[Dutch parliament legitimizes harmful quackery]. / Tweede Kamer legitimeert schadelijke kwakzalverij.

The Dutch parliament has recently accepted a tax law in which certain groups of alternative therapists can be exempt from VAT. To be eligible for this VAT exemption, the disciplines to which the therapists belong have to meet certain training requirements. In this article it is contended, in agreement with the Royal College of Physicians in the UK, that statutory regulation is inappropriate for disciplines whose therapies are neither of proved benefit nor appropriately tested. It legitimizes harmful therapies. This is illustrated by two serious accidents, previously described in this journal, caused by a chiropractor and a craniosacral therapist.

[The miraculous growth of "quackery funds"]. / De wonderbaarlijke opkomst van de 'kwakfondsen'.

In 1998 and 1999 three new charity foundations were established in the Netherlands, covering the same areas as the Dutch Heart Foundation, the Netherlands Cancer Foundation and the National Rheuma Foundation respectively. Analysis of the set-up of the three new foundations, of their philosophy, their constitutions and the background of the persons involved shows a remarkably uniform pattern, making it very likely that the set-up of these alternative foundations is a part of the marketing strategy of some Dutch wholesalers in orthomolecular drugs. More legal regulation of charity foundations is seriously needed.

[The dilemma of effectiveness and economic value of alternative medicine]. / Das Dilemma von Wirksamkeit und Wirtschaftlichkeit bei alternativen Heilmethoden.

Medical practice is today, and has always been, subject to a professional ethos that excludes unnecessary and dishonest methods. There is some concern about soundness and affordability of our health service if one sees that despite the financial worries that beset our health services, more and more alternative treatments are being proposed and used which are not equal to their money's worth. Political and legal decisions, as well as the activities of alternative healers, illustrate the onslaught on the supremacy of scientific teaching. These developments must be opposed vigorously for sake of protecting our patients.

Questionable cancer practices in Tijuana and other Mexican border clinics.

Tijuana, Mexico, has become a refuge for cancer patients who have been convinced that they may be cured of their terminal illness by unconventional, unproved, and disproved methods offered in the border clinics. About a dozen United States promoters have joined with Mexican colleagues to offer a variety of treatments. Some patients are diagnosed using standard methods prior to arrival at the clinics, but many healthy individuals are misdiagnosed as having cancer or "precancer" and are then treated there. Others are told they have been cured or are improving even though they still have active disease. The modalities and regimens used are often referred to as "metabolic therapy" and, for the most part, are either not based on sound scientific principles or have been shown in controlled clinical trials to be useless or even dangerous. A basic metabolic regimen consists of three phases: detoxification with fasting and bowel cleansing, strengthening the immune system with numerous "supplements," and attacking cancer with "natural and non-toxic" chemicals. Popular treatments include injections of hydrogen peroxide, large quantities of pressed liver and carrot juice, coffee enemas, infusions of Laetrile mixed with massive doses of vitamins and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), special diets, and a host of other pseudoscientific regimens. Unfortunately, no evidence exists that any of these modalities is more effective than no treatment at all. Patients traveling to the Mexican border clinics for metabolic therapy are subjecting themselves to costly and hazardous regimens, especially if they forgo responsible medical care in the process. The American Cancer Society, therefore, strongly urges individuals with cancer not to seek treatment with metabolic therapies in the Mexican border clinics.