Çocuk Sağ. ve Hastalıkları Uzm. Dr. Kadir Tuğcu

A federal magistrate has ordered Christian Brothers, of Whitestone, New York, and its president Jason Vale, to stop abusing America Online's network and trademark in an attempt to sell products. Court documents indicate that the company had unlawfully obtained mailing lists of the e-mail addresses of AOL members and used AOL's computer networks to send more than 20 million messages -- at times sending hundreds of thousands of messages per hour [1].

The company's product line includes apricot seeds, amygdalin, and a book and a videotape that promote them. Amygdalin is a cyanide-containing compound found in the seeds of apricots and several other fruits. Also marketed as https://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/laetrile.html - laetrile or "Vitamin B17," it has been promoted as a cancer remedy for more than 40 years. However, it is neither safe nor effective and is not legal to market or import into in the United States [2].

The unsolicited messages, sent with an aol.com return address, provided links to one of at least ten Web sites that provided further information. Some messages pretended that a third party was making the recommendation. For example:

AOL's membership agreement prohibits the sending of unsolicited commercial bulk e-mail messages ("spam") and from collecting or harvesting the user names, e-mail addresses, or other information about other AOL members. In February 1998, after receiving thousands of complaints from members, AOL demanded that Christian Brothers stop misusing its network, but the spamming continued. AOL filed suit in December 1998 [3]. In June 1999, after Vale chose to ignore the suit, the presiding judge issued a default judgment and asked a magistrate to recommend the amount of damages. The magistrate recommended that AOL be paid $17,940 for hardware-processing costs, triple damages of $389,020 for lost advertising revenue, $24,625 in attorney's fees, and $200,000 in punitive damages. He also concluded that a permanent injunction was necessary [1].

In October 1998, the FDA warned Vale that his apricot-seed products were "new drugs" and misbranded, and that he could be subject to enforcement action if he persisted in marketing them [4]. However, Vale's Web sites continued to make unsubstantiated claims and even hosted a copy of the FDA warning letter. In April 2000, the Justice Department obtained a preliminary injunction prohibiting Vale and Christian Brothers from making or distributing amygdalin, Laetrile, "Vitamin B-17," or apricot seeds. In November 2000, the FDA announced that Vale and his company had signed a consent agreement to stop manufacturing, processing, and distributing the products [5,6].

Online Laetrile Vendor Ordered to Shut Down

Carol Lewis

Cyberspace vendors beware: sell illicit drugs online and be prepared to be shut down. And shut down he was, when drug supplier Jason Vale used the Internet to promote the sale of a false cancer cure.

President of Christian Brothers Contracting Corporation based in Queens, N.Y., Vale signed a consent decree of permanent injunction on Nov. 16, 2000, agreeing to stop making and selling amygdalin products, better known as https://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/laetrile.html - laetrile , vitamin B-17, and apricot kernels. Despite warnings from the Food and Drug Administration, Vale, who operated several Web sites out of the basement of his home, promoted and dispensed these products with false promises that they could prevent, and even cure, cancer. The consent decree, which resulted from inspections of Vale's home office and several undercover purchases, ensures that the drug supplier keeps his commitment to FDA and never sells laetrile again.

Laetrile products have been the subject of much controversy over the last 25 years. In particular, though laetrile is not the same as the chemical amygdalin-a plant compound found in the pits of many fruits, raw nuts and other plants, the two names are used interchangeably because laetrile (an acronym for laevorotatory and mandelonitrile) is a purified form of amygdalin. And mandelonitrile is a structural component of both. But while some champion the use of amygdalin and laetrile products for treating and controlling cancer, neither has ever been proven effective for this purpose, nor have they been approved by FDA for any purpose. Moreover, a National Cancer Institute-sponsored study by Charles Moertel and others, published in the January 1982 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, concluded that laetrile is not effective as a cancer treatment and can be harmful. In fact, once it breaks down in the intestinal tract, laetrile releases hydrogen cyanide, which can result in deadly cyanide poisoning.

Yet Vale sold it to desperately ill cancer patients.

FDA first learned of Vale's Internet promotions through reports of unsolicited e-mails consumers received from Christian Brothers that promoted the laetrile products for cancer prevention and as a cure. Concerned about the consumer complaints, FDA investigators inspected Vale's home office in Queens, N.Y., unannounced, on Nov. 12, 1997. Vale not only watched inspectors collect samples of his laetrile products, but he also acknowledged having full responsibility for marketing them through his Internet sites.

Several months later, FDA investigators went undercover and ordered from Christian Brothers a "starter package" for $248.65 that included injectable laetrile, laetrile tablets, and apricot kernels. Christian Brothers shipped the products from New York to a location in New Jersey, along with various promotional materials, including a book and video entitled "World Without Cancer." The materials were accompanied by a cover letter advising users to "Eat seeds," and telling them that "People are dying all over from a disease that can so simply be prevented." The label on the video box invited customers to visit the apricotsfromgod.com Web site.

Following the undercover purchase and results of the November 1997 sample collection, FDA sent Vale and Christian Brothers a warning letter on Oct. 28, 1998, stating that his laetrile products were unapproved new drugs and that he was breaking the law. The letter said that FDA could bring an enforcement action against Christian Brothers, which could shut the company down. Through its lawyer, Christian Brothers responded in a Dec. 16, 1998, letter, claiming that the laetrile products were considered food for special dietary use by virtue of their ingredients.

Christian Brothers continued to sell the laetrile products.

An undercover FDA investigator telephoned Christian Brothers in January 1999 and purchased laetrile products specifically to treat melanoma. A man identifying himself as "Jason" guaranteed the investigator that laetrile products could "cure melanoma in six weeks." On Jan. 19, 1999, the investigator received a starter package from a location in Pennsylvania that contained similar items to those in the previous undercover purchase.

In February 1999, FDA conducted a follow-up inspection of Vale's home office. Inspectors found in a refrigerator eight units of 100 mg "Amigdalina B17" tablets and eleven 16-ounce bags of apricot kernels. Vale also refused to show investigators shipment records or invoices for laetrile products that the agency learned had originated in Mexico. And Christian Brothers continued to deny that its products were drugs, claiming instead that they were intended for use as "dietary supplements." Vale's attorney, however, did tell FDA that his client no longer intended to distribute laetrile in its injectable form.

But an FDA investigator, this time posing as a patient with kidney cancer, phoned Christian Brothers on May 29, 1999, asking specifically to purchase injectable laetrile. As requested by the operator, the investigator sent to the firm a money order for $238.95 and a letter stating that he wanted to order the "starter package" of laetrile products for the treatment of kidney cancer. And on June 4, the investigator received the products he had ordered, including the injectable laetrile that Vale had earlier assured FDA he was no longer selling.

After receiving the illegal drug, FDA investigators further searched the Internet and found christianbrothers.com, heavenlyhealing.com, and canceranswer.com listed as Vale's other Web sites. These sites described the nature of cancer and the failure of chemotherapy to treat it. They also contained letters and testimonials from people who had supposedly bought and used the products, and offered a list of frequently asked questions such as, "How long does it take for the cancer to die out after taking laetrile products?" Christian Brothers answered, "The cancer cells start dying immediately." As of May 28, 1999, 62,299 hits had been recorded on the christianbrothers.com site, alone.

In November 1999, FDA filed a complaint for permanent injunction against Christian Brothers and Vale for selling unapproved new drugs. Knowing that Vale could continue to sell the illicit drugs while his legal case was pending, FDA filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to temporarily shut Vale down. On April 20, 2000, Judge John Gleeson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted the motion.

As a result of the preliminary injunction and the subsequent consent decree of permanent injunction, Vale was ordered never again to sell laetrile products'

__________________

This article is reprinted from the March-April 2001 issue of FDA Consumer magazine. Note: Jason Vale, a British promoter of juicing and juicing machines, is not the Jason Vale discussed on this page.

Addendum by Stephen Barrett, M.D.

In 1999, https://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/News/apricotseeds.html - a federal court judge ordered Vale to pay $631,585 to America Online for misusing its services to send out more than 20 million unsolicited e-mail messages promoting his products.

Despite the permanent injunction, an undercover investigation by the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York and by FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations demonstrated that Vale set up a shell corporation in Arizona through which he continued to sell Laetrile. Although he announced over the Internet that he had stopped selling Laetrile because the court had ordered him not to sell it, he continued to tout it as a cancer cure and said that other companies still sold it. If customers called Christian Brothers and tried to purchase Laetrile, Vale and his employees referred them to what they said was an unrelated company at a toll-free number. The undercover investigation demonstrated that the toll-free number rang inside Vale's own house and that outgoing packages would be sent with a "return address" that was a mailbox Vale rented in Phoenix, Arizona. Investigators also found a large supply of laetrile stored in Vale's basement ready for shipping. In March 2002, the U.S. Government asked the Court to find Vale in criminal contempt.

In July, 2003, a federal jury in Brooklyn found Vale guilty of criminal contempt. During the trial, Vale's supporters handed out leaflets to persons who entered the courthouse, including jurors who were deciding his case. The leaflet told jurors that they had a constitutional right to ignore the evidence and the Court's instructions if they so chose. This incident was one of the factors that influenced the judge to order Vale held without bail pending his sentencing. On June 18, 2004, Vale was sentenced to 63 months incarceration on each charge to be served concurrently followed by 3 years supervised release. He was released from prison on May 16, 2008.

Dunyadan haberleri olmayan, aci badem ve Kayisi cekirdegindeki "SIYANUR" maddesinin, zehirleyici etkisinin oldugunu bilmeyecek kadar pervasiz ve sorumsuz kimseler, acaba bu

1990'a kadar USA'da, inatla bazi cevreler bu maddeyi piyasaya surmeye calistilar. Bu tarihe kadar yapilan ilmi calismalarda, bu maddenin kanserli hucreleri ustune, hic bir etkisinin olmadigini gosterdigi halde, bu sahislarin sanki bu calismalar hic yapilmamis ve kendilerinin bir bulusu imis gibi kakalamaya calismalari cok enteresandir. Seneler sonra, tekrar bu sahsin bu maddeyi israrla satmayi surdurmesi uzerine, USA en sonunda ceza uygulayarak, bu tehlikeli maddenin imalini

Turkiye'de, ne Saglik bakanligi, ne Universitelerde; bu konuda bilgili hickimse olmadigindan bu gibi sahislar

futursuzca, bu tehlikeli madde hakkinda yayin yapabiliyor ve "Gida katkisi' olarak, millete yutturmaya calisiyor.