Too deliciously ironic for words: Gary Null hoisted by his own petard

[Ian David]

Too deliciously ironic for words: Gary Null hoisted by his own petard

Category: Alternative medicine • Medicine • Quackery
Posted on: April 29, 2010 10:00 AM, by Orac

<snip>

A controversial alternative health guru is suing after a taste of his own medicine nearly killed him.

Gary Null - described on quackwatch.org as "one of the nation's leading promoters of dubious treatment for serious disease" - claims the manufacturer of Gary Null's Ultimate Power Meal overloaded the supplements with Vitamin D.

The buff "Joy of Juicing" author, whose products include Red Stuff Powder and Gary Null's Heavenly Hair Cleaner, claims he suffered kidney damage and was left bloodied and in intense pain from two daily servings of the supplement.

"Null continued to take the Ultimate Power Meal, all the while thinking that it would help him, and relieve his condition; instead, it made him worse," the suit says.

<snip>

I can't resist repeating it. Gary Null's own supplement apparently almost killed him. The schadenfreude is just too rich.

<snip>

Don't get me wrong. I don't wish harm on anyone, not even Gary Null. I am actually happy that he appears to have mostly recovered. But Null is, in my not-so-humble-opinion, one of the biggest quacks out there today, and this sort of thing is the inevitable consequence of the lack of regulation in the U.S. Thanks to the DSHEA of 1994, the FDA is pretty much powerless to regulate most supplements before something happens. As long as the manufacturer keeps its claims sufficiently vague, using terms such as "supports the immune system" or something similar and protects itself with the Quack Miranda, it can get away with almost anything, as Gary Null's own accidental self-poisoning demonstrates so ironically. What we have is basically the honor system, and, quite frankly, the supplement industry doesn't have a whole lot of honor to it. As amusing as it may be to contemplate Gary Null as a victim of this lax regulation and to observe him suing one of his contractors for having botched the manufacture of one of his products to the point were several people were sickened, the situation with respect to supplements is a free-for-all, and stories like Null's are the inevitable result:

More:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/04/too_deliciously_ironic_for_words_gary_nu.php


Hat-tip to:
@ derekcbart Gary Null's own supplement apparently almost killed him. Irony can be pretty ironic at times. http://tinyurl.com/25z7ad9
http://twitter.com/derekcbart/status/13072960203


BTW, this asshole is also Gary Null is also an AIDS-Denialist.

Quack record
Bestselling health and fitness guru Gary Null weighs in on AIDS. Almost all of what he says is useless, dangerous and just plain wrong.
http://dir.salon.com/books/feature/2002/05/21/null/index.html

See also:

A Critical Look at Gary Null's Activities and Credentials
Stephen Barrett, M.D.
http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/null.html

[trotsky]

1. Not to laugh but HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I'm glad at least it happened to a big pusher of this crap rather than an innocent swindled user.

[Ian David]

2. Read the article. There are five other victims in the lawsuit. n/t

[trotsky]

3. Aw crap.

Why do these morons always have to bring innocent others down with them?

[Ian David]

4. Money. n/t

[tiptoe]

5. "..1,000X the amount of Vit D than label claimed...daily, he was ingesting 2 million IU..."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/health_guru_nearly_killed_eating_hGIit27zRFN0UP3eMLWgKL?sms_ss=twitter
...
Over the month Null, 65, ate the powdered product, he suffered "excruciating fatigue along with bodily pain," and "began to suffer from extreme cracks and bleeding from within his feet," the suit says.
...
The health nut went to see his doctor, and tests showed he had elevated levels of Vitamin D in his system. He later discovered that the Ultimate Power Meal had 1,000 times the amount of Vitamin D than the label claimed.

That meant that instead of ingesting 2,000 IU of Vitamin D daily, he was ingesting 2 million IU, the suit says. Most doctors recommend 1,000 IU a day.
...
When Null discovered what the problem was, he "sequestered himself and fasted, only consuming massive amounts of water, as he was told that there was no medical treatment to lower the amount of Vitamin D in his system," the suit says.

"It took three months to get his blood seemingly back to where he was able to function. Even now, Null's condition is questionable, as he continues to occasionally urinate blood," the suit says.
...

...
Cholecalciferol, Not Ergocalciferol, Is Safe

Although there are documented cases of pharmacological overdoses from ergocalciferol, the only documented case of pharmacological—not industrial—toxicity from cholecalciferol we could find in the literature was intoxication from an over-the-counter supplement called Prolongevity. On closer inspection, it seemed more like an industrial accident, but it was interesting because it gave us some idea of the safety of cholecalciferol. The capsules consumed contained up to 430 times the amount of cholecalciferol contained on the label (2,000 IU). The man had been taking between 156,000–2,604,000 IU of cholecalciferol a day (equivalent to between 390–6,500 of the 400 unit capsules) for two years. He recovered uneventfully after proper diagnosis, treatment with steroids, and sunscreen.

It is true that a few people may have problems with high calcium due to undiagnosed vitamin D hypersensitivity syndromes such as primary hyperparathyroidism, granulomatous disease, or occult cancers, but a blood calcium level, PTH, 25(OH)D, and calcitriol level should help clarify the cause of the hypersensitivity. Although D can be toxic in excess, the same can be said for water.

Therapeutic Index
As a physician, I know that psychotic patients should drink about 8 glasses of water a day. However, many would hurt themselves by regularly drinking 40 glasses a day (called compulsive water intoxication). So you could say that water has a therapeutic index of 5 (40/8).

Heaney's recent research indicates that healthy humans utilize about 4,000 units of vitamin D a day (from all sources). However, 40,000 units a day, over several years, will hurt them. Therefore, vitamin D has a therapeutic index of 10 (40,000/4,000)—twice as safe as water. We are not saying vitamin D is as safe as water, we are saying vitamin D is safe when used in the doses nature uses.

Sun Supplies 10,000 Units Of Vitamin D
The single most important fact anyone needs to know about Vitamin D is how much nature supplies, if we behave naturally, e.g., go into the sun. Humans make at least 10,000 units of vitamin D within 30 minutes of full body exposure to the sun, what is called a minimal erythemal dose. Vitamin D production in the skin occurs within minutes and is already maximized before your skin turns pink.
...
John Cannell, MD 2009/6/20   
The Truth About Vitamin D Toxicity   (refer here for understanding MD recommendations and more on safety)

[Warpy]

8. Holeeee shit!

I guess he now knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is an upper limit to Vitamin D ingestion, something he's hemmed and hawed about in the past.

It's a tough lesson to have to learn the hard way.

[LeftishBrit]

6. Well, he deserved (literally) a dose of his own medicine; but the others didn't.

[Codeine]

7. Stupidity SHOULD hurt, dammit.

Anybody dumb enough to buy into that crap pretty much has it coming.

[salvorhardin]

9. Well, I guess now we know the answer

Gary Null isn't just an unscrupulous huckster endangering people's lives. He really believes his own products work.

[Ian David]

10. I suppose the *is* that. You know what might help him? Colloidal Silver. Let's suggest it. n/t

[TZ]

11. Proves what I keep saying MEGA doses of vitamins are fucking DANGEROUS

I'm tired of the "if something is good for you LOTS of it must be better for you" mythology.
Everything in moderation!!

[SidDithers]

12. There must be others affected as well...

or maybe there are only 5 people using his product?

Too bad McCain's supplement regulation was yanked. This is the exact type of thing that it was supposed to protect against.

Sid

[trotsky]

13. No way, Sid.

McCain's bill would have enabled the FDA's JACK-BOOTED THUGS to BREAK DOWN YOUR DOOR and CONFISCATE ALL YOUR VITAMINS, SUPPLEMENTS, AND THE PRODUCE IN YOUR GARDEN!!!11!

[Ian David]

14. They would have yanked the homeopathic suppositories right out of our asses. n/t

[trotsky]

15. Joke would have been on them.

That space is occupied by a butt candle.

[Ian David]

16. You know the difference between an ear candle and an ass candle?

The smell.

[SidDithers]

17. Both of you. Go stand in the corner...

:rofl:

Sid

[Duer 157099]

18. I've never heard of this guy before, but: 1) there was an error in the formulation

and 2) the error resulted in 1,000 TIMES the amount of vitamin D as should have been.

Anyone who has even scanned the literature knows that 1) it's possible to OD on vitamin D, but 2) it's almost ALWAYS due to an error in the formulation. Actually, that might be ALWAYS DUE TO since the only cases I've read about vitamin D toxicity have been directly due to formulation errors.

As I said, I don't know this guy but it sure does not seem like it was an intentional act on his part. Don't know why any would find glee in this.

[latebloomer]

20. Thank you!

He definitely did not design the supplement to have 2 million units of Vitamin D- he wanted 2000!

Gary Null may be insufferable and arrogant, but he does disseminate a lot of good information in the political arena as well as medicine and nutrition.

Not sure why he seems to be so reviled on this board. I used to listen to his radio show and a lot of what he said made eminent sense to me.

[trotsky]

21. Because the guy is a loon dispensing fraudulent medical advice.

Because he himself has spoken out against any regulation of the supplement racket - WHICH COULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS KIND OF ERROR.

Oh yeah, it makes "eminent sense" to just let these fly-by-night outfits throw things together into a pill or powder without any oversight whatsoever. :eyes:

[beam me up scottie]

22. Maybe because "this guy" - besides being a greedy, morally bankrupt liar - is also an AIDS denialist

http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2008/04/now_its_officialgary_null_hiv.php

Anyone who makes up bullshit about AIDS in order to cash in is a criminal, and that includes the fucking Pope and Vatican stooges.

[BrklynLiberal]

19. I want to be able to find this thread later.....

[HuckleB]

23. Keek.