The Burzynski Clinic in Texas claims to be able to cure cancer with a revolutionary new treatment. However this treatment has never been proven to work and its “pioneer” Dr Stanislaw R. Burzynski is a convicted fraud. Who also claims to hold a PhD, although my colleagues and myself have been unable to substantiate the existence of this qualification.
In fact it seems much more likely that Dr Burzynski’s PhD has been made up as a marketing tool. As Saul Green has discovered.
Burzynski’s claim to a Ph.D. is questionable. When I investigated, I found:
- An official from the Ministry of Health in Warsaw informed me that when Burzynski was in school, medical schools did not give a Ph.D. [1].
- Faculty members from at the Medical Academy at Lubin informed me that Burzynski received his D.Msc. in 1968 after completing a one-year laboratory project and passing an exam [2] and that he had done no independent research while in medical school [3].
In 1973, when Burzinski applied for a federal grant to study “antineoplaston peptides from urine,” he identified himself as “Stanislaw Burzynski, M.D, D.Msc.” [4]
While a lot of people would ordinarily see through the lies and misinformation. Cancer patients and their families often find themselves in a desperate situation where they will do anything to save themselves or a loved one. It is certainly no coincidence that cancer patients are a favourite target of fraudsters.
Now the Burzynski marketing team has managed to convince a family in Ireland that he can cure their two year old daughter, for a price of course. They have been quoted between: €30,000 and €100,000 Euros to attend the Burzynski Clinic, although I expect the costs will probably rise. [source]
Even if the family do raise enough money to write a paycheque to Burzynski, they aren’t actually being charged for treatment at all. Instead they are paying for their daughter to take part in a Clinical Trial for a treatment that’s never been proven to be efficacious.
Of course nobody can blame the parents for doing what they genuinely believe will help their daughter, but I can certainly question the ethics and morals of people like Dr Stanislaw R. Burzynski who jump at opportunities like this to make cash. The worst part about health scams isn’t the money that is stolen; but the opportunity that is lost when people give-up proven conventional healthcare for a false hope that’s been sold to them by a charlatan.
Further Reading
Burzynski: When is a PhD not a PhD?
Stanislaw Burzynski and “Antineoplastons”
Burzynski: Morally reprehensible
The Burzynski Clinic is using libel laws to silence critics of its cancer treatment