January 31, 2005

/ Healthwatcher.net
Dietfraud.com
Herbalwatch.com
Pigpills.com

Fax

To: / Ontario Press Council - Complaints / From: / Terry Polevoy, MD
Fax: / (416) 340-8724 / Pages: / 3
Phone: / (416) 340-1981 / Date: / January 31, 2005
Re: / Judy Steed’s two articles on Bob Hunter and Cancer quack Kurt Donsbach / CC:

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January 31, 2005

THE ONTARIO PRESS COUNCIL - COMPLAINTS
2 Carlton Street, Suite 1706
Toronto, Ontario
M5B 1J3

January 31, 2005

Dear OPC Complaints:

On Friday, January 21, 2005 an article appeared in the Life Section of the Toronto Star authored by Judy Steed. The article chronicled the alleged struggle by Bob Hunter with his cancer, and the doctors who supported him in his decision to attend a clinic in Mexico run by a convicted criminal and expatriate American chiropractor Kurt Donsbach who runs the Hospital Santa Monica.

http://tinyurl.com/462z7 - Not without a fight – (the original article)

I filed a complaint with the editor because of the serious inaccuracies in the article. Not only were there glaring errors, there were links for people to contact the clinic in Mexico to obtain information. As a result of my complaints the Star decided that they would give Judy Steed another chance to correct the glaring errors in the original piece.

As promised on Friday, January 28, 2005 Steed’s chance to correct the errors in the piece went to press.

http://tinyurl.com/3tyzz - Mixed reaction to Hunter’s search for cure

Unfortunately, she again failed miserably to tell the whole story about Kurt Donsbach. Steed also failed to give links in the article to established groups like Quackwatch.com or Healthwatcher.net that have championed the fight against cancer quackery around the world.

Judy Steed said that her first article “elicited a strong response from readers”. In my opinion it served to promote cancer quackery, and to also promote Fred Hui’s practice of alternative medicine. Hui, according to Steed, was the one who apparently referred Bob Hunter to Mexico in the first place. The claim by Steed that this was just a human-interest story and that she is not an investigative journalist is key here.

Steed’s article promoted the worst kind of cancer quackery and those who support it. Numerous people called or contacted the Star to obtain more details about the quack clinic in Mexico. People were upset because OHIP didn’t cover this quackery.

Did Steed answer the calls herself, and did she provide more help to them than she is letting on in the story? As a result of the articles, did people contact Dr. Fred Hui, who has a particularly chequered past. For instance he was one of the doctors who helped promote Dr. Luigi DiBella when he brought his quack cancer remedy to Toronto a few years ago?

Hunter’s wife made claims that “he found himself at death's door, given a ‘death watch’ verdict”. Hmmm let’s see, how did Steed verify this ridiculous statement. Did she obtain Hunter’s medical records, or get permission to talk to his oncologist? Verify, verify, and double verify!!!

And what about Steed’s interview with Donsbach himself? Well, let’s consider this bogus statement for just a moment. Donsbach, a convicted felon, fined hundreds of thousands of dollars by the government, and the purveyor of bogus diplomas, and who even used fake diplomas himself is talking to Steed and telling him that there are people in Mexico who are “not reputable”.

Is Steed unable to comprehend that this statement might be untrue? There appears to be something seriously wrong with either her ability to understand the facts in the case, or she has been brainwashed by Hunter and Donsbach into believing the entire story. After all, she’s not a medical reporter. So, why did she choose to ignore easily obtained information about Donbach?

Then there is the case of The Star itself. Late last year, before the retirement of their ombudsperson Don Sellar, the paper issued an editorial response to an article about quack devices that ran several times. He basically apologized to the readers because they had helped promote quackery.

The Star has frequently helped to promote bogus devices, fraudulent practices to its readers. But, this promotion of a quack cancer clinic and an Ontario medical doctor who sent at least one patient to Mexico looms above the rest.

The role of a news journalist is to examine the facts in each story, and to provide a balanced point of view, even when the article is a “human interest” story. Steed failed on both accounts, and in both articles.

Please examine the role of The Star’s editors and Judy Steed and render a decision that would in the end support the facts, not cancer quackery and the criminals who are often behind it.

Sincerely,

Terry Polevoy, MD

Healthwatcher.net

References:

http://tinyurl.com/6e5tf - Healthwatcher.net’s coverage of Donsbach

http://tinyurl.com/5chfk - Search Healthwatcher for Tijuana

http://tinyurl.com/5gksw - Donsbach University uncovered by Stephen Barrett

http://tinyurl.com/52yef - Borderline medicine - TIJUANA ALTERNATIVE CLINICS FRUSTRATE REGULATORS – San Diego Union-Tribune

http://tinyurl.com/6lfk7 - Unhealthy Alliance - by Stephen Barrett, MD

http://tinyurl.com/65ywp - Search Quackwatch for Tijuana

http://tinyurl.com/6o6t4 - Healthwatcher.net’s coverage of Luigi DiBella

http://tinyurl.com/3ogl5 - Healthwatcher.net’s coverage of the CCRG, with excellent search section for cancer quackery around the world.

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1998/12/health.htm - FTC and FDA Announce the Adoption of an International Agreement To Combat Health Fraud - December 10, 1998

The Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada, and the Secretaria de Salud of Mexico today announced the adoption of an agreement on Joint Strategies to Combat Health Fraud (Joint Strategies Agreement). The Joint Strategies Agreement provides a formal framework for cooperation and signals an expansion of joint efforts against the fraudulent marketing and sale of health related products, services and devices.

Terry Polevoy’s complaint re: Judy Steed and Toronto Star Page 2 January 31, 2005