Unorthodox Cancer Therapies and Faith

Lee Dembart’s categorical dismissal of unorthodox cancer therapies highlighted in Ralph Moss’ new book “The Cancer Industry: Unraveling the Politics” (June 5) seems to hinge on faith in the public pronouncements of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and an apparent assumption that the opinions of practicing doctors do not depend on identical faith.

The NCI, a large federal bureaucracy, would self-destruct if it confirmed and endorsed any real cancer cure. No one need be a medical doctor to recognize conflict of interest. Scientists agree that almost any test can be designed to produce failure. The temptation, if self-survival is at stake, would be quite compelling. The avoidance of conscience for past intransigence is even more compelling.

As of 1983, 28 states had legalized use of Laetrile for cancer despite active opposition by the NCI and Food and Drug Administration. Could their legislatures be composed of so many simpletons taken in by “claptrap?” Dembart’s faith, perhaps, could have been tempered by some knowledge of the identities, credentials, and accomplishments of a few of the distinguished scientists of the “unorthodoxy” and of the learned jurists who have weighed the evidence and ruled in favor of the unorthodoxy.

R.M. TAKASE

Torrance