Is Chloroquine the new Laetrile?

[DBoon]

Does anyone else remember the scam artists who promoted laetrile (Amygdalin) as a cure for cancer? How it was pushed by shady operators with shows on high powered AM radio stations? How it was claimed there was a conspiracy by the medical establishment to suppress it?

Since the early 1950s, both amygdalin and a chemical derivative named laetrile have been promoted as alternative cancer treatments, often under the misnomer vitamin B17 (neither amygdalin nor laetrile is a vitamin).[2] Scientific study has found them to be clinically ineffective in treating cancer, as well as potentially toxic or lethal when taken by mouth due to cyanide poisoning.[3] The promotion of laetrile to treat cancer has been described in the medical literature as a canonical example of quackery,[4][5] and as "the slickest, most sophisticated, and certainly the most remunerative cancer quack promotion in medical history".[2]

...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration prohibited the interstate shipment of amygdalin and laetrile in 1977.[25][26] Thereafter, 27 U.S. states legalized the use of amygdalin within those states.[27]

...

Advocates for laetrile assert that there is a conspiracy between the US Food and Drug Administration, the pharmaceutical industry and the medical community, including the American Medical Association and the American Cancer Society, to exploit the American people, and especially cancer patients.[32]

Advocates of the use of laetrile have also changed the rationale for its use, first as a treatment of cancer, then as a vitamin, then as part of a "holistic" nutritional regimen, or as treatment for cancer pain, among others, none of which have any significant evidence supporting its use.[32]

Despite the lack of evidence for its use, laetrile developed a significant following due to its wide promotion as a "pain-free" treatment of cancer as an alternative to surgery and chemotherapy that have significant side effects. The use of laetrile led to a number of deaths.[32] The FDA and AMA crackdown, begun in the 1970s, effectively escalated prices on the black market, played into the conspiracy narrative and enabled unscrupulous profiteers to foster multimillion-dollar smuggling empires.[33]

Some American cancer patients have traveled to Mexico for treatment with the substance, for example at the Oasis of Hope Hospital in Tijuana.[34] The actor Steve McQueen died in Mexico following surgery to remove a stomach tumor, having previously undergone extended treatment for pleural mesothelioma (a cancer associated with asbestos exposure) under the care of William D. Kelley, a de-licensed dentist and orthodontist who claimed to have devised a cancer treatment involving pancreatic enzymes, 50 daily vitamins and minerals, frequent body shampoos, enemas, and a specific diet as well as laetrile.[35]

Laetrile advocates in the United States include Dean Burk, a former chief chemist of the National Cancer Institute cytochemistry laboratory,[36] and national arm wrestling champion Jason Vale, who falsely claimed that his kidney and pancreatic cancers were cured by eating apricot seeds. Vale was convicted in 2004 for, among other things, fraudulently marketing laetrile as a cancer cure.[37] The court also found that Vale had made at least $500,000 from his fraudulent sales of laetrile.[38]

In the 1970s, court cases in several states challenged the FDA's authority to restrict access to what they claimed are potentially lifesaving drugs. More than twenty states passed laws making the use of Laetrile legal. After the unanimous Supreme Court ruling in Rutherford v. United States which established that interstate transport of the compound was illegal, usage fell off dramatically.[14][39] The US Food and Drug Administration continues to seek jail sentences for vendors marketing laetrile for cancer treatment, calling it a "highly toxic product that has not shown any effect on treating cancer."[40]

From Wikipedia,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdalin

The difference is that the scam artists pushing the toxic, ineffective remedy now include the president of the US and of Brazil and that major political parties are behind the claim of a conspiracy by the medical establishment.

[Archae]

1. The difference is Chloroquine is a legitimate medicine.

My cousin takes it for his lupus.

Laetrile has ZERO legitimate uses.

It's pure wishful thinking and hype, nothing more.

[Bev54]

2. I remember family members

in Canada, talking about wanting to go to Mexico for Laetrile treatments.

[struggle4progress]

3. "You just have to use it right! Wear your copper brace in months with no R; take colloidal silver

whenever there's a full moon; never eat carrots before midnight; be careful to inject just the right amount of bleach; and don't forget to use bronzer when you don't have time to lie in your tanning bed. Then taking HCQ offers incredible protection! It just goes away!"