Auckland Health Board lies over Vitamin C By Keith StewartEarlier this week the Chief Medical Officer of the Auckland District Health Board, Dr Margaret Wilsher issued a statement saying, "no evidence exists to confidently say that high-dosage Vitamin C therapy is either safe or effective." High dose intravenous vitamin C branded as Astor L 500 was gazetted as a fully registered medicine by Medsafe in January this year. To satisfy Medsafe Astor L 500 is required by law to have a safety record that indicates no risk or harm to health. Put simply, Dr Wilsher, it is safe. If you have a problem with that, take it up with Medsafe.Dr Wilsher and the entire membership of the Auckland City Hospital Clinical Practice Committee, who advised her, should be prosecuted by the Ministry of Health for their failure to act in the best interests of the public they serve.According to the Medical Council of New Zealand, "Good doctors are...honest and trustworthy and act with integrity."Neither Dr Wilsher nor Dr David Geller, a member of her Clinical Practice Committee, have shown themselves to be either honest or trustworthy, and in the case of Dr Geller, has failed "...to keep [their] knowledge and skills up to date."
By the Medical Council's own definitions, neither is a "good doctor" and it is the responsibility of the Minister of Health to question why they hold their current positions and if that situation should continue. Indeed, it is difficult to read through the Medical Council's Good Medical Practice guide and find any expectations that either of these individuals fulfill.Dr. Geller even went so far as to declare, in a debate about the science of vitamin c treatment during his appearance on 60 minutes last Wednesday, that, "We as a group believe it’s harmful". I assume he meant "we" to be the Clinical Practice Committee, but surely this is a debate about the science of the situation, so what he or his group "believe" is irrelevant. They might believe, as Dr Geller expressed as a possibility, that a passing bus is capable of curing a critically ill patient, they might believe in the dead all travelling to paradise after Auckland City Hospital's treatment fails. They might even believe in the God of Abraham, but these beliefs are of no value in considering the efficacy of vitamin C as a valid or valuable treatment.
Dr Geller and his fellow committee members might believe that vitamin C is dangerous and ineffective, but that is not their role. Their role is to consider the scientific literature and make a scientifically relevant judgment. Anybody who is familiar with the literature, from the fundamental scientific work of Linus Pauling to the latest research conducted in New Zealand on the value of vitamin C as a cancer treatment, knows that Dr Geller and his friends have not done that.Perhaps Dr Geller should look for an alternative career as a priest, rabbi or mullah, someone for whom belief, not science, is professionally important. He should take Dr. Wilsher with him.New research is underway which might shed much-needed light on a popular but highly controversial cancer treatment. Thousands of cancer patients worldwide are turning to high-dose infusions of vitamin C in the hopes of halting the cancers' spread. However to date there has been little to no hard scientific evidence the treatment can help with this.
Now world-leading New Zealand vitamin C researcher Professor Margreet Vissers is launching a new study which it's hoped will help give a more definitive answer as to whether vitamin C holds genuine potential as a treatment. Her Otago University study will analyse the levels of vitamin C in breast tumours and compare health outcomes for patients with varying levels of the vitamin in those tumours. The NZ Breast Cancer Foundation and the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation have teamed up for the first time to fund the study which will be carried out analysing samples from the Christchurch Cancer Society tissue bank. Professor Vissers has been studying how vitamin C works in tumour tissue for the past decade. Her previous ground-breaking study, published last year, examined bowel and endometrial tumor tissue and discovered that patients with higher levels of vitamin C in their tumours had extended disease-free survival. "The use of vitamin C by cancer patients is commonplace but highly controversial," Professor Vissers said.
"Some patients claim to benefit but we've been short on clinical evidence. If vitamin C works, we need to know how it works and for which tumours. If this study shows that breast cancer responds in the same way as bowel cancer, we'll be able to include breast cancer patients in upcoming clinical studies." Auckland mother Rochell Adams has been battling stage four breast cancer since 2009. Despite surgery and chemotherapy the cancer returned in 2013 and spread to her lungs, spine, lymph nodes, and hips. I certainly walk out of the clinic feeling a million dollars and my skin is glowing. It also helps with the pain" She was told she had two to four months left to live. She travelled to Germany for various treatments which shrank the tumours but didnt totally eradicate them. Her German doctors suggested she try vitamin C infusions on her return home. She now credits vitamin C, along with other natural therapies, for her ability to defy the odds so far. "It makes me feel good when I've had vitamin C.
I dont know what effect its having but it makes me feel good," she said. "I certainly walk out of the clinic feeling a million dollars and my skin is glowing. It also helps with the pain." Northland policeman Anton Kuria is another cancer patient who credits vitamin C infusions, along with a vitamin-rich diet, for his continued good health. He too was told he had just months to live two years ago when he left Auckland hospital with stage four leukemia. Vitamin C infusions are currently offered in New Zealand by several doctors and health practitioners with a focus on complementary health. Costs vary depending on the frequency of the infusions and a patient's weight and other factors. Rochell Adams says she is paying $200 for fortnightly infusions. Van Henderson, chief executive of the Breast Cancer Foundation, which approached Professor Vissers to extend her field of research into breast cancer, hopes this study will help provide much-needed scientific clarity for patients.