How Do We Know Snake-oil Doesn't Work?

April 29, 1997

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Letter to the Editor / Chicago Tribune

American Medical Association / William Silberg

The April 27 Chicago Tribune article GUIDELINES FOR AVOIDING SNAKE-OIL CURES ON THE WEB begged the question: How is it that we know that "snake-oil" didn't work? The "scientific" medical profession told us. But anyone who bothers to thumb through the Journal of the American Medical Association immediately notices a problem. Can a journal that accepts that much advertising from Pharmaceutical companies really offer unbiased and objective opinion on low-cost alternatives to expensive pharmaceutical products?

The AMA and Pharmaceutical companies should be very worried about the WEB. The internet abounds with information about inexpensive alternatives to their products. Most of these alternatives are easily obtained without prescription. Pure and simple, this information represents power. Power to the average person at the expense of the AMA and the Pharmaceutical Companies.

But do they work? Few people know that Nobel prize winning scientist Linus C. Pauling, PhD., announced shortly before his death that in his opinion, human cardiovascular disease can be "completely controlled." I think the average person facing a by-pass operation would have some interest in this "non-surgical and non-drug" treatment. The most surprised people who visit our WEB site outlining this discovery are medical doctors, after they try Pauling's recommendations and discover that what they were taught in medical school is invalid.

The American Medical Association has been made aware of this discovery for years, yet they chose to ignore it. Do the people associated with the AMA who have this knowledge sound like a group of people the average person can rely on for unbiased and accurate medical information?

Owen Fonorow,

President, Intelisoft Multimedia, Inc

P. O. Box 3097

Lisle, IL 60532-3097

FAX: (630) 416-1309

1-630-416-1438

intlsoft@terra.igcom.net