Regular readers of this blog will remember my mentioning Bob Blaskiewicz as a person to watch in our community. He is one of the very few people out there doing the real work to combat pseudoscience. Currently he has organized a group of people (but he is still doing most of the work) to present Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski with a unique 70th Birthday present on Jan 23rd. Bob is asking for donations that will go to the St. Jude Children's Hospital in Houston, TX. Then Bob is going to ask Burzynski to match that amount. This is something we can make happen, a statement that will make the news.
Once the media picks up this story, then guess what, we can cite it on the Burzynski Clinic's Wikipedia page.
Does that mean anything? Are people reading that page?
Lets look at the stats... December 2012 it appears that 17,607 people accessed his Wikipedia page. Who are these people? No idea. But I bet a chunk of them are people thinking about treatment in his clinic. They do an Internet search and the Wikipedia link is one of the first ones that appears. We know that desperate families continue to trust the Burzynski Clinic, what we do not know is how many families have been scared off once they read the lede for the page. I don't know about you but if I read this, "There is a scientific consensus that antineoplaston therapy is unproven and of little promise in treating cancer." I might rethink a visit to the clinic.
Our work in skepticism can be very frustrating, we hear stories all the time about how people have fallen for psychic scams and these medical horror stories. People never seem to learn, and there is always another angle for a fraudster to make a buck.
Please don't give up hope. We do make a difference. Please read through some of these patient histories that Bob has listed on his blog. But be careful, these are emotional stories Bob has pulled together mostly from family blogs where they chronicle their loved one's illness. Educate yourself, share with your contacts and if you have any access to the media please make them aware of this story.
Once these stories are printed (or aired) I have a whole section I want to add to the Burzynski Wikipedia page. Please forward the links to me, susangerbic@yahoo.com
My previous blog concerning the Burzynski Clinic.
Once the media picks up this story, then guess what, we can cite it on the Burzynski Clinic's Wikipedia page.
Does that mean anything? Are people reading that page?
Lets look at the stats... December 2012 it appears that 17,607 people accessed his Wikipedia page. Who are these people? No idea. But I bet a chunk of them are people thinking about treatment in his clinic. They do an Internet search and the Wikipedia link is one of the first ones that appears. We know that desperate families continue to trust the Burzynski Clinic, what we do not know is how many families have been scared off once they read the lede for the page. I don't know about you but if I read this, "There is a scientific consensus that antineoplaston therapy is unproven and of little promise in treating cancer." I might rethink a visit to the clinic.
Our work in skepticism can be very frustrating, we hear stories all the time about how people have fallen for psychic scams and these medical horror stories. People never seem to learn, and there is always another angle for a fraudster to make a buck.
Please don't give up hope. We do make a difference. Please read through some of these patient histories that Bob has listed on his blog. But be careful, these are emotional stories Bob has pulled together mostly from family blogs where they chronicle their loved one's illness. Educate yourself, share with your contacts and if you have any access to the media please make them aware of this story.
Once these stories are printed (or aired) I have a whole section I want to add to the Burzynski Wikipedia page. Please forward the links to me, susangerbic@yahoo.com
My previous blog concerning the Burzynski Clinic.