Today’s Bad Science post comes our way via the “Institute for Natural Healing” (INH), which promises a miracle cancer cure that’s better than chemo and “doesn’t attack non-cancerous cells”.
Not surprisingly, no medical research exists to back up these claims and the owner of the institute, Angela Salerno, has no medical education. According to her LinkedIn bio, she’s worked mainly in marketing. Ah… marketing… just a few clicks past the INH’s plea to drop just short of $100 on a membership to learn about these miracle cancer drugs are page after page of advertisement for “natural” supplements that will cure… well, just about everything.
Salerno’s “evidence”? A few people claiming they’ve been cured of cancer after taking her supplements. Sorry, that’s not scientific research, and she should be heavily criticized for claiming such research exists and never presenting it.
There’s even a promise of dropping 20 years from your age in 6 months! You can’t make this sh** up…. check out their web page.
Of course, we get the standard disclaimer, which you’d be well advised to pay attention to: ” The FDA has not evaluated these statements. None of the information or products discussed on this site are intended to diagnose, treat, mitigate or cure any disease.”
Damn straight!
Salerno and her institute have been accused of running scams on innocent cancer patients for quite some time now. A few links to ChicagoNow articles, which I think are particularly revealing, are at the end of this blog post.
Cancer is a very serious and danger group of diseases that aren’t going to be cured with unproven quackery. Please, if you or a loved one have cancer — or suspect you have — see a doctor immediately. Regular screenings for at-risk groups are important.
Further Reading
http://www.chicagonow.com/cancer-is-not-a-gift/2014/05/cancer-fraud/
Bad Science Debunked 
I understand what you are saying here but there are some unusual cases out there like the documented case of a woman who’s cancer was cured when she gave up on chemo and took six grams of turmeric daily. Has anyone sought out the people who were allegedly cured by this stuff or even made an effort to see if they are real people? If this is snake oil it should be exposed but if it’s the real deal people should be informed. For example a clinic in Germany has cured cancers in American citizens who were told they could not be helped here or that they would have to have organs removed. These cases are documented and public statements have been made by the actual patients that were cured. Unfortunately American medicine falls short on many cancer treatments.
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Thanks for reading and commenting Bob.
If someone claims they’ve been cured by turmeric, the burden of proof is on them. In other words, is isn’t on the backs of science to go out and disprove every claim.
You say “cases have been documented and public statements have been made.” That really isn’t science. I’m sure that well-intentioned statements have been made that, unfortunately, have involved no clinical double-blind trials and all that other bothersome science stuff that’s so important in American medicine.
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So, you think chemicals are the answer! You are so wrong about natural herbs and you have the right of your opinion. Also, you’re not an expert yourself. You sound like a supporter of pharmaceutical drugs that produces side-effects and help profit big business. That is what the country and politics is all about corporate profits! Also, medical doctors DO NOT specializes nor study natural healing.
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Everything on the planet is made of a chemical, including “natural” herbs. Can you please explain what your point is here before we talk about the appeal to nature fallacy, and why on Earth doctors study “natural healing?”
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Do you notice that they never give the peoples last name just an initial. Just so no one can check the facts.
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Angela Salerno is selling a “miracle” cure the Cancer Survival System for $149. She claims it has a “goopy food ingredient that kills 93% of cancer cells in only 48 hours.” She does not identity which “natural compound” she is selling. It looks like a very bad scam.
I created a page here about the Institute for Natural Healing. One of the “medical” advisors is Malcolm Kendrick. He also offers very dangerous and misleading advice in relation to health.
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Institute_for_Natural_Healing
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What a waste of money. I wish I could get my money back. All I see are supplements for sale or unsubstantiated claims of cures for cancer.
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