
findings about Laetrile under the rug when it became
unprofitable and publicly unpopular for them to support it.
Their Laetrile research was done under their own roof by one
of the world’s most respected cancer researchers of the day—Dr.
Kanematsu Sugiura. One person—and only one—has come forward with
the truth about what turned out to be one of the most
reprehensible cover-ups in the history of cancer research.
In 1974, young science writer Ralph Moss had just netted his
first big-time job in Sloan Kettering’s public relations
department, but he soon found himself smack dab in the middle of
the Laetrile fiasco.
In July 1977, Moss was no longer willing to lie on behalf of
his employer, so he exposed the truth about Sloan Kettering’s
conduct at a highly publicized press conference. The next
business day he was fired and swiftly escorted to the door by
armed guards.
This story is personally recounted in a new documentary
Second Opinion: Laetrile at Sloan Kettering,1,
2 in which Moss reveals the full extent of the
Laetrile cover-up, in its entirety, as an insider. He’s also
written a book about it, called Doctored Results.
Eric Merola is an award winning documentarian whose prior
work includes
Burzynski: The Movie and
Burzynski—Cancer is Serious Business, Part II. The
experience was life changing for Ralph Moss, who has since
devoted his career to independently evaluating the claims of
conventional and nonconventional cancer treatments.
The fact that mainstream media has embraced this documentary
with positive reviews is rather astonishing, and perhaps a sign
of changing times.
“Though a documentary, it’s dramatic enough to be
reminiscent of ‘The Insider,’ the whistleblowing thriller
about Big Tobacco.”
—Graham Fuller, New York Daily News, August 28,
2014
What Is Laetrile?
Laetrile is the patented drug made from the natural compound
amygdalin, found in the seeds of many fruits, such as
apricot, plum
and peach pits, apple seeds, and quince, as well as in almonds.
Laetrile is also known as Amigdalina B-17 or vitamin B17,
although there is very little evidence it warrants
classification as a vitamin.
Amygdalin contains glucose, benzaldehyde, and cyanide.
Cyanide is believed to be the active cancer-toxic ingredient in
Laetrile. However, cyanide is toxic to all cells, so Laetrile’s
overall toxicity is a concern.3
Some Laetrile proponents claim that it’s more toxic to cancer
cells than to normal cells.4
Getting cyanide poisoning from apple seeds or almonds is
extremely unlikely.5
In 1924, Laetrile was synthesized from amygdalin and promoted
as a cancer treatment. By 1978, it was estimated that more than
70,000 Americans had tried it—despite its being banned in the US
since 1963. Most people obtain Laetrile from Tijuana clinics, as
the agent is still legal in Mexico.6
Dr. Sugiura’s Research
Dr. Kanematsu Sugiura7
spent most of his career at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer
Center, authoring more than 250 papers and receiving numerous
awards, including the highest honors from the Japan Medical
Association for outstanding contributions in cancer research.
While studying Laetrile, which was previously written off as
“quack medicine,” Dr. Sugiura discovered Laetrile to have very
positive effects in preventing the spread of malignant lung
tumors in laboratory mice.
In control groups, which received only plain saline, the lung
tumors spread in 80 to 90 percent of the animals. But in those
given Laetrile, the tumors spread in only 10 to 20 percent.8
Then, the Cover-Up
By 1974, the findings were so positive that Sloan Kettering
had signed off on clinical trials—but suddenly everything
changed.9
The center began shifting their Laetrile experiments away from
Dr. Sugiura to other scientists. But every time new experiments
even hinted at a positive outcome, the research was scrapped,
for ridiculous reasons.
Even the scientists at Sloan Kettering who had previously
been supportive of Sugiura’s studies began to characterize
Laetrile as a fraud—yet nothing had changed scientifically
to negate Sugiura’s findings. Despite the opposition, Dr.
Sugiura stood firmly by his work.
Ralph Moss had befriended Dr. Sugiura from the beginning of
his employment at Sloan Kettering, and Sugiura had excitedly
shared his findings about Laetrile with Moss. When things went
south, Moss was suddenly caught in a dilemma.
His only choices were to lie, in order to support his
employer, or tell the truth and sacrifice his job and
potentially his career. He tried leaking the documents of
Sugiura’s work to the editor of the New York Times, but
they never saw the light of day.
Ultimately, Moss chose to come clean at a press conference in
July 1977, which ended up being the final day of his employment
at Sloan Kettering. He was admonished to never set foot in the
facility again. What happened to cause this sudden, drastic
shift about Laetrile?
Embarrassment Over Patchwork Mice
Just prior to the Laetrile controversy, Sloan Kettering was
already reeling in embarrassment from research fraud, courtesy
of dermatologist William T. Summerlin. In 1974, Summerlin
was supposedly studying transplantation immunology and claimed
to have successfully performed the first skin transplant from a
black mouse onto a white mouse—quite a scientific feat, as they
were genetically unrelated animals.
Shortly thereafter, technicians noticed that the black
“pigmentation” on the white mice wiped off with a cotton swab,
tipping them off that Summerlin had merely colored the skin
patch with a black permanent marker. Further investigation
revealed that many of Summerlin’s prior studies were equally
bogus.10
Sloan Kettering did not want to be in the spotlight for
anything else even remotely resembling quackery, and Laetrile
was considered too controversial. The problem was compounded by
the fact that the pro-Laetrile movement had been commandeered by
the extreme right wing John Birch Society, with whom the center
did not want to be associated. And then, you must consider the
individuals comprising Sloan Kettering’s Board of Directors.
Sloan Kettering’s Board Included Drug and Petrochemical Industry
Big-Wigs
According to Ralph Moss, the Laetrile cover-up really only
makes sense when viewed through the lens of “the politics of
cancer.” According to Moss:11“The individuals on Sloan Kettering’s Board of Directors
were a ‘Who's Who’ of investors in petrochemical and other
polluting industries. In other words, the hospital was being run
by people who made their wealth by investing in the worst
cancer-causing things on the planet.”
The Board was dominated by CEOs from top pharmaceutical
companies that produce cancer drugs, whose interest was in
promoting chemotherapy and undermining natural therapies. For
example, both the Chairman and Vice President of Bristol-Myers
Squibb (the world’s leading manufacturer of chemotherapy drugs)
occupied high positions on the Board. Of the nine members of the
hospital’s powerful Institutional Policy Committee, seven had
ties to the pharmaceutical industry. Even the hospital itself
invested in stock of these drug companies. The Board also
included directors of the biggest tobacco companies in the
US—Phillip Morris and RJR Nabisco. Moss writes:
“With this background in mind, it should come as no
surprise to learn that Sugiura’s findings did not please his
employer. What goes on inside the laboratories is generally
of little interest to board members. It is assumed that,
whatever it is, it will result in a new patented drug that
will keep the cash flow moving in their direction. They were
slow to pick up on the implications of Sugiura’s work, but
when they did, all hell broke loose in the board room. If a
cure for cancer were to be found in an extract from the
lowly apricot seed, it would be a terrible economic blow to
the cancer-drug industry.”
Related to this is one very telling quote that comes near the
end of the film, attributed to William W. Vodra, the former
Associate Chief Counsel for Drugs at the USFDA: “Nobody is
going to pay $70,000 for a new cancer drug if they can buy
Laetrile for 75 cents.” The Sloan Kettering Board likely
realized that Laetrile offered no hope as a profitable
cancer treatment—so it had to be squelched.
Corporate Greed Knows No Bounds
The Laetrile story is not unlike the Stanislaw Burzynski and
Nicholas Gonzalez stories, where potentially powerful cancer
treatments are silenced by those whose real agenda is to protect
corporate bank accounts. The cancer paradigm is based on toxic
drugs, dangerous surgeries, and expensive machines. There's an
enormous amount of money to be made in this system, and those
who threaten to overturn it will pay a steep price.
Conventional medicine purports to be beholden to
science-based medicine, yet it resists and denies solid
science-based evidence again and again. Things have not changed
much since the 1974 Laetrile cover-up—in fact, they may getting
worse. “Science” may not be as trustworthy as we would all like
to believe. We continue to see one case after another of
shocking
medical science fraud, particularly in the extremely
profitable cancer industry.
Our current medical system has been masterfully orchestrated
by the drug companies to create a system that gives the
perception of science based medicine when it is really a heavily
manipulated process designed to boost their profits, and more
accurately labeled science biased medicine. One review of
retracted biomedical and life-science research found that only
21 percent of
retractions were due to errors—the rest were due to
misconduct, fraud, or plagiarism.
The more respected or influential the journal was, the more
likely its retractions were attributed to fraud or suspected
fraud! Even the prestigious
Mayo Clinic is not immune to this type of scandal,
retracting 19 papers from nine research journals due to shady
research a few years back. Ralph Moss was very clear in saying
he’s not an advocate for Laetrile, but rather an advocate for
truth in medical science. An interesting aside is that another
laetrile researcher, Dr. Harold Manner, was head of the biology
department at Loyola University in the late 70s. Two of his
graduate students, Dr. Tom Michalson and Dr. Steve Disanti, were
in my medical school class and their Laetrile stories confirmed
the details in this story.
Contemporary Laetrile Studies Confirm Sugiura’s Work—But an
Apology from Sloan Kettering Is Nowhere to Be Found
The research into Laetrile did not stop just because Sloan
Kettering buried it 40 years ago. Many recent studies confirm
Dr. Sugiura’s work, supporting his conclusion that Laetrile
shows potential in reducing the spread of cancer,
although it’s not a cure. Laetrile and amygdalin may also have
benefits for other medical issues, such as kidney disease. Here
are just a few of the more recent studies that substantiate Dr.
Sugiura’s work:
August 2014: In a new German study, amygdalin
dose-dependently reduced growth and proliferation of bladder
cancer12
May 2013: Amygdalin inhibits renal fibrosis in chronic
kidney disease; researchers conclude it is a “potent
antifibrotic agent that may have therapeutic potential for
patients with fibrotic kidney diseases”13
February 2013: Amygdalin induces apoptosis in human
cervical cancer cells; authors conclude it may offer a new
therapeutic option for cervical cancer patients14
August 2006: Amygdalin also induces apoptosis in human
prostate cancer cells15
February 2003: Amygdalin from Prunus persica
seeds (peach pits) shows anti-tumor effects comparable to
epigallocatechin gallate in green tea16
Despite contemporary research findings, you will find no
retraction (or apology) by Sloan Kettering, and sadly, the vast
majority of cancer information sites claim that Laetrile is
useless as a cancer treatment. Laetrile was a lost opportunity.
This type of misinformation is rampant in the industry, and the
people who really suffer are those battling cancer and denied
access to treatments that could potentially save them or extend
their lives. The facts show that Dr. Sugiura was both competent
and honest, but instead of accolades, he received nothing but
grief because he just happened to step into the middle of a
political hornets’ nest.
Sign the Petition Now!
Ralph Moss’s organization Second Opinion has a petition
urging Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to acknowledge its
positive results about Laetrile from the 1970s. You can sign
that petition
here. Since being fired by Sloan Kettering in 1975, Ralph
Moss has written or edited 12 books and three film documentaries
about issues related to cancer research and treatment. He
currently directs The Moss Reports, an up-to-date library of
detailed reports on more than 200 types of cancer. You can
obtain further information about Dr. Moss and his work on his
website.
If you liked this documentary, you can support this project
by renting or buying the entire package which also includes an
additional 74 minutes of 'extras' exploring many other parts to
this story
here.
Or purchase the DVD or Blu-ray at a reduced price
here.
Copyright 1997- 2014 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.