The Prime Quack has been identified: Andreas Moritz. He has admitted to getting WordPress to pull Michael Hawkins’ blog, and is also threatening me, now.
Michael Hawkins,
You may blame me for having your blog pulled. WorldPress had to remove your blog because otherwise it would have faced a hefty lawsuit, given the nature of the defamation campaign you had launched against me, and having positioned your blog link second place on the search engines.
I have not yet decided whether to sue you for defamation. I have asked my attorneys to assess the damages your defamation campaign has done to my work, business, and reputation since your blog has been up. I know that they are significant, but if they turn out to be an excessive loss of revenue and reputation and/or if I see any more defaming publications by you or your blog friends against me or Dr. Makoney, I will not hesitate to launch an expensive lawsuit against you that you will not forget for a long time. I have collected all the data of your blogs and publications involving me. Your last email to Dr. Makoney clearly shows that you are instigating a new defamation campaign, at least against him.
My investigations show me where you live and where you study (Augusta, Amine), and if I hear or see any further activities that involve me or Dr. Makoney you will need to hire a good attorney to defend your slanderous actions and campaigns.
My close friend, Dr Deepak Chopra, who in addition to Dr Makoney and myself have been viciously attacked by your friend, the fish zoologist, PZ Myers, are considering a lawsuit against him. Slander is slander, whether it is done online or offline. If your friend is wise, he will immediately remove those blogs from his site.
Just in case you are not aware of it, below are stated the laws that protect people like me against people like you.
Sincerely,
Andreas Moritz
Hmmm, misspelling names seems to be an epidemic among quacks. It’s also interesting that he’s openly threatening an expensive legal campaign against Hawkins.
If the threats of lawsuits and his own crazy snakeoil site aren’t enough to convince you that he’s a loon, consider that he was written up favorably on NaturalNews.com (you may recall Mike Adams, whose mind snapped under the weight of our criticism). Michael Hawkins wrote up an angry rebuttal to Moritz, as did I. He’s not a good person.
Moritz is a cancer quack. He is an evil man who takes advantage of others’ pain for his own profit.
Here’s what he says about cancer.
Cancer has always been an extremely rare illness, except in industrialized nations during the past 40-50 years. Human genes have not significantly changed for thousands of years. Why would they change so drastically now, and suddenly decide to kill scores of people? The answer to this question is amazingly simple: Damaged or faulty genes do not kill anyone. Cancer does not kill a person afflicted with it! What kills a cancer patient is not the tumor, but the numerous reasons behind cell mutation and tumor growth. These root causes should be the focus of every cancer treatment, yet most oncologists typically ignore them. Constant conflicts, guilt and shame, for example, can easily paralyze the body’s most basic functions, and lead to the growth of a cancerous tumor.
After having seen thousands of cancer patients over a period of three decades, I began to recognize a certain pattern of thinking, believing and feeling that was common to most of them. To be more specific, I have yet to meet a cancer patient who does not feel burdened by some poor self-image, unresolved conflict and worries, or past emotional trauma that still lingers in his/her subconscious. Cancer, the physical disease, cannot occur unless there is a strong undercurrent of emotional uneasiness and deep-seated frustration.
Note that he has absolutely no credentials or expertise in medicine; he calls himself a “medical intuitive”. Yet he is dispensing dangerous, defeatist advice on how to manage cancer, such as recommending against chemotherapy. Have you had a loved one die of cancer? It was their fault. Do you have or have you had cancer? It’s your own damn fault for being so negative.
Switch your target from Makoney, errm, Maloney to Moritz: he’s even crazier and more dangerous.
By the way, here is Andreas Moritz.
He’s peddling something called a liver flush — you gulp down a nasty concoction of Epsom salts, olive oil, and grapefruit, and then you go lie down for a while and suffer nausea and diarrhea. If you’re really dedicated, you can poop into a colander and collect strange lumps, as much as 2″ in diameter, that he claims are liver stones flushed out by the oily glop. This will make your knees feel better.
Seriously.
Read Orac’s take on Moritz. You might also be interested in his explanation of the liver flush: oil+salts is a nice way to make saponified lumps in your digestive tract.
The Prime Quack?!
Don’t invite him in! It renders garlic useless against him!
I’d love to see a copy of
http://forthesakeofscience.wordpress.com/2009/05/24/andreas-moritz-is-a-stupid-dangerous-man/, but Google’s cache is too recent…
Quoth the quack:
“Slander is slander, whether it is done online or offline.”
Technically, if it’s written online, isn’t it libel? Still, I bet “WorldPress” is pretty worried about how they treat “Makoney” now!
So his flu is longer?
“Cancer, the physical disease, cannot occur unless there is a strong undercurrent of emotional uneasiness and deep-seated frustration.”..
WOW This is ummm wrong, my uncle just died of cancer and he was the happiest man you could find alive, went to church every sunday(not that is a good thing),loved his life, loved his wife and children, only went to grade 4 but had a nicer house,garden and family then most people just though hard work and love, never said anything bad about anyone.
So I dare this guy to find a “strong undercurrent of emotional uneasiness and deep-seated frustration” in my uncles life.
Fucking quacks!
Of course, his website says that you cannot believe anything that is written on it:
He may find a lawyer willing to file a defamation suit, but any lawyer willing to take it on contingency has nothing to do and no clue about reality.
I really wish I’d used the name “Andreas Moritz” in the title of my previous post, just so there’d be even more critical comments turning up in searches for his name.
What are the bets he tries to sue in the UK? >_<
Of course, under Section 230, WordPress is not liable for the content created by its users. So this guy’s grasp of law is about as good as his grasp of science.
“Medical intuitive,” eh?
For those of you who aren’t aware, that means he uses his amazing psychic powers to diagnose medical problems. For serious.
Look out, peo[ple of Amine, he’s on his way! He’ll find you with his GSP!
Impressive.
First Orac gets kookblocked by Jim Carrey, and now this. Is it celebrity week on Scienceblogs?
It’s difficult to find words to express how much I detest these people.
I see that both you and Orac have trashed Moritz as a fraud and quack in the past and ScienceBlogs is still standing and that Moritz hasn’t sued anyone. Too bad that WordPress was so ignorant of how completely dishonest Andreas, as he refers to himself on his website, is. My condolences to Michael Hawkins for having his blog on a site that runs away the first time someone says boo.
Moritz knows he is a fraud. He knows that he would be a complete fool to go to court under those circumstances.
I have yet to meet a cancer patient with more than two eyes. HAVING ONLY TWO EYES CAUSES CANCER!!!
Fish Zoologist?
Can you tell me the best fly to use on the Humber River for Atlantic Salmon, PZ?
I get the distinct impression that kooks and quacks don’t like it much when their “chosen professions” are scrutinized, but I’ll have to check with my astrologer to be sure.
Just checked out his web page. Did you know that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS? At least not in heterosexuals.
This is more stupid in one place than both of the Bush administrations!
It’s mostly nonsense, but there have been studies that stress correlates with getting cancer, presumably by suppressing the immune system.
No excuse for the other junk, though, especially the advice against chemo.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/mxaa3p
Funny how these pieces of filth love to accuse everyone else of selling out to Big Pharma who of course is just in it for the buck$, implying they practice medicine for the shear love of healing people. To hear them tell it, you’d think they shit fucking rainbows.
So where does all their fancy lawyer money come from? 30C dilutions of quarters?
Um, isnt threatening dissent with an ‘expensive lawsuit’ THE definition of a SLAPP lawsuit, which isnt permitted in most states?
“A strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) is a lawsuit that is intended to censor, intimidate and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition.”
Augusta, Amine?
Quack Moritz* please come to Pharyngula to collect your tin shovel.
*Doesn’t that sound like an awesome duck recipe?
Amine, eh? Sounds like a right interesting (if fragile) state.
Go fuck yourself with a rusty chainsaw, Mr. Moritz. You’re beneath contempt.
Cause and effect: you’re doing it wrong.
Yes, people who have cancer are burdened with worries. Can’t imagine why.
confuseddave,
The judges in the UK would laugh Andreas out of court, even if he did have standing.
Fixed.
Threatening to sue? Now that’s some A-grade quackery right there. It would all be hilarious if it weren’t him preying on those most vulnerable.
Well, that explains why babies get cancer!
No, wait. No it doesn’t.
Go away, Mr. Moritz, until you can intuit some decency.
Did you see his consultation rates? Holy shit I’d lie my ass off too if I made $280 per hour. No wonder he can afford those expensive lawyers.
Somebody should tell him that it isn’t as easy to prove libel here in the US as it is in England though.
Unlike England the US libel laws are not so friendly to plaintiffs. You have to prove the statements are false with malicious intent (and prove they caused actual damages). Truth can’t be libel and opinion is protected by the 1st Amendment.
That would be 100% of the human population.
Apparently lab rats also have poor self-image, unresolved conflicts, etc…
Okay, being a lab rat would leave me with unresolved conflict and worries. Nevermind.
“Cancer does not kill a person afflicted with it!”
I hope he gets cancer then we’ll watch and see what kills him, ohhh that’s right the CANCER!
This is kind of off topic, but how is society supposed to deal with ignorance such as this? Millions of dedicated, intelligent, professional scientists and educators are working to advance our knowledge of the world by tiny progresses and by huge leaps of new knowledge, yet there is this other half of society that thinks its all bullshit, and their intuition, and gut feeling are much more trustworthy. Its seems that the mudslide of ignorance has grown exponentially since the dawn of the information age, and even as an overall optimistic person, I have a hard time seeing reason ever beating out ignorance fueled by emotion. That in no way implies that we should ever give up learning and teaching new things, but damn it seems like a losing battle sometimes. Just had to rant a little, I’m done now. :)
If cancer was caused by conflict, shame or guilt, why on earth would it be “extremely rare” prior to 40 or 50 years ago?
Does he think these are modern inventions?
Ewww.
My professional opinion of his Chia art.
How about this: http://www.ener-chi.com/book.htm#aids
This sick bastard is not only anti-science, he’s a homophobe as well.
I went to the website and did a spit-take at the following comment in his introduction:
However, I don’t diagnose or treat disease because it is my belief that doing so actually undermines true and lasting healing.
People should take this sham healer’s sham humility at face value and head for a real doctor for real diagnoses and real treatment.
At least he won’t have to worry about the worldpress link being nr. 2 on the google search results much longer, it will be nr. 3. The question is, will he like the new nr. 1?
From his site…
Yeow, that’s some mighty strong bullshit. And he suckers people into paying him big bucks for “consultations”? I’m in the wrong business, I think I’ll start channeling Ankenahten or something.
All of this is very timely for me. My mother has stage IV breast cancer. The therapies that her oncologist had her on are no longer effective, so he’s recommended moving to chemotherapy. But she’s gotten a hold of the crazy Suzanne Somers book and has now opted to go with some “alternate” therapies recommended therein instead.
Nothing I say has any effect on her thinking. She’s also a Xian fundy who loves Fox News. She long ago stopped listening to her liberal atheist son and isn’t going to start now.
Very sad.
One thing you don’t want to do is get in a sweat lodge with this guy.
Ya’ll be careful. He’s got “ionized stones.” Which “…have the inherent power to hold and release vast amounts of information and energy.” If he zaps you with his stones man, you’re done for!
From a mechanism point of view, does cancer kill? What is the ultimate cause of death? (sort of like AIDS – yeah, you’ll die from getting it, but not of it. The secondary infections are what kill you)
I linked to this article from my youtube video.
Not like anyone sees my channel, but at least it’s a a hit on the name for google bots :)
I’d like to see Moritz suggest to my face that my uncle died from poor self image instead of the ravages of cancer.
Canadian prisons aren’t bad compared to those of other countries.
Unfortunately, a lot of people will believe this idiot. It might actually be true that cancer is more prevalant in industrialized nations–because people in the third world die of other stuff first.
Sometimes, a half-truth is more dangerous than a lie.
Chris Who Runs in the Woods @ 36:
I’m very sorry to hear that, it has to be extremely difficult for you. I have a very good friend who has recovered from breast cancer and her outlook is excellent. The situation with your mother highlights just how dangerous the woo is to people.
@ Squeegee: The internet has really upped the ante on kook “knowledge.” For every site like this one that works hard to keep their facts straight, there are a dozen others with misinformation, deliberate or otherwise. People usually lean towards the one the agrees with their preconceived notions and biases. If I had trouble with math and science in school (which so many many people do for some reason), then I’m probably going to lean towards the woo sites because they sound so plausible given my internal biases.
“I know where you live” is plainly a threat, and ought to be reported to the police as such.
The lawsuit threat is the most obvious bluff I’ve ever seen. I actually sue people, and I never tip them off in advance.
I had Cancer when I was 3, I’m sure it was because I couldn’t stop worrying about my retirement plan and my future kids’ college fund. Not to mention the shaky job market in 1989.
I think Orac featured this guy in a Friday dose of woo a few years back. Seems that the “liver stones” are actually products of saponification (sp?) from the liver cleanse ingredients creating lumps of acid salts that you then pass with your stool. Drinking lemon juice and olive oil in huge quantities doesn’t clean your liver, it just makes you very unhappy while it all gurgles around in your tummy making lumpy nasty little soap stones that he says came out of your liver. woo woo!!!
Chris Who Runs in the Woods,
You’ve probably seen it, but in case this gives you some ammunition:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/11/blogging_suzanne_somers_knockout_part_1.php
re:#38 I’m sorry, that’s supposed to be “y’all”.
Careful. Showing the slime for what he is may give him poor self image and deep financial worries. He may get cancer then.
Wonder if he’d go against his own advice and get chemo then?
Marcus @#38
Not only does he sell Ionized Stones ($14 a pop) but also Mongolian Healing Stones (made in China!). Those go for up to $40.
From his site:
Yeeesh.
Squeege @ 29
This guy doesn’t believe any of the shit he spews. He’s a cynical, narcissistic con-man.
And a fucking bullyboy, too.
Picture below of Mr. Moritz getting ready to poop into a colander.
http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/usa/images-2/geico-caveman-relaxing.jpg
@Chris Who Runs in the Woods
Holy crap, man. That’s absolutely awful. I think I’m a few years away from exactly the same situation, as both my parents have been slowly descending into the madness of the Alt Med Christian Right. My dad thinks Joe Mercola is the single most brilliant medical mind going, and that (despite his having a degree in mathematics) all scientists are scoundrels in the greased palm of Big Pharma. And they’re of an age where this is all going to make them sicker and sicker.
All I can say is that I feel for you, and hope somehow you persevere and find a way to make her see the truth. And then tell me how you did it. :)
“Cancer is not a disease” is an absolutley horrifying an disgusting statement to me. This man is a monster. I think giving his books 1-star reviews on Amazon (with cogent comments) might be an appropriate and healthy way to combat his dangerous nonsense.
http://www.amazon.com/Cancer-Not-Disease-Survival-Mechanism/dp/097679442X/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_4
I actually laughed out loud.
You really should read the comments on Hawkins’ article tackling Moritz. It really drew in a swarm of woo-meisters insisting that Moritz was a wonderful human being.
I’m hoping they’re still around (that is, not dead of untreated cancer) and show up here. Wouldn’t that be entertaining?
From a mechanism point of view, does cancer kill? What is the ultimate cause of death?
Yes, cancer kills directly. I can tell you the ways, but you’re not going to like them.
Some cancers use so much energy that the patient essentially starves to death, even if they eat. Which they can’t or not well anyway, if it happens to be a cancer of the throat or stomach.
Other cancers interfere with an organ of importance. The liver is a common site of metastatic disease and if the cancer replaces enough of the liver it causes liver failure, coagulation defects which can lead to bleeding to death, toxin levels that destroy the brain, or fluid buildup on the abdomen leading to infections in the rich culture medium that is ascites. Also worthy of note, the liver capsule is well inervated and big masses pushing on it hurt. The brain is another favorite site of metastasis. That can cause death through seizures at a bad moment, interference with the hypothalamus, or the ever popular increase in pressure causing the brain to get squeezed down through the spinal cord. Then there’s the lungs. Lungs full of cancer can’t move air. Want to hear more? I didn’t think so. Bone involvement is excrutiatingly painful and can cause death through fractures and related complications.
Some cancers kill by local growth. Colon cancers can grow to the point where they obstruct the intestinal lumen. Ovarian cancers can also grow to the point where they obstruct the intestines, from the outside rather than the inside. I leave the results to your imagination but will give you the term “fecalform emesis” to ponder.
Yep, cancer kills. In ugly, ugly ways. These are the fates that quacks like Moritz are setting people up to endure. I’ve seen several patients who come in in horrible pain and distress from the sort of complications listed above after they gave all their money to some quack who promised to cure their cancer. And left them in horrible pain and broke. And feeling guilty because they were sure that the failure of the treatment was their fault: they ate a piece of non-organic fruit or had a bad thought or didn’t quite manage to take all 100 vitamin pills. It’s a bad business all around.
Did he refer to cephalopods as fish? That sounds defamatory.
Knowing what we know about Big Pharma in the U.S., I can’t say I exactly trust pharmaceutical companies who profit off of illness to suddenly find cures.
But for men/women like Mr. Moritz to claim what they do, there would have to be some sort of worldwide conspiracy in which every single scientist everywhere – including in countries which do not have health systems which operate on profit – are all colluding in order to keep “natural” remedies away from people and purposely ignore the nature of diseases. Are they for real?
I mean, fine, take your vitamins and herbs. Indeed, there was a recent study (in the UK I believe) which found that a chemical in the turmeric spice killed certain types of cancer rates very quickly. But these people would have you start eating vast amounts of Indian curry dishes to destroy your prostate cancer. That’s insane.
Mr. Moritz, it isn’t difficult to try to make your ideas for alternative medicine mainstream: test your hypotheses according to well established scientific methods, and get your findings published. I mean, you consider yourself a scientist, right?
“I have yet to meet a cancer patient who does not feel burdened by some poor self-image, unresolved conflict and worries, or past emotional trauma that still lingers in his/her subconscious.”
That’s it, my infant son got cancer from all the stresses of life.
Fuckin asshole.
I’ve dealt with Mr. Moritz before:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2008/02/the_wisdom_of_cancer_cells.php
No, I do work on fish.
After looking at this guy’s website, I don’t think he has to worry about ‘defamation.’ He cannot be defamed any more effectively than he defames himself. Cancer quackery is about as nasty as it comes — though it appears he has his hand in many other forms of quackery as well.
Among other crimes, he’s peddling the popular “blame the victim” gambit, where your diseases and disabilities are the result of bad thoughts. For some reason, this is supposed to empower you, since you can “take charge” of your problems by simply thinking them away. He will help you.
As others have said, 100% of the population has “unresolved conflicts and worries.” And I would guess that people with cancer have even more than average. They’re worried about having cancer.
If bad thoughts really cause cancer, then I’m in danger right now. I just looked around his site, and am thinking some very bad thoughts indeed.
Quack.
same, but at the mention of Merlin, I pictured him as a LARPer casting magic missles to cure teh cancerz.
DaveL@30:
That seems to coincide roughly with how old Andreas Moritz appears to be.
I think a study should be funded to research the correlation between his birthdate and worldwide feelings of conflict, shame, guilt and ennui.
How the hell can you sue for defamation when you’re being attacked for demonstrably false claims? It’s so easy to demonstrate to any jury that this quack is a liar and fraud not to mention an evil ghoul.
Yep. This is how cancer patients die:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/05/chemotherapy_versus_death_from_cancer.php
Was it VITAL that we know the state.
Sorry – had to.
JC
sqlrob @ #39:
Depends on what cancer and where it grows.
An example: Advanced colon cancer can block the bowel. This might not be treated in a terminal patient anymore as it requires extensive surgery. So those people die directly due to cancer growth (hopefully while under palliative care).
Other people might as well die of pneumonia or urosepsis, as a malignancy weakens the immune system and usually impairs their general condition.
Orac #61 wrote:
Good. I thought he sounded familiar.
Thanks for the link.
PZ is perfectly safe. There is no way this guy wants to come anywhere close to dealing with the law, or the legal system.
I am so darn slow. Dianne explained it so much nicer and more extensive.
Interesting.
Wordpress is down.
“WordPress will be back in a moment.”
Now, it could be some sort of maintenance, but I’m equally suspicious that this is not simply maintenance.
Yes, ’cause shame and guilt have only been around for 40 or 50 years…
Hm. OK. WithoutApology is still there…
Oh, a kook. I can play too. Sue me, sue me, please sue me.
I live in an anti-SLAPP suit state. Loser pays both lawyers and the court costs.
No way is a quack like Moritz going anywhere near a courtroom. You can tell he is a quack and a scared one. The threats are a dead giveaway. Much like cancer patients who don’t get proper medical treatment.
Hey Andy. Have your lawyer call mine. Let’s go to court!!!
F: I believe WordPress is down across the board. I thought something might have been worrying when I tried to access my own blog to update my article on this topic, but apparently 9.2 million other sites are suffering the same effect.
The wrath of Andreas Moritz is mighty indeed! Perhaps he has found a bottle of 30C DDoS and unleashed it on the mean internets…
Even franchise mascots can spot them.
Awww, poor little quack just wants a camera.
I was trying to get to an entirely different blog on WP, and it was down (simple refresh fixed it). So it looks like it is simply maintenance and nothing to fear from the tag-team of Quack Moritz and his Manos: Hands of Fate in Paris apprentice quack.
The quacks often die of taking their own advice. As well as taking other people with them.
Christine Maggiore was a HIV+ HIV/AIDS denialist. Her 3 year old daughter died of AIDS. She herself recently died of what is almost certainly AIDS at age 52.
Too late for her to change her mind now.
There is a long list of HIV/AIDS denialists who have died of AIDS.
I wonder how much PZed’s audience overlaps with those who would potentially seek treatment from this quack. I’m guessing very few. If nothing else, it gives the quack exposure and the chance to play the persecution card.
I remember an annoying guy in high school who whenever he didn’t get his own way would threaten to sue. It might have sounded tough to him, but not only was the threat empty – it just made him sound completely pathetic. Just like this quack here. He’s not going to risk conning desperate dying people into handing over what little remains in a last-ditch attempt to buy life, he can just continue on taking money from the desperate and live the good life. Otherwise he’d have to get an honest job like the rest of us and take a substancial paycut to do so.
Ugh.
I’ve spent the past three years fundraising to increase HIV and AIDS awareness. I’ve spent the last two months recovering from Testicular Cancer.
Surprisingly, both of these experiences have been incredibly educational, uplifting and motivating (the latter was scary, no doubt about it). Had I tried to think happy thoughts and drink body cleanse rather than seek prompt medical attention for that lump I found, my family would be missing a father.
Shame on you, Andreas Moritz.
If I thought I had the answer
To a killer such as cancer
I would fight against The Lord, Himself
To make my findings known;
To make certain I was certain
I would gladly raise the curtain
So that anyone could take a shot
At what, therein, was shown.
I would never ask immunity
To jabs from the community
If doing so would cover up
The rigor that I lack;
But Moritz and Maloney,
Though they’re through and through baloney,
Choose to run away from evidence:
They duck just like a quack.
Small world. I’ve dealt with Andreas Moritz before. He is a major kook and quack. A HIV/AIDS denialist. IIRC, he is also a Germ Theory of Disease denialist.
We tried the Moritz type of medicine for millennia. A century ago, the US average lifespan was 47, it is now 77. Thinking happy thoughts had nothing to do with the increase.
I’d just settled in to my big comfy chair. Firefox winked at my like a co-conspirator as she loaded up PrettyPosingPIs.com. After all, isn’t that what life is about?
The door wheeled open like the madman striding through it. “Pay up, Mister!” he demanded, oblivious of the shattered frosted glass exploding against the wall.
“Sure.” My replies aren’t at their rapier best when Ms. July PI is staring at me, both guns bared and blazing. “What for?”
There’s something unnerving about a madman shaking his fist at you. “You owe me!” he shouted. His taste for the melodramatic became apparent then as he stage-whispered, “I have brought you the greatest case of your career! It will make you famous.” His taste in the melodramatic was about the same as his taste in clothes — expensive, expansive, drab, and tacky.
I hate clients like this. But I love their cash.
“Sure,” I said again. “I charge two-fifty an hour, minimum of four hours.”
He smiled. “That is adequate. Now. Please attend.” I was hoping he wasn’t about to invite me to the opera. I didn’t want to resort to violence, but I don’t like men to get fresh with me. At least, not on the first case.
Instead, he said, “I am the greatest wizar… intuitive healer who has ever lived. Yes, I, the Awesome Andreas, and I have a most incredible mystery.”
I nodded as if I recognized his name, but the truth is, I only recognized his type: dangerously delusional and filled with a false estimate of his own competency.
He accepted my nodded admiration with a slight pursing of his lips and an inclination of his head, the ghost of a courteous bow. “I have made my modest (and honestly, quite lucrative) living by means of my inimitable power of intuition. I, Sir, can descry the lowliest of diseases, perceive the most insidious of bodily infections, inflammations, and pursulefulous parsimoniums.”
I nodded, as if I didn’t think he was a complete whackjob.
“I, my good man, can discern even the slightest of cellular irregularities. And in my entire life, I have never met an inflicted or infected individual who was not of the meanest of character, the softest of scruples, the most scurrilous of scoundrels.”
He nodded in my direction, as if indicating a small fly in his soup. I immediately thought, “Backstroke.”
He continued, “For instance you, dear Sir, are rife with disease. You are infected with cancer, with tetanus, and also syphilis.” His constant nodding varied somewhat, like a bobblehead on a dashboard. Now he used it to indicate his acceptance of my astonishment. In fact, he was accepting my slight and bewildered amusement. To him, it all tasted the same.
“And so I generated my Null Hypothesis,” he explained.
I barged in like a drunk arriving at an open bar wedding. “Have you been talking to Hyperon?”
This derailed him like a shower door coming off its tracks. He stuttered as if he were re-hanging himself, and chuffed along. “I have no idea of whom you speak, my good man. Now. As I was saying, my Null Hypothesis is this: in years past, man was healthy and hale. It has only been in this modern times with the advent of television and television dinners and fast food and stress and girls who turn you down even at three in the morning in the most diveous of dives that we have become infected with cancers and sexually transmitted diseases (which are quite hard to manage, I’ll have you know) and so on and so forth.”
He somehow used his bobbing noggin to indicate himself. “I have arrived at the inevitable conclusion that disease is associated only with bad emotions! Yes, dear sir, I see by the agapeness of your mouth that you are as startled as I first was! But it is true, I assure you.”
I snapped my jaw closed so fast, I found out days later I had fractured a molar. Through clenched teeth I asked, “And this leads to the mystery . . . how?”
Like an indelible scene from an Indiana Jones movie, his face melted in frustration and horror.
“The mystery, my good mmm..mmman,” he stammered, clamping down on his tears like the jaws of a bulldog in a fighting ring, “is that I have sprouted the cancer!”
His wails filled my office. I suddenly had the urge to not be near him. I said, “Sure. I’ll take the job. Two-eighty an hour. Here’s the deal: I think investigating a mystery simply makes it real, kind of causes the conclusion of empirical evidence to manifest, if you know what I mean.” I made my head all wobbly too, in a kind of sympathetic magic.
“So. I will investigate by not admitting the mystery, so as to avoid any unnecessary consequence. Okay?”
He kind of blubbered, “Okay.” I steered him out the door, avoiding the shattered glass. That was an hour in which I would not admit his mystery right there.
I admit, I have never been so glad to see the backside of a man in my entire life.
Cuttlefish FTW. I snorted beers out my nose.
Moritz can afford to talk to lawyers but can’t afford to install a free spell checker for his email.
Well, I know one person who has really been helped by Andreas Moritz, anyway.
Poor Christopher Maloney, the Homeopathic Naturopath, is probably feeling grateful. Not only did Moritz step into place to take on the blame for shutting down the blog, but, next to the dazzling horror of woo that is Andreas Moritz, Maloney almost looks sane.
See? Everyone has the capacity to help others, in some small way, as they can.
@62 with a sideline into cephalopod sex and plant pornography.
Bad timing on my part, to post right before Nigel the bold (#85). Brilliant.
syrenb,
It’s sort of a truism that one can sue anyone for anything. At least, one can bring suit.
Success is another thing entirely. Neither of these two wackos has much of a case. Maloney’s might be slightly better based on the “doctor” comment, but that’s still pretty questionable.
You cause me to blush, Sir!
I was quite sad I’d followed you. I pale in comparison. I’m like Steve Miller following Leonard Cohen.
No worries–I just recited your comment, aloud, to just me and the dog. We both like yours better than mine.
You might want to get that blush looked at, as there is no discernable environmental cause…
I have finally worked my way around Scienceblog’s commenting system.
I have an enormous appreciation for all the support I’ve been given. Maloney and Moritz are truly beyond belief.
One of the objections WordPress had was that I said Maloney was not a doctor. So far, it has appeared that he actually is one. But a closer inspection of Maine law (thanks to the links and analysis provided here), shows otherwise.
lovely poem and pulp nonfiction, and Satra’s brilliant out of the box, different angle observation that followed.
I think Nigel hit on something important:
or maybe it’s just a vibe because of that nut in Austin today and the screed he left.. but sometimes this stuff is the next 60 Minutes story.
nigelTheBold,
I agree completely that our dear Cuttlefish of the Order of Molly is truly an inspired rhymester and it may be silly to try to do better in poetry than he does off the cuff, but your fine little tale would have made Sam Spade proud and persuaded the Continental Op to find a new line of work.
I listened to the bullshit in his video where he had to cure himself at an early age because the doctors at the time couldn’t. Ahhh, nothing like telling stories of self-curing to convince the gullible.
I’ll partially retract my previous statement about Maloney.” He may not have been the one to call it in, but his cheerleading of Moritz’s actions while proclaiming persecution from the skeptical community is still hypocrisy.
Criticism is NOT libel or slander. These men have put themselves into the public eye with their claims and their statements fall under the protection of “fair comment.” Maloney and Moritz are using the time-dishonored tactic of British Chiropractors (see Simon Singh’s plight) and the Scientologists: Threaten lawsuit and the target will hopefully clam up!
Michael Hawkins (with one of those bizarro Google aliases) wrote: “One of the objections WordPress had was that I said Maloney was not a doctor.”
WordPress isn’t responsible for what you write. They need to get a new lawyer who doesn’t tell them to run away every time some woomeister is offended that they were called on their nonsense. I agree completely with you. Maloney is not a doctor.
Anything that makes you shit soap cannot possibly be good for you.
Well, since WordPress took down Hawkins blog I can’t see what he said for myself. I’m somewhat disinclined to take the word of someone, “doctor” or not, who is claiming that herbs and berries can stop N1H1, or that cancer caused by bad vibes.
Wait a minute – he poops in a colander to collect the lumps?
I strongly advise everyone here to never, ever, eat meatballs at this guy’s house.
I tried searching for ‘Liver Stones’ in wikipedia..
Did you mean: ‘Oliver Stone’?
Now there’s a hollow threat if ever I’ve heard one. I doubt if many physicians could afford to finance a multi-lawyer legal campaign never mind some putz peddling herbal cancer cures. Of course one could reply with a lawsuit against both the “doctor” and his lawyers for trying to trample on your first amendment rights. That would be interesting.
My Grandpa, otherwise a very intelligent man, died of cancer because he refused chemotherapy. In the end, he could have lived a little longer had he accepted a blood transfusion, but he refused that too.
The “doctors” who peddle this crap other real medicine make me sick. They are responsible at least in part for the death of millions.
C’mon, give the guy a break!
It does seem like it’s controversial to say that guilt and shame cause cancer. But, on the other hand, those two emotions have brought me nothing but unhappiness, and I’d be willing to eradicate them from my life even if it didn’t lower my cancer risk.
And some quick reading reveals that Mr. Moritz has absolutely no shame. I’m planning on studying his website in great detail to see if I can duplicate his mind-set. (I haven’t found the secret yet, but I did find the page where you can buy “ionized” rocks that he pulled out of a streambed for $13.95 each. He says that you can make your food more nutritious by putting one of these rocks next to it for 30 seconds. I’d LOVE to be able to run a scam like that, but my conscience keeps getting in the way.)
No.
Quoted–again–for perfection.
Wow, talk about a Quack Attack! These quacks are as bad as Republican hacks. Intelligence and sense, they both definitely lack.
I wish I could take credit for the “ducks like a quack” line… but as always, the truth can be found in limerick form. The OEDILF ( http://www.oedilf.com/db/Lim.php?VerseId=87878 ) defines “alternative health practices” as:
There are practices—quite a high stack—
All defined by the proof that they lack;
These alternative health
Methods sure gather wealth—
But when challenged, they duck like a quack!
Blame the OEDILF contributer “Cuttlefish”… whoever he/she is…
ha.. you know, that fretboard tapping thing worked out pretty good for Van Hagar guy.
Bravo, Cuttlefish!
as always, your poetry astounds, when it makes the rounds, of the internet-tubeways.
you win adulation and hearty congratulation
for you’ve surely got a brain !
These people fear and abhor scrutiny. They measure their success by their google page rankings and the money they have in the bank. They surround themselves with yes-men, delusional zealots and the desperately sick so they never have to answer difficult questions.
The more the skeptical community expose the absurdity of this arsehole’s claims, the better.
Surely we can shine a light into the dark corners of this fucker’s enterprise and save some lives in the process?
Caine, you missed the joke!
The OEDILF, like Cuttlefish OM, is simply brilliant…
Not something I’d brag about.
Throw this dangerous fraud in jail.
Cath @ 114:
I got it. Perhaps I should have included a ;)
http://www.ener-chi.com/apply.htm
I forgot that becoming a scientist involved not years of studious research, learning and thoughtful debate, but a big, bold, brash litigation claim for all to see.
By the way, Moritz, loving the far-too-short chinos.
Hey Moritz: You are a moron, a quack, a fraud, a lunatic, a mad man, a faux doctor, a fake, an intelligible nut, a loon, a crank, a kook, and a con man.
There, sue me. Oh wait, never mind, this is the internet.
Chemotherapy is not the only way to handle cancer, and it’s worth discussing alternatives.
If my wife’s cancer recurs, she’ll get radiation, and if that is not sufficient, she’ll get palliative care for help as she dies. Because, at the moment, those are the available choices.
Alternative explanation: he falsely admitted to getting WordPress to pull MH’s blog and is threatening you now… to get more exposure.
…just in case y’all missed this likely possibility. (sorry if someone brought it up before… no time to peruse the comments). Just trying to be helpful.
[blockquote]My close friend, Dr Deepak Chopra…[/blockquote]
For the ignominious defeat!
Moritz also sells “Mongolia Health Stones” for $20-40. ( http://www.ener-chi.com/stones.htm ). These stones are apparently great for your health, and can cure disease upon contact: “Mongolian Holy Stones are proactive healing stones that are mined in Inner Mongolia where most of the world’s Rare Earth compounds are mined. The locals call it “holy” because it heals on contact. Years of testing by six recognized International Research Institutes provides us with the information on how the Mongolian Holy Stone produces its miracles. Some of this information is included later in this section.”
I wonder then how a country with so many magical stones only manages a life expectancy of 66.8 years ( http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=wb-wdi&met=sp_dyn_le00_in&idim=country:MNG&dl=en&hl=en&q=life+expectancy+mongolia ). Also, if you check that data, the average life expectancy in Mongolia in 1960 was 47 years. Perhaps they had not discovered the source of the stones?
And if the stone do work, if you buy one you are depriving those who need them the most: the Mongolians.
Chris Who Runs in the Woods @ 36:
If she won’t listen to the doctors, try a little anecdotal information. I have four friends who have had breast cancer. ALL of them went to the doctors and did their treatments. ALL of them found the treatment unpleasant but nothing like as bad as they had feared. One came back to work work before the skin burns from her radiation treatment had completely healed.
And ALL of them have now been cancer-free for more than five years. We are getting better and better with this stuff.
Oh, and one more. ALL of them have had grandchildren since, grandchildren they got to be here to see and to love and those grandchildren get to have their grandma (2), nana, and mimi.
Tell her I know she is scared and those bastards tell her lies that confuse her, but tell her I said, “Please, please, please go to your doctor and do your treatments. People love you. Don’t leave them sooner than you have to.”
Moritz: “…your best chance of avoiding melanoma is to move to areas of higher UV-concentration, such as mountainous regions or the equatorial tropics and become a nudist!”
http://www.mindpowernews.com/HealingSunlight.htm
Moritz: “Despite common belief, there is no scientific evidence to this day that AIDS is a contagious disease.”
http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200612/1164991199.html
O-o-oh. Mindpower News for the extra dose of woo that will power blend your mind into mush.
They must be so proud of themselves for the lies they tell.
Moritz: “There are no real diseases, injustices or calamities in the world.”
http://www.trans4mind.com/life-coach/life-challenge2/moritz.shtml
CalGeorge @ 127:
As a whiter than white freckled person, that would be a good recipe for tanned leather skin and early death.
My leukemia surviving uncle thanks him for the knowledge that his cancer was the fault of him not fly fishing, loving his family, drinking wine and being an all around great guy enough.
Those damn doctors and their evil poison radiation and chemotherapy didn’t help him at all.
I’ll make sure to scold him for being a lucky asshole next time I see him.
“…I will not hesitate to launch an expensive lawsuit against you that you will not forget for a long time.”
That sounds like the sort of anger that’ll give you cancer.
What a dangerous loon.
Hurry up and get your book written, PZ! A Choprasuit would be great publicity!
Moritz: “But just as we want to be loved, cancer cells also need to know that they are loved. Cutting them out of the body through surgery, or destroying them with poisonous drugs or radiation just adds more violence to the body. To live in health and peace in life, we especially need to be friends with the cells of the body, including any cancer cells.”
http://www.raw-wisdom.com/andreas (p. 299)
Moritz: “After having examined numerous cancer patients in my practice I discovered that all of them, regardless of the type of cancer, have large amounts of gallstones in the liver and gallbladder. If all stones are removed from the liver and gallbladder through a series of liver cleanses, and the colon and kidneys are cleansed before and after each liver cleanse, you have created the physical preconditions for most every type of cancer to go into spontaneous remission. This also applies to cancers that are considered to be terminal.”
http://www.raw-wisdom.com/andreas (p. 309)
What a loon.
Damaged or faulty genes do not kill anyone.
So hemophilia has never killed anyone? Good to know.
High water chinos and white socks. This guy is trying to get on the Worse Dressed List. Too bad Mr. Blackwell is dead.
Cancer is our friend.
You’d think someone threatening a defamation lawsuit would realize he basically wrote down the very definition of a SLAPP suit, that he intends on suing someone in Maine, and that Maine is one of the many states with anti-SLAPP legislation. Also, knowing the difference between libel and slander helps. I learned that one in 8th grade civics class but, hey, we can’t all be A students, I guess.
“…this unnatural form of sexual practice [rectal intercourse] causes constantly occurring intestinal injury, thus depleting the body’s amino acid reserves. As a result of the constant internal injuries, a massive number of cells have to be dismembered, cleared, and replaced continually, which produces a long-term depletion of the body’s protein reserves. When one or more amino acids become depleted, DNA or RNA molecules break apart, leaving behind their protein fragments labeled HIV. Therefore HIV is the effect of immune deficiency and not its cause.”
http://www.raw-wisdom.com/andreas (p. 339)
He has an answer for everything and it’s always wrong! Has he been on Oprah yet?
Y’all know what this is called, don’t ya? It’s a cartooney.
Uh-oh, PZ. Better buy this guy a camera before he gets the entire graduating class of Stuyvesant High School to drop you as a facebook friend.
It’s sad how we try to improve the quality of life of patients and there are people trying to take advantage of people’s misfortunes. . . They should all rot.
Unfortunately in this world. . . Caveat Patiens (Let the patient beware).
And here’s a little nugget of truth — or half-truth — that powers his quackery. This statement sounds like what my mom sometimes told me when I was whining or complaining about something. “You can’t always change what happens, but you can always try to change your attitude.” Make the best of a bad situation. Look for the silver lining. If life hands you lemons, make lemonade.
Not particularly profound, but useful. That is, it’s useful till you take it way, way over the top and try to pretend that serious and even life-threatening problems were specifically given to you — or, worse, chosen by you, while you were at some higher spiritual level — specifically in order to teach you the important little character-building lesson that you need to be resilient, or forgiving, or even more spiritual, or whatever.
We’ve seen it before. It’s the soul-building theodicy. Why is there apparently pointless suffering in a world controlled by a powerful and loving God? It’s all there to make you a better person. Learn your lesson yet?
He hit me, and it felt like a kiss. Cancer is your friend.
Last May I posted a negative review of his book on Amazon. I see only two others have done so. Looking at the reviews I see my review was criticized by people making all sorts of assumptions, implying I am employed by big pharma. For those of you familiar with his book and his claims I suggest posting a review as most of the reviews are positive.
#142
There is so much wrong with this sentence. I can’t tell whether he doesn’t know the difference between nucleic acids and proteins, doesn’t know how translation works, or is just making shit up.
Does anyone here speak quack?
#125
Carbonatites are excellent sources of REE. My first visit to one on field trip had a nice outcrop with a thick vein of a mineral named britholite (a type of mica) that contains a *lot* of thorium. Being the wielder of the sledge and chisel I dutifully chopped out a bagful of the stuff for all participants which was then divied up later, our local authority reminded everyone – its radioactive, don’t put it in your pocket.
The chances of this joker actually having any unusual rocks are slim and none but it would be interesting if he did… sheesh talk about lawsuits. Radon inhalers anyone?
One criterion for a google ranking in search results is the number of links to a given site from other sites, so the way to “google bomb” the woo site is simply to post as many entries as possible everywhere we can think of linking to this post and Orac’s posts or better still to an entirely new post as well that systematically dismembers the grifter’s claims and exposes the sadistic maladvice he is pedaling. It would be far better than poll busting as polls are meaningless to begin with. Pushing his actual site listing off the google top ten would do him some real disservice. I know this is not the intended ‘purpose’ of Pharyngula but as a side interest it would at least have some positive benefit perhaps in alarming the naive with regard to their search results if the first 3-9 links ranked in the results point to sites debunking the woo.
Not being a lawyer I can’t say whether it would be possible to instigate any action to investigate this guy’s *consultancy*. But the AG of his state might notice if a lot of complaints were registered in that regard. As a geologist, I have to be licensed for certain kinds of consultancy. Similar constraints might apply to dispensing medical advice like – I am not a doctor by my miraculous intuition and decades of inspired healing have shown that the certain cure for your adenocarcinoma of the esophagus is to think happy thoughts, and oh by the way, you might want to try my $300 radon inhaler.
Sorry to rant, though rants here can sometimes generate a bit of celebrity :-) – but it seems we have to use our collective intelligence and reasonable skepticism in more pragmatic ways if we are going to have an effect. I therefore make suggestions that are admittedly not well thought out but superficially might have some efficacy.
In an odd sort of irony, it would seem on reflection that demons and ghouls truly do exist, they just happen to be ordinary humans bereft of any humanity. It is sad there are so many.
Would it be improper to nominate PZ for an OM (lifetime achievement) for fearlessly taking on these loonies? You can laugh at them but one day he could antagonize someone who is both nuts AND crazy.
Yet he continues to take the risk because he cares for both the people who are harmed by them, for Truth and about the integrity of science.
Or maybe I am just one of PZ’s blind devoted followers…….
:sigh: My brother has tried to give me the whole “more people have been diagnosed with cancer in the past 40-50 years than at any point in human history” spiel. He’s friends with a lot of chiropractors, you see. It hasn’t happened yet, but I dread him bringing up something like vaccine denial or how anti-depressants cause depression or how chiropracty prevents disease and I won’t be able to hold my tongue.
Since these cancer quacks always like to bring up the subject of litigation, how hard would it be to find relatives of people they’ve killed and get them to sue?
That would give Moritz something to shit into his colander.
Quacks in their many guises cause a great deal of harm because they offer hope even as they exploit people’s vulnerabilities and fears. Their “clinical evidence” often amounts to hyping alleged cures, but we seldom hear about cancer patients in dire straits who go for the snake oil and pay in some cases with their life. It’s good to see Prof Myers tackling this in such a robust fashion.
Why, that would explain my friend’s daughter’s retinoblastoma. She is four.
Must have been deeply frustrated and emotionally uneasy because her mom didn’t buy her those nice Dora shoes.
I hate how cancer quacks always find something to blame with the patient.
Like it’s not enough feeling like crap, you’ve got to feel guilty about it too.
I’m not a pilot, I’m a “flying intuitive.” Now sit back, relax, and enj… why is there a goat in this cloud?
Professions exist for a reason.
Safety being among the biggest.
@148
Well, I don’t, but I’ve conceeved of a kind of a general rule for writing quack sentences.
Take all the sciency-looking bits in that sentence (amino acid, DNA, RNA, protein, HIV) and put them back in any random order. It will make just as much sense as the original one.
How to write quackeese
1- Choose a sentence containing a duh-analogy or the lowest-level oversimplifications of human physiology you can find
2- Get an up-to-date popular science terms list
3- Use a little creativity – or a random generator
4- Profit !!!!
Gosh, we have more cancer cases today than 50 years ago? Clearly that can’t be because we’re better at diagnosing it, that people are living longer, or that we’re getting better at fighting it. Nope, it’s gotta be ‘stress’, ‘toxic lifestyles’ and modern technology that is doing it.
These quacks do have a cure for one thing, though. Heavy-walletitis is treatable and need no longer be feared. Although, personally I prefer to self-medicate by purchasing unnecessary electronics.
Martha, #147:
Moritz has several books for sale on Amazon. I make it a monthly habit to check out the latest bullshit that he (and his followers) are spouting on the reviews. Any help I have in debunking (or merely mocking) them is greatly appreciated!
I’m going through Testicular Cancer treatment right now, and I’m wondering if there is a way that I can sue this asshole without taking his “advice” first.
The good news for me is that after four rounds of chemo, the mass is currently 75% smaller than when it started. All though I can’t help but wonder why all of the people who have been praying for me weren’t praying that the damn thing would go away completely.
If you don’t mind my asking, randydukek, what are the treatment options and likely outcomes? If you have one testicle removed, the cancerous one, what’s the prognosis?
Any way we can pull this waste of carbon to Usenet? His obviously distinguished practice of internet law is deserving of a Balsa Gavel award.
Ooo want a giggle? Go here: http://www.amazon.com/Cancer-Not-Disease-Survival-Mechanism/dp/097679442X/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
And read the comments on the one star reviews. Moritz posted comments himself, and they’re basically a copy/paste response. Fun stuff.
I just lost my sweet, easy-going, laid-back, bombproof cat to cancer. No doubt he had unresolved trauma in there somewhere, no doubt as a consequense of his hectic schedule of eating, sleeping, playing, and being generally adored by all and sundry. His fan club misses him. On behalf of all animals everywhere with cancer (what did those poor Tasmanian devils ever do to him, huh?), Moritz can kiss my rosy pink rump.
Chris Who Runs In The Woods: Your story is absolutely horrifying. I’m very sorry. Hang in there. :(
I was just thinking about those same poor Tasmanian devils – apparently, and this is the preliminary analysis, they have a contagious cancer. That is, the cancer from one original animal has been infecting other animals. One original animal is killing the rest with a social cancer.
Now, I would say that this means a smile is not the only mood that is contagious? Should we research how being bit on the face by another angry cancer-ridden individual impacts mood?
“To be more specific, I have yet to meet a cancer patient who does not feel burdened by some poor self-image, unresolved conflict and worries, or past emotional trauma that still lingers in his/her subconscious. ”
Um, I have yet to meet a human who isn’t burdened by some poor self-image, unresolved conflict and worries, or past emotional trauma that still lingers in his/her subconscious.
Barbara Ehrenreich eviscerates cancer-quacks who blame cancer (and credit recovery) to ‘negative versus positive outlook.’ in her book ‘Bright-Sided’. Definitely a recommended read for we grumpy atheists.
Liars, frauds, charlatans, cooks, lunatics, bullshit artists, snake-oil salesmen, and cheats. All of them. They belong in jail.
Filing SLAPP suits ought to be a capital offense, with enough aggravating factors.
Skij13 @ 125:
Calling geologist Pharyngulites! Anyone want to buy a mongolian health stone and identify its place of origin? Does the US have consumer protection legislation that would make misrepresentation illegal?
This page is on the bottom of the first page of results when I Google for “andreas moritz”. It’s going well so far.
Shouldn’t this discussion be really easy to solve?
Let’s put his money, where his mouth is.
Let’s induce the man with some cancer, like a lab mouse and prohibit every therapy except hiw own.
He should be able to recover very easily, using his own advice….if not,well he won’t have to endure the ridicule for long.
So it’s really a win-win situation.
randydudek writes:
Good luck with the rest of your treatments.
Josh, Official SpokesGay writes:
Josh, the range of possibilities is far too great to give one good answer. It is rare, (~7500 cases in US/year), but it is the most highly curable. When caught early, prognosis is 99+% survivability (Stage I) and even later stages is still high. A monthly check is easy to do, every man should learn how.
Treatment is almost always to remove the suspected testicle – a biopsy presents too great a risk of spreading metastasized cells. Depending upon staging and type, treatment options include surveillance, surgery (lymph node removal), radiation, single/double dose of Carboplatin and/or rounds of chemotherapy.
The forum over on the above website is a brilliant resource.
Oh, and anyone tempted to go there and peddle quackery, don’t bother. Your posts aren’t welcome and won’t last long; the moderators protect the innocent.
Hey look! Somebody’s using US libel laws to restrict freedom of speech on a dispute about junk science vs medicine.
Quick! We better launch a campaign to change teh Mehcun legal system…
Good point.
Another one would be, as was pointed out above, let’s have it on the table, let’s have Mr Moritz sue PZ or Hawkins, I think Peter Irons would have a field day with that one, and Mr Moritz (and Mr Baloney if he shares to put his money where his mouth is), would find themselves stocking shelves at Walmart quicker then a quack can say duck.
I used to live hard by Amine, over in Amide.
misterfed @ #9, #9, #9, #9…
Wordpress’ grasp of law, Google’s, most ISPs’, etc., are about equal when it comes to Section 230, or false DCMA takedown notices, for that matter. They seem to bow to the louder, more litigious types, even when the complainant is actually the one violating the law.
While most services can take down anything at will, they shouldn’t be able to claim it was for reasons of libel, which would be libelous in itself. But the Streisand Effect will prevail in such cases, anyway.
ERV @ 18
Yeah, pretty much.
marcus @ 38
You think he would be qualified to treat this sort of sexual dysfunction, given his claims.
Quoth Kamaka @ 35
You have got to be fucking kidding me, right? How self-aggrandizing, how original.
Davidpj@76, Capital Dan @ 79:
Yes, that is why I was so interested. Could be maintenance, could be someone wanted a forensic-style copy…
Jason Ball @ 103
I enjoyed that, on so many levels.
folderol @ 50
But did you read the technical report?
I enjoyed sniggering along with this chucklehead wearing white socks and loafers and trying to be taken seriously…
…maybe this is the best way to deal with these people – laugh outright in their face. Again and again and again…
Will I get sued if I write that he’s a worthless piece of shit?
Yesterday my 1.5 year old cat died of cancer. It was raging in her intestines and the vet thought it was a foreign object too large to pass, but found the cancer upon opening her up. I can only imagine the kind of “poor self-image, unresolved conflict and worries, or past emotional trauma that lingered in her subconscious.” If only we had taken her regularly to a psychologist.
And here he is accusing you of defamation by implying that you are motivated by malice.
Yeah, good luck taking that to court.
Josh, Prognosis is good. Doctors even using terms like “cure.” So far I’ve just been through Chemo, but depending on what’s left, additional surgery and /or radiation might still be options.
Personal abuse is not defamation. You may call him a pointless lump of festering turds until the cows come home without fear of legal recourse.
Just remind him that more people are living now than at any time in human history. In fact, if you take the number of people alive during the period 1960-2010, that number is larger than the total number of all humans who have ever lived until that point.
If there are NOT more people diagnosed with cancer over the past 40-50 years then at any other point it would be shocking (that we are doing such an amazingly good job of preventing cancer these days, which of course, we can’t really take credit for yet).
This shit really shits me! My mother-in-law died of cervical cancer, partly because she didn’t go see a doctor for ages, even after her abdomen looked like she was 8 months pregnant from the tumor. She was convinced that as long as she ate the right herbs, went on cleansing diets and got her mind in the right space, then she could heal anything. By the time she went into surgery and had massive chemotherapy, they only gave her a few more months. She hung in there for over a year, but it had gone too far.
The thing is, I’m convinced that if she had fully gone into remission, she would have credited the fresh fruit juices and meditation with the healing success, not the doctors.
Mongolian Holy Stones™ are “striated igneous jade loess”. I looked up each of those words, but it’s making my head hurt — any geologists know what stones are called “igneous jade”? Every reference I find says jade is metamorphic (both true kinds, most false ones too). And the ™ is used unironically on websites selling these lumps.
I forgot to add: “but not in hectoring emails or phone calls, because that could be harrassment”.
As you were.
Ugh, when it comes to the really vile stuff, us Germans still seem to export the worst and most obnoxious Quacks…
sqlrob @39:
I think eventually the tumour(s) encroach on a vital organ and stop it from working, and by definition one dies if any “vital” organ stops working.
Sometimes a tumour, for example if adjacent to an artery, can cause a haemorrhage, too — that recently happened to a friend of mine’s mom.
On the main topic: the “woo” stuff about deadly diseases pisses me off, especially if it puts people off effective medicine or makes them feel guilty for being sick.
Miki Z: not only is Jade not an igneous rock, loess is an aeolian sediment (formed from wind-blown dust, usually blown inland from the continental shelf during glacial low sea levels). The famous German wine region Kaiserstuhl is grown on such soils (which itself sits on an old volcano – but I’ve never heard of jade from there).
Miki Z @ 183:
I think the key is Loess. ‘Jade’ might be descriptive or a claim to actual jade based on the remote possibility that a chunk of loess might contain jadeite. Whatever the case, it’s bullshit.
Wow, WordPress really sucks. Remind me NEVER to use their service again. I’ll also make sure to tell other users what will happen to their precious website if they step one small toe out of line.
I hope Michael calls this guy’s bluff. It should be most amusing to see how he scuttles back into the cracks.
Thanks ginckgo and Caine, that’s what it sounded like from my reading, but I’m dumb at rocks.
I’m in the wrong business, I think I’ll start channeling Ankenahten or something. – Kamaka
If you want to channel an ancient Egyptian, the one to go for is probably Imhotep , 27th century BCE chancellor to the 3rd dynasty Pharoah Djoser. He is generally described as the first physician known to history, and as designer of the Step Pyramid at Saqqara (but if you claim he designed the much more famous and intensely wooified Great Pyramid at Giza, the marks are unlikely to know the difference).
Well I see his point: just think of the “poor self-image, unresolved conflict and worries, or past emotional trauma” Tasmanian devils must be suffering from being demonized as they are!
His website has a FAQ. I lolled hard at this one:
”
Q. Do the Ener-Chi Ionized Stones lose their charge or energy over time?
A. No, nothing that you do diminishes the charge and effect of the stones.
”
Well it is undeniably true. 0 charge and 0 effect,… can’t diminish.
Preying on cancer victims. Have you no decency ?
Asshats like this who prey on the desperate and sick really, really, really fucking disgust me. And I wouldn’t cross the street to
piss on ’emshit saponified lumps on ’em if they were on fire.(/That is all.)
I have just finished reading Francis Collins’ “The Language of Life”.
It was much better than I feared. Francis Collins is an enthusiastic optimist who thinks that once we work out which genes are critical in each individual cancer, then we will be able to develop treatment which will target the tumour and not damage healthy cells, as current chemo- and radiotherapy does.
I have a collection of semiprecious stones, and I can attest that the word “jade” is probably the second most abused word in stone collecting, right after “genuine”. I’ve seen “jade” used for serpentine, calcite, dyed calcite, glass, plastic, low-quality quartz, and agate.
No telling what Quack has on offer.
Anything that makes you shit soap cannot possibly be good for you. – alysonmiers
Oh I don’t know. What better way to “cleanse your colon”?
Bah! The Laws of Thermodynamics are just lies cooked up by Big Energy!!
If you don’t mind turning it into a ;
Francis Collins is an enthusiastic optimist who thinks that once we work out which genes are critical in each individual cancer, then we will be able to develop treatment which will target the tumour and not damage healthy cells, as current chemo- and radiotherapy does.
HAHAHAHA! Very funny. But unlikely on at least 3 levels. One, many cancers don’t have a particular mutation as their cause. For example, many colon cancers have ras mutations but not all. So targeting mutant ras would only work for some cancers. Two, even when there is a known good target the vast majority of chemotherapy has cross reactions which make them affect normal tissue. It’s not going to get much more specific than TKIs (ie Gleevec) which target BCRAbl but the TKIs aren’t side effect free. On the up side, the fact that they also have some effect on other genes means that they work in cancers they were not intended to work in (ie GIST tumors). Finally, even if we have a specific drug for a specific gene the body has redundancy such that shutting down that gene may not kill the cancer. Farnasyl transferase inhibitors have largely failed because an alternate pathway keeps the cells alive when the primary gene is blocked.
We can do better and are doing better. Compare the tolerability of gleevec versus alpha-interferon, the previous first line for CML. But anyone offering a perfect side effect free cure for all cancer is trying to sell you something and I don’t see that changing in the near future. Much as I’d love to be wrong.
One of his books contains a method that he claims will cure cancer, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, and infectious diseases. I’m pretty sure that this is a violation of the FDA rules about making medical claims. Anybody familiar with the law want to take a stab at it?
How about Hulda Clark’d book “The Cure for All Diseases”, which Orca takes down on his blog: http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2006/07/your_friday_dose_of_woo_would_you_like_a.php
Talk about a total misrepresentation!
Like the fundies and other religoids, the wooters are not liking criticism. They were deferred to for so long, that they mistakenly think they are being persecuted. Unlike like those poor witches, they are not. They are being shown to be exactly what they are: squirming, vicious quacks.
Can this prime quack use British libel laws to get his unethical way?
This prime quack can easily present his case to us if he gives us evidence that his treatments are effective, and that he uses science as a foundation for his understanding of treating the ill and maintaining health. Just like the creationists. Give us evidence and we will accept your claims. Until then, you will continue to receive deserved criticism.
Simon Singh is a hero of our times.
Michael Hawkins has temporarily (at least for now) mirrored his blog onto another hosting service:
http://forthesakeofscience.freewp.us
So, if you want to catch the offending posts there…
Nah, I’m already channeling the ancient Egyptian who complained that his boss overworked him and never invited him for beers. (scroll down to ‘Scribes and Literature’)
Ever since Kevin Trudeau was busted for selling crap that didn’t do what he said it would, he has changed into a con man who sells books. Your book can pretty much tell any lies it likes without falling afoul US law.
His pants are too short ánd he’s German!
Does this man truly expect to be taken seriously by anyone at all?? Oh please don’t sue me you quack nut cracker..
@202: Hulda Clark died recently of multiple myeloma despite her claim that she could cure all cancers, all advanced cancers, and all diseases (in various books.)
@Dianne
If you’ve read or seen the green mile, you’d know that that’s just how the trick works:P
The FDA has nothing to do with doctors. They deal with drugs, medical devices, and nutraceuticals (limited authority). Nutraceuticals cannot make certain medical claims, but can indicate, say relief or easing of joint pain. Saying they can cure something will lead to FDA action, which usually means relabeling without the cure statement.
Those they treat who fail to get better die.
Those they treat who get better become rebels.
We must destroy the Yellow Turbans.
This post is now in third place when you google Andreas Moritz.
Cool!!
So, cancer is the patients fault? Jeeze, why don’t they just form a church. That way they won’t be held responsible for any of their finger pointing guilt trips.
FreeLunch @22
I seriously hope so, but then I hoped that the british courts would have laughed the Holocaust Denier David Irving out of court when he sued Deborah Lipstadt, or the HIV denialists out of court when they sued Ben Goldacre, or the Chiropractic quacks out of court when they sued Simon Singh. The first two won their cases, but at great personal cost. A student is not likely to be able to stump up the cash for a legal defense.
And you’re naive if you think that it’s impossible to sue someone outside your country. Look up Libel Tourism some time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libel_tourism
On a side note, we’re trying to put an end to this with libel reform, and with a General Election this summer we have a chance. If you want to make a difference (and protect people like Hawkins), even if you’re outside the UK, please think about signing this petition: http://libelreform.org/sign
Yes, Cancer is the patient’s fault. Haven’t you understood the last fifty thousand years of human philosophy that says “random detrimental things are punishment?”
See, when your dad hits you, you did something bad. That’s how you know it’s bad. So if you get really really sick or die, you did something really really bad, and somebody, somewhere knows and is punishing you for it.
And I can prove my daddy hit me. So, ipso-facto-ergo-sum!
Argh! *facedesk*
Cancer kills more in the last 40-50 years because our life expectancy.
How long ago did we discover what cancer was – other than it being a punishment from god?
And for thousands of years, we were considered lucky if we lived to be 30 with all our teeth still in our heads.
The intuitive quacker stated in his video: “And I had chronic heachaches. Chronic constipation. Severe gastrointestinal problems…”
Rx: Remove head from ass. (That’s just my intuition, of course.)
My wife just pointed out that “Igneous Jade” would make a cool name for a rock band–if anyone complained, they’d just say they were playing alternative rock! (Thank you, try the veal, tip your waitress–not THAT way, buster!)
As for the scumquack Moritz, I fart metamorphic poo stones in his general direction.
PZ, I think you should start referring to yourself a a “fish zoologist”. There’s a thrilling hint of Innsmouth about it.
On the plus side, you are a fish zoologist. how cool is that?
windy@206
:-)
If anyone does want to find out where the stones are from or what’s really in them, the Natural History Museum in London does that kind of ID work sometimes if asked nicely… maybe the Smithsonian does too?
Thank you to all for your encouragement and kind wishes for my mother. My three sisters and I (two of whom are fundies themselves, but even they can see that this is garbage) are working furiously to convince her to either go with the chemo or at least make arrangements for hospice and proper palliative care.
I’m afraid that with all of the misinformation she’s absorbed about chemotherapy that, even if she finally agrees to it, she’ll have entirely the wrong attitude about it, which certainly won’t aid it’s efficacy.
I don’t believe that “bad thoughts” cause cancer, but they surely don’t help to overcome it.
But, anyway, your concern and encouragement is very touching and belies the vicious ogre reputation of pharyngulites. Don’t let the fundies and creotards see that!
Necromikron @205
Your Link causes Virgin media (my ISP) to throw a wobbly and claim that it is blocking it due to potential “identity theft”
Re: #209:
I think Starjade’s wife deserves to win the thread for that one.
The bill for cleaning coffee out of my keyboard is in the mail.
On a more serious note, I find that people like Moritz are in that rather small group of humans that I do truly hate. He makes me wish there really will be a Judgement.
Oh, and #223, I strongly suspect the stones come from the local hobby store, where you can buy by polished miscellaneous stones at very low prices. Stones that are especially pretty cost more, of course. If he has a rock tumbler he can just get them out of his back yard.
Part of me, the irrational part, wonders how many of these stones he actually sells, because I have trouble believing humans can really be THAT stupid. Yeah. Like I said, it’s the irrational part.
@225: Unfortunately, the IP was owned previously by someone who didn’t care what happened… I’ll look into it.
“Bad thoughts” are the best thing if that’s what the patient needs. When she was going through treatment, my wife woke up every morning by shouting “Shit! Fuck! Goddamn it!” for as long as she needed. Getting that out of the way made the day smoother: pretending is hard.
I hope your mother chooses to get either treatment or hospice — neither is a great option, but either beats untreated suffering.
@225: Can you give me the exact message you’re getting? You can send it to my gmail (this [email protected])
Thanks.
And to put some data out there; every semester I have my students plot the age at death of 100 people pre-1900 and compare that to a plot of people who died within the last five years. The lines are mirror images of each other with the majority of recent people living to an older age before shuffling off this mortal coil. Quite a dramatic visual, if I say so myself.
Even though longevity remains very similar, life-expectancy has changed dramatically. Unless you’re a decendant of Methuselah…
I noticed the following (items highlighted so you don’t have to stare at the image forever) when performing a google search this morning:
View saved image on Imageshack
What’s going on here?
I think it is unlikely that Andreas will attempt to sue in the UK, as he may well fall foul of the 1939 Cancer Act [wikipedia.org]. However, I am not an expert in this area, so I may well be wrong.
Hen3ry
Even though longevity remains very similar, life-expectancy has changed dramatically. – Jim North
Actually, I think that somewhat underplays the changes: IIRC (no time to search for exact figures just now), death rates have fallen fastest among the over-70s in recent decades.
I think it is unlikely that Andreas will attempt to sue in the UK, as he may well fall foul of the 1939 Cancer Act
And the very fact that there was a Cancer Act in 1939, over 70 years ago, argues that cancer was NOT an extremely rare disease at the time. Rarer than now, perhaps (I don’t know the data0 but certainly not unheard of. So much for Moritz’s basic argument unless he can show that they also had a Creutzfeld-Jakob disease act or a Fanconi’s anemia act at the same time.
Cancer rates go up as the third or fourth power of age. It is mostly a disease of rather old people. This is predicted by the somatic mutation multihit-evolutionary cells model of the disease.
In 1900, US citizens lived an average of 47 years, now 77 years. A century ago people died of TB, infectious diseases like Scarlet fever, untreatable (then) coronary disease, polio and so on. They died younger and didn’t on average live long enough to even get cancer.
I’ve never been able to tell whether Moritz is psychotically insane or just a conman making money off of the extremely gullible.
Magic stones, happy cancer cells, HIV that doesn’t cause AIDS, it is all way out there nonsense.
The idiot couldn’t be more wrong if he tried. Most HIV is spread in the world by heterosexual sex, perinatal exposure, and IV drug use. Which has nothing to do with rectums. I calculated from WHO stats. that 96% of the HIV+ in Uganda is due to heterosexual sex and perinatal transmission. 2.7 million people will die of AIDS in the world this year.
According to the SEER data cancer rates have been trending down overall between 1997 and 2006. So…are people less stressed now during the “great recession” than they were during the internet boom of 1997?
My brother had cancer a few years ago. Those evil medics – state functionaries in the vile death-panel-dominated NHS – hacked chunks out of his alimentary canal (using techniques pioneered in China), so now he has huge scars, can only eat small amounts at a time, and can’t digest fats. Before and after this, they poisoned him with chemo-so-called-therapy, so his hair fell out (well, what there was of it), he had days on end of nausea in each round of treatment, his hands and feet itched maddeningly, he was sometimes too weak to stand…
I admit, it did save his life and he didn’t have to pay for it. He’s back at work full-time. Until fairly recently, the cancer he had would certainly have killed him in fairly short order and probably very unpleasantly. Still, those evil medics and that vile NHS, eh?
And repeated enemas and “high colonics” don’t? I wish the alties would at least be consistent.
A friend sent me some of Moritz’s stuff a year or so ago. After about 5 minutes browsing, I emailed her my assessment: he’s scientifically illiterate.
I can see now that I my assessment fell far short of his inadequacies.
@Miki Z, #228.
Not if the “bad thoughts” are “this treatment is worthless and/or poisonous and the only thing it’s good for is enriching crooks in the ‘pocket of big pharma'”.
That’s the kind of crap we’ve been hearing from her about chemo.
I applaud your wife’s “bad thoughts”. That’s a great example of finding your strength from wherever you can. Nothing wrong with that!
The original article may not be in Google’s cache, but it was in Yahoo’s cache. I’ve grabbed it and it can be read here (along with 125 comments). It’s 30 pages and 300k and the formatting is screwed up a bit, but it’s still readable.
PS I can recommend freezepage.com for caching web pages!
This jackass has Geller-envy, even though Geller lost his malicious suit against Randi. Chopra, however, is notorious for following through on many of his legal threats, which can cost the target a bundle even if they have no merit and are eventually thrown out. These people are nothing but bullies, abusing the law to beat up on people they don’t like.
As for Moritz, the reason there was less cancer in earlier times is because few people lived long enough to get it! Most cancer cases occur because of the *successes* of modern medicine; likewise with heart disease.
likewise with heart disease.
Heart disease. Feh! The death rate from heart disease is dropping like a stone and should go lower in the next few decades. Take your aspirin, statin, and beta blocker, go to the ER if you have chest pain and don’t come whining to me about your heart disease until your ejection fraction’s less than 20%. (Don’t mind me, I’m just grumpy because the cardiologists are having better success than we are in oncology…of course, they picked an easy problem.)
A note from the Quack industry to the people, about the Pharmaceutical industry: “Don’t fall for the lies of their multi-billion dollar industry, fall for the lies of **our** multi-billion dollar industry. After all, we sell more books and everything is ‘natural’! When have they ever sold any popular books, or used ‘natural’ ingredients? Huh, huh? So there!”.
This is basically their whole case. The problem of course being that the first half of the first sentence of their case contains **real** libel.
So cancer wants to be loved?
I wonder what my father would say about that. If anyone knows of a way of uncremating someone I could ask him whether his cancer loved him.
Gobshite.
This is now #3 on search results for “Andreas Moritz” on Google, with #2 being Hawkins’ suspended WordPress account (with the URL of forthesakeofscience.wordpress.com/…/andreas-moritz-is-a-stupid-dangerous-man/) and #1 being Andreas Moritz’s site.
Michael’s blog is attracting a whole raft of woosters deriding him for displaying such unbecoming emotions as anger in the face of such callous exploitation. The trend seems to be that anything but cold, clinical, fact must be derided unless it comes from their own particular cancerthief.
I always use alchohol to cleanse my liver. It’s an amazing solvent.
Hen3ry,
I did read the Cancer Act 1939 and it appears that all of the woomeisters who are posting their foolish claims on the internet may be in violation. Are there any states in the US that have a similar law against such fraudulent claims?
>>I always use alchohol to cleanse my liver. It’s an amazing solvent.
Doing that right now. Fantastic!
Knockgoats wrote:
That one had me laughing out loud.
Knockgoats @#237: Please don’t conflate opposition to the NHS with support for quackery. I doubt those two positions frequently coincide, since most of the leading “alternative medicine” advocates seem to be left-leaning politically.
Free Lunch @249
It’s been a while since I studied law but I think you’re correct pending review of the subsequent acts mentioned in your link (1968 medical act, any of those in the know would be welcome to comment), sadly the punishments are only small fines or small or unlikely prison sentences. At the very least it would prevent this dipshit availing of the UK’s lax defamation/libel laws by providing the route of an easily exercisable counter suit.
Chris Who Runs in the Woods @ 224:
Don’t worry, they come with a built-in blind spot in that regard. ;)
Didn’t Samuel Clemmons (Mark Twain) answer that? IIRC it went “Because the universe is controlled by God, and God is a malign thug.”
Truth is always a defense against slander and libel.
Let him sue. He’s going to claim that he’s stopped his quackery?
I went to his website and he has a video that claims his artwork can provide healing.
He even claim one of his paintings is hanging at Abbott Hospital right here in Minneapolis.
I guess if I need some intuitive healing; I now know where to go to get it on the cheap.
We should go Three Wolf Moon Moritz’s book, “Cancer is NOT a Disease – It’s a Survival Mechanism.”
He says:
1> Cancer is his friend
2> Dr. Depak Chopra is his friend
does that mean that Depak Chopra is cancer?
I would be curious to lean how he rationalises the existence of cancer in non-human animals.
My 15 year old cat was far from filled with shame or guilt. He was happy and loving and well loved in return. And yet he got carcinomatosis. Same with my dog… what massive psychological trauma could he have been carrying around to cause a pulmonary adenocarcinoma?
Stupid quack. Cancer is more common now simply because people, *and* animals live longer. What a twit.
In the United States. Sadly, in the UK, pointing out a truth that is embarrassing is not necessarily a protected behavior. It’s time for the UK to stop coddling such folks.
He makes threats to sue. Some folks are intimidated by the empty threat.
How’s WordPress doing? Have they found their spine yet?
MikeZ @ #183
striated igneous jade loess
Jadeite is metamorphic but there are igneous minerals that are jade-like in appearance though so rare in any size and from such exotic sources that it is very improbable the advertiser has any or that they could have come from Mongolia, inner or outer. The most common is chromian diopside which is a clinopyroxene present in ultra-high pressure rocks such as eclogite and peridotite. Loess is a type of periglacial aeolian sediment, a very fine semiconsolidated dust. It is common in large areas of the upper midwest in the US especially from Illinois to Ohio. Striated simply means “grooved” and in geology usually refers to bedrock outcrops grooved by the action of glaciers grinding transported rocks against the bed rock.
So to summarize, the descriptive phrase is utter bull.
Which is quite hilarious really. Quacks promoting their quackery by threatening to harm (financially) others. Quack quack quack!
#241,
Thanks for the link to the original article on freezepage. Calling it “readable,” however, stretches the definition, but that’s because most of the comments are semiliterate woo-laden drivel.
And Typepad still sux.
It was so strange to read this post, considering I JUST had surgery this week to relieve common bile duct blockage due to… gallstones! Yes, I’ve been very sick for a whole month, 3 trips to the ER and along the way discover that removing my gallbladder 8 years ago was not a permanent fix for gallstones… go figure.
Still recovering from that; I currently no longer look like a character from The Simpsons (my GF suggested I looked most like Nelson Muntz – though my eyes were yellow too), but it will still be a while till i get back to normal, and enough of the bilirubin that got deposited in my skin leaves so that I’m not trying to tear my skin off from all the infernal itching.
I intend to use my gallbladder surgery in the States and directly compare the ERCP procedure I had done in New Zealand; there is a vast difference in how I was treated here vs. there, even given I’m not a citizen here, and had no insurance or coverage of any kind.
a couple of things I will add, though:
ultrasound is not a reliable way to find stones in the common bile duct (they are often too small to show up, though there can be hundreds of them). Works much better for detecting stones in a gallbladder. It will, however, be able to tell your doc if there is any dilation, which typically is a good indicator that there is some blockage.
I did a lot of research on this when i first got stones 8 years ago, and again recently, and I can say conclusively there is only 1 effective treatment for each type:
for stones in the gallbladder that are symptomatic:
laproscopic surgery to remove the gallbladder.
for stones in the common bile duct:
ERCP (basically a roto-rooter for your common bile duct).
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/ercp/
THAT’S IT.
there are drugs to supposedly help dissolve stones… but they take months at minimum to work.
believe me, if you ever have a gallstone attack, it’s most assuredly a pain you will NOT want to wait “months” to get treated for (a bad gallbladder attack ranks in pain level with a heart attack at least; IOW, 10/10), and if you have a common bile duct blockage, the chances of acute pancreatitis or liver infection continue to grow without treatment.
… and then there is the never ending, infernal, blasted, itching. It’s like having poison ivy all over your body, and itching doesn’t help, but you simply cannot stop! I actually haven’t gotten more than 4 hours sleep in any given day for the last 4 weeks.
yeah.
I’ll post a complete rundown and comparison tomorrow, either here or on my blog.
Dear Myers’ minions,
Yes, you move on to the next target gleefully, a horde of fundamentalists devoutly following their Reverend. Within hours of his command you moved on, although I had to evade one or two stragglers. Not a single one of you has bothered to question the basic premise of your attacks: did anyone cause Michael Hawkins to be pulled off the air?
Michael Hawkins got himself suspended by arguing with WordPress rather than making basic alterations to what he said. Calling someone a quack doesn’t get you thrown off, arguing like an idiot with your server host does. Try it and see. WordPress suspended him for two days before he came right back on and called them idiots again. Never get in a pissing contest with the IT guy who has you by the server. That’s the lesson here, not poor Moritz, the latest target of your blind feeding frenzy. Good night, zombie people.
Christopher Maloney, the noisy duck.
Hey Ichthyic, glad to hear you’re getting better !! Yeah they don’t tell you the little issue with the reforming of stones/debris within the duct, do they !
Of course if Mr Moritz had his way with you, you would have firstly been shitting soap pieces to make you feel awful, and after that would have needed an ERCP to remove your duct stones !
@Dianne, 200:
Yeah, more evidence that Francis Collins is really a lot of hot air.
Still canNOT believe he got tapped for NIH.
sad.
Yes, you move on to the next target gleefully, a horde of fundamentalists devoutly following their Reverend.
I highly suggest you seek professional help for your mental disorder(s) Maloney.
your shit has been flushed, time for you to STFU and move on, before continuing to call attention to yourself further erodes your “business”.
Baloney wrote :
A strawman that noone here has ever heard before, very original !
Mr Maloney, and I call you “Mister” because I’m a medical doctor and you are not, whichever way Mr Hawkins got suspended doesn’t concern me as much as that you are potentially causing harm to your patients with your “treatments”. So if your website is out on the internet, then don’t act surprised if someone turns over the stone and comes looking what ugly creatures are wriggling underneath.
See above.
And please do tell me Mr Maloney, what do you get up to with that stethoscope of yours ?
Maloney, I have just one question for you. How do you sleep at night knowing that you’re not only defrauding the sick but doing your best to make them worse? It must take a special kind of person to be as immoral as you.
HEY MALONEY:
On your website, on the “who am I page”
http://www.maloneymedical.com/id2.html
you say:
NO. under the laws of the state you are licensed with, you are NOT ALLOWED to call yourself a DOCTOR, full stop.
you ARE allowed to gall yourself a Doctor of naturopathy, or variant thereof.
ONLY a licensed MD is allowed to use the full stop address of “doctor” in the State of Maine.
so…
when will you be changing your website to be in agreement with the law?
oh and, from the snippet of maine law you DO link to:
shall we examine your site and claims to see just how well you follow these guidelines, eh?
I’m sure that Maine’s medical society would like to know that Maloney is claiming to be a doctor. They tend to take those kinds of false claims very seriously and they don’t get intimidated by fakes who ‘accidentally’ forget that they are “naturopathic doctors” rather than “doctors”
Doctor has a meaning in this context, Mr. Maloney. You are not one. You have a professional degree from a discipline that may not be completely fraudulent, because there is some experience with herbal remedies that can be and has been confirmed by science, but I’ll bet that your ‘professional’ association would not want to defend the general scientific merit of what it recommends or why it refuses to commit to science the way MDs and DOs did.
because there is some experience with herbal remedies that can be and has been confirmed by science
but then, we tend to call it medicine at that point, so there is no need to make that distinction, frankly.
Ichthyic –
The funniest part of the law is that even chiropractors don’t want naturopaths to practice or claim to practice chiropractic.
I wonder what the other woo disciplines think.
The funniest part of the law is that even chiropractors don’t want naturopaths to practice or claim to practice chiropractic.
heh, indeed.
overlapping woo is like crossing particle streams?
:P
overlapping woo is like crossing particle streams?
Does Orac live in a converted firehouse?
Is “who you gonna call? Woobusters” part of his theme song?
Our current self-pitying quack (Who – let’s face it – has nothing more to complain about than mean words on the internets), has made repeated reference to being burned as a witch.
He still seems to be pretty healthy for someone who has undergone such terrible, horrible trials.
Maybe they were homeopathic flames? Diluted several thousand times until they were indistinguishable from ambient temperature, yet still capable of causing burning (porsa?) due to the air molecules ‘remembering’ the heat…?
Yeah, I never metaphor I didn’t like.
No, one infinite can’t be bigger than another.
But Bush administrations are in a class of their own in modern times (as in AFTER WW 2) when it comes to inanity, dishonesty, aggression, and godfucking, doubtfully ever and hopefully never to be eclipsed.
Poor little Andreas is but a pathetic little pimple on evil stupidity’s bum in comparison.
Actually, it can.
Has anyone else a problem with the suggested mechanism of formation of these ‘stones’? They undoubtedly are products of the mix claimed to flush the liver and similar objects were produced in vitro from oleic acid, but only by addition of potassium hydroxide. This is totally expected and seems to be simple saponification, but would such conditions occur in the digestive tract? My very basic biological knowledge would have low pH conditions rather than caustic alkali in there.
dkew (#264): You’re absolutely right about the drivel not being readable! I was being far too literal.
“Naturopathic doctor” is to “doctor” as “dwarf planet” is to “planet”…as in “not a real one”.
Okay, that might be a little weak because in the case of planets, it’s a matter of degree and not of kind.
Sorry, Pluto, I didn’t mean to insult you so.
, part of the digestive enzymes are some acylases. They break down glycerides to free fatty acids (FFA) and glycerin. At digestive pH, the FFA’s are in the salt form, also known as soaps.
Who catches their shit in a colander? That doesn’t sound like a normal thing to do.
Not that there’s anything wrong with it. Or so I’ve heard.
Thrilled to hear you’re doing better, Ichthy. Did you notice your “call/gall” typo in #272? :)
Mr. Maloney: I wouldn’t whine about the fact that we’ve diverted our attention the bigger fish, if I were you. I WOULD study the history and utility of the scientific method as a way of knowing, if I were you. You are far more capable of fooling yourself than you realize, sir.
Quack
Thanks, Nerd of Redhead.
Just wanted to let everyone know that I just posted the following to the Attorney General of the State of Maine via their web site.
Why was he forced to make the alterations in the first place?
So, according to Moritz, cancer is the victim’s fault? It is not enough that the person in question is suffering from a terrifying medical condition, he has to place the blame for their predicament at their door as well?
I lack the words to adequately express me disgust for, and loathing of, this man.
And now he has the gall to threaten a law suit against anyone who exposes him for the cheap, nasty charlatan that he manifestly is? I would not have believed it possible, but he has actually managed to sink even lower. That has to be some kind of record or something.
Fortunately, his threats (like his ‘treatments’) are empty. It is doubtful that even the UK’s insane defamation laws would support such a clearly spurious and malicious law suit.
Sorry to engage in the much reviled ‘drive by’ post, but I have an early start tomorrow (even though it is a Sunday. *Grumble*).
What? You posting is not drive by. You will be back.
*makes sure GG is on the appropriate list*
Nerd of Redhead, OM @ 293;
I’ll be back…
*said in suitably Arnie-esque voice as I heft my shotgun and assault rifle and start looking through the phone book with my scary, red cyborg eyes for the Moritz’s under M…*
(No, Moritz, that is not a death threat. It is a joke. A J.O.K.E. You are probably unfamiliar with the concept, but trust me it is still legal).
Poor Moritz, it is just like Poopy-Head PZ to send a cyborg assassin back in time to terminate an innocent Homeopath in order to prevent the creation of the ultimate homeopathic solution and salvation of mankind (AKA tapwater). Science is soooo mean!
Knockgoats @#237: Please don’t conflate opposition to the NHS with support for quackery. – Walton
Oh but I do, Walton, I do. I regard both the quacks and the health privatisers as lying scum.
Because, apart from general principles, either would have killed my brother. Having already been cured of an unrelated cancer 20 years ago, and having long had a condition associated with the second cancer, there’s no way he’d have got private medical insurance he could have afforded, that would have covered the expensive tests that found his second cancer, or the much more expensive treatment that saved his life. So he’d likely have put off investigations just that bit longer that would have been fatal. At best, he’d have had to remortgage his house, while not knowing if he’d ever work again. Worry about whether he was going to die and leave his wife with that debt might not have made his medical condition worse, but it sure would have added to his misery.
I doubt those two positions frequently coincide, since most of the leading “alternative medicine” advocates seem to be left-leaning politically.
[citation needed]
Quacks are interested in money, and their dupes come from right across the political spectrum. The quacks are, indeed, responding to market demand for pseudo-medical woo – so who are you to criticise them?
Andreas Johanssen@251,
Thank you – we try to amuse! In fact, the “complete slaphead” look, and at least the first half of the weight loss, rather suited him, and he didn’t lose his eyebrows as some patients do. One difficulty now is keeping his weight up. He has been amazingly stoical throughout; I’ve a feeling I’d make much more fuss, but I suppose you never know until it happens to you.
In case anyone hasn’t mentioned this, for a charge of “slander” or “libel” to be supported, the supposed defamation of character must be untrue.
“There are a number of possible defenses against libel and slander, but the only one which is an absolute defense is truth. If the statement is true, it cannot be considered libel or slander.”
Source: http://www.ehow.com/how_2238562_use-libel-vs-slander-correctly.html
No Worries!
favrebackmn2010 @ 231
Google algorithms gone wild.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/02/andreas_moritz_is_a_cancer_qua.php#comment-2286428
cf.
http://digitalcuttlefish.blogspot.com/2010/02/hes-maine-i-quack.html
http://www.oedilf.com/db/Lim.php?VerseId=87878
Krubozumo Nyankoye:
I love the geology info. w00t
Mr. Maloney:
Yeah, well web hosts who don’t understand Section 230 and are afraid of litigious nuts have been a dime-a-dozen on the internet these days. So?
Andreas M’s video was removed from YouTube. lol! I’ve been watching the rating going down. Fun times!
In my opinion though this book review has way too many stars. Look at this:
http://www.amazon.com/Cancer-Not-Disease-Survival-Mechanism/dp/097679442X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266766627&sr=8-1
D’Oh! I guess I really should’ve created an account prior to ordering at Amazon everytime I bought from them. I need to have ordered against my account to be eligible to post comments. Xp
http://mallemoeder.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/andreasmoritz.jpg?w=400&h=566
I love that since the posting of this article, The number 2 spot while searching for “Andreas Moritz” has switched from our poor downed comrade, to Pharyngula, equally scathing :D
I wonder if the removal of the video has anything to do with *massive embarrassment*. Isn’t it shocking (read: funny) how attempts to censor result in massive publicity, but attempts to publicise result in self censorship… Anyone know of alternative hosts?
Ok…you win! Western medicine and Big Food (monsanto, adm ect…) and Big Pharma have just done an amazing job…I Give…You Win…
more cancer, depression, alzheimer, asthma, heart disease, autism…
more acid reflux, restless leg, anxiety, arthritis, fibromyalgia, hip and knee degeneration, cholesterol issues,
more blood pressure issues, obesity – thyroid issues, insomnia, irritable bowel issues, premature babies, carpal tunnel, bi-polar, food allergies, regular sinus allergies, ADHD, AIDS, diabetes, infertility, antibiotic resistant infections…
No seriously…keep it up…your NEW chemicals, drugs, GMO, cloned foods, vaccines and METHODS are doing great….
OH wait my bad…it’s all genetic issues…yeh, that’s the answer – cause we’ve been around for thousands of years and our DNA has just now betrayed us the last 30 years…
oh wait part 2 – my bad…how did I miss this one…
we are just reporting the diseases more…yeh that’s it…please…get a brain…
go look at a dated line chart that tracks these horrible illnesses and see when they started to spike…
CLUE: Big Food and Big Pharma
so which payroll are you on…?
It is not easy taking on Big Food and Big Pharma…it is dangerous and costly…fake blog posts (by paid PR agencies) and intimidation is routine – people like Andreas Moritz are just offering an alternative to “your” poison…and it happens to work…
I own a couple of Andreas books and I love them all! I used to have allergy for about 15 years and I tried a lot of different detoxes before..nothing really helped . It was getting worse until last year it sky rocket and I ‘ve had skin rush or hives or something all over my body. I felt really really bad, it was very itchy, I couldn’t sleep I couldn’t do anything and I ‘ve had it for almost 2 months. Then it was somehow ok and after my lunch “out” it was back. My doctor said he never saw anything like it before and I spent about $2000 just for lab work + about $500 for dermatology test ….with not improvement
I finely begun with “Miracle Cleanses”and it really helped me a lot! I did almost 10 cleanses so far and I’ll continue until my body is clean. It takes time and it is not easy because I am also watching my food between the ” cleanses” as I don’t want to put these “bad things” like MSG, artificial coloring….back into my body….so it is challenging but I feel much much better and I continue to feel better if I follow the recommendation from Andreas book’s.
I am sooo glad that I found Andreas. I love his work and I read his books over and over again!! Thank you Andreas!
I believe that these negative comments are from the people paid by pharmaceutical companies because if these people would try and follow the steps recommended by Andreas they could never ever write things like this.
I believe that cancer is a form of unsupervised energy that is looking for a Godly host, which is what the Human Being really is – AIDs is the same type of unsupervised energy, as are many viruses. Human energies used to be unsupervised before we evolved over many years. These new unsupervised energies that are coming up are attracted by negativities such as greed, stress, doubt, jealousy, hatred and grudge. We all experience these negativities, however, as we evolve our consciousness and are motivated towards more positivity, we heal. This is not a judgement towards those who are ill – far from it. Cancer is an opportunity to become aware of these things so we can purify environmentally, nutritionally, hormonally, emotionally – in terms of a new, improved integration with self and in our integration with others. Many people who have healed from cancer see it in retrospect as a gift. The need for purification is pressing right now, for all of Humanity. Why are we arguing, battling, instead of unifying? We are all different and have something positive and unique in this Creation to share. We don’t have to see cancer as a condemnation, as many of us fear. We don’t have to condemn others who have different ideas than us? Cancer can be seen as a wake-up call for everyone. I’ve helped people heal dis-ease and cancer by inspiring them to become more self-aware, and to take actions that purify themselves and their lives. The wisdom in Andreas Moritz’s books have helped me achieve more health and well-being, on all levels, and have helped my clients in this as well. I have tremendous respect for him and am very grateful for his work. I deeply long for all of us to evolve towards more Patience, Tolerance, Respect, Goodwill, Beauty and Love for the good of us All.
Joes, danielacel, and robin: you are morons.
I can’t begin to read the entirety of these last posts, let alone address the ridiculous claims therein.
However, I will say this:
“Big food” has a lot of things wrong with it, and people’s dietary choices also may be poor, but believing in some “opposite” thing just because it speaks against some things you don’t like, without any evidence, is no reason to buy in.
“Big Pharama” can be completely full of shit, but this is mostly the fault of our economic system, and not science. It may push a lot of unnecessary things, and radically overcharge for things some people really need. But a couple berries here and there, or mystical healing stones, or crystals, or what have you, certainly aren’t any better, and are frequently beyond useless – actually harmful in themselves or because real treatments are not had.
Doctors – a lot of them can be asshats. Find a better one.
Yeah, don’t fall for the marketing schemes of the Establishment. Fall, instead, for the marketing schemes of “Alt Med”.
That would seem to be an insult to any honest moron on the planet, PZ.
But cute that con-man Moritz aka the public health risk has sent a few of his braindead fans over here to spam.
Wow. Robin the Woomeister.
Um.
This is a real worry. Clients, eh?
Robin the Woomeister scammer.
I take it you report your scam income to the IRS.
@robin#305 sez: “I believe that cancer is a form of unsupervised energy that is looking for a Godly host, which is what the Human Being really is”
Two words for you: Veterinary oncology
This will be my last sharing with you. I’ve never been called a moron before. I’m sorry that we can’t share our cultural differences with eachother. I see that you’re not open to discussion, only to dissing.
I SERIOUSLY doubt that. If not, please stop hanging out with other morons. It will do you some good.
Sorry Robin, you think cultural differences, we think woo, stupidity, and gullibility. Evidence, not opinion, is paramount. You have no evidence fo your uneducated and unscientific opinions.
You are lucky that is all you have been called after writing shit like this:
It’s AIDS, bird-brain. And your idea about supervised v. unsupervised energies is completely moronic.
That’s because you refer to to them as “cultural differences”. These aren’t matters of culture, we don’t exist in some post-modern society where knowledge is relative and down to cultural differences.
See the computer you’re sitting at? It does billions of calculations per second. It’s connected to a global telecommunications network with massive amounts of data transfer done every second. Do you think that if someone says it works by magic smoke that’s it’s “cultural difference”? One would hope not, the reason you’re able to come on here is because reality is measurable to the point of being manipulated for our own ends.
If you want to believe that cancer and AIDS are “a form of unsupervised energy that is looking for a Godly host”, that’s your business. But don’t pretend that this view is equal to those scientists who have spent their lives studying it. Do you think that cancer treatments and AIDS drugs work by magic too? Or could you consider the possibility that current treatment for AIDS and cancer might stem out of understanding what AIDS and cancer really are…
I believe that cancer is a form of unsupervised energy that is looking for a Godly host,
I have the most unfortunate image in my mind now involving communion wafers, nun’s habits, and fake leather. Something about getting the energy properly supervised by a godly host. Naughty energy.
I can’t imagine how Robin’s innocent woo could have possibly provoked such imagery…Bob Marshall would probably attribute it to my evil femininity.
That terminal illness of the Internet — cowardly defamation (and defamation in the absence of any genuine knowledge) — is rampant among you.
If this tragic passtime is the best you feel you can do with your precious chance at Life on Earth, then so be it. . .enjoy the mindless rancor generated among yourselves, and the dubious, ultimately destructive pleasure of seeking to discredit and de-construct another.
But the fact remains that you know nothing of this individual named Andreas Moritz, whom you so gleefully and certainly condemn — whether he may be as dastardly a sinner as you seem to believe (and hope) — or whether he is, in his way, a profoundly helpful healer, or perhaps even saint.
You only know the rather pitiful products of your own worst imaginings, with which you provoke and feed one another in your “feeding frenzy”.
Since, alas, few things succeed in deterring deluded human beings once they have made the fatal error of believing their darkest convictions, it is more than likely that this message will create yet more reason for bored and empty humanoids to renew their mindless feeding frenzies all the more.
However, if there is even one half-awake, minimally humble soul among your ranks, it is hoped that there may be a moment’s self-examination, and a turning away from polluting others with your own bad dreams.
Namaste.
Bwahahahaha. What funny statement to be made for a professional liar and bullshitter. They aren’t saints. They just con you into thinking they are, while they lift your wallet, and you die.
Your concern is noted and rejected.
To Joseph Andrew:
If you meet the Buddha on the side of the road, kill him.
Robin, Joseph Andrew, et. al.:
Take blood from someone with HIV. Inject it into yourself. Think positive thoughts, but take no “Western medicines”. See how long your positive energy and tolerance keep you alive.
What are you Sherlock Homes or some or the sort, or maybe Hercules Poirot?…you must have a lot of time in your hands amigo…focus yourself in something more productive that can help you communicate beyond the ones under your same cloud…like reaching people whose language is other than English viejo…and leave Moritz alone or you are gonna see yourself hanged up by your own rope…no seas como el perro del hortelano.
Lol …..
@ PZ Myers!
Who really the quack after all.
Im or you.
Mariaga:
Watch that negativity, you’ll be struck by lightning! Gotta watch out for those clouds, never know what’s lurking, eh?
softerik:
The quack would be Andreas Moritz. Anything else you want to know?
softerik, cute rhetorical question, if vacuous.
PS On a standard keyboard, you can find the apostrophe symbol two keys on the right from the ‘l’ key; I suggest you use it, unless you’re making a point of being non-conformist.