CANCER SURVIVOR FACES 20 YRS FOR SELLING APRICOT SEEDS

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theeagle-l , " csrs2003 " <csrs2003> wrote:

CANCER SURVIVOR FACES 20 YRS FOR SELLING APRICOT SEEDS

 

Posted By: neuamerica

Friday, 18 July 2003, 11:47 a.m.

Cancer Survivor Faces Possible Prison for Selling Apricot Seeds

 

 

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200307

\NAT20030718a.html

 

By Nathan C. Masters

CNSNews.com Correspondent

July 18, 2003

 

(CNSNews.com) - Federal jurors in Brooklyn, N.Y., must decide the

fate of Jason Vale, a cancer survivor, former arm wrestling world

champion and self-described entrepreneur, who is on trial for

allegedly violating a government order that he stop promoting the use

of apricot seeds as a cure for cancer.

 

Closing arguments in the case were held Thursday with Vale serving

as his own attorney and accusing the government of setting him up. But

Vale's alleged defiance of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA)

consent decree, issued in 2000, could land him with a 20-year prison

sentence.

 

The FDA claims the Apricot pits, more than 100,000 of which

federal agents reportedly seized in a raid on Vale's basement, have no

therapeutic value.

 

Vale was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1986 and suffered from

the disease for eight years, enduring chemotherapy, radiation

treatments and an operation to remove a tumor. But in 1994, Vale saw a

video touting apricot seeds as a cure for cancer and began taking the

seeds, which release organic cyanide into the system. Vale claims his

use of the seeds along with his faith in God eliminated the tumor and

saved his life.

 

" I have watched first-hand as apricot seed consumption has helped

to shrink tumors in almost every cancer patient [with whom] I've

dealt, " said Vale. " I have also followed horror stories from many of

those using highly toxic chemo and radiation therapies. "

 

Vale's legal troubles began when he started selling a concentrated

form of the vitamin found in apricot seeds, known as laetrile or

amygdalin, to other cancer patients over the Internet.

 

The FDA is currently refusing comment on this matter, but

according to a warning letter sent to Vale in 1998, the agency stated

that it considered laetrile to be a " new drug, " and as such, was not

approved for sale or importation.

 

The FDA obtained an injunction in November 2000, forbidding Vale

and his company, Christian Brothers Contracting Corporation, from

selling or promoting the use of laetrile as a cancer treatment.

 

Following undercover investigations by the FDA, the agency alleged

that Vale had continued to sell and promote laetrile in violation of

the consent decree and recommended in March 2002 that Vale be

prosecuted for criminal contempt.

 

Eliezer Ben-Joseph, a doctor of naturopathy and host of the

Natural Solutions talk radio show in El Paso, Texas, describes the

government's efforts as " ludicrous. "

 

" It's a vindictive prosecution, " said Ben-Joseph. " We're talking

about apricots , and yet the government is so drastically opposed to

having this information out. "

 

The U.S. government maintains that because Vale made therapeutic

claims about his laetrile products, the apricot seeds should be

treated as drugs and therefore require FDA approval before they could

be sold or distributed within the United States.

 

Furthermore, the government maintains that laetrile has no

medicinal benefits. A National Cancer Institute report obtained by

CNSNews.com concluded that, " laetrile has shown little anti-cancer

activity in animal studies and no anti-cancer activity in human

clinical trials. "

 

Ben-Joseph doubted the credibility of those clinical trials, and

noted that, " several concerns have been expressed about the way the

study was conducted. " He pointed out that some recently developed

cancer treatments use artificial cyanide, which is very similar to the

organic cyanide that laetrile emits.

 

" It's not a cure; there is no cure for cancer, but there are

things that we can do that augment how metabolism works, " he noted.

" These are chemicals that the body would use to detoxify or get rid of

cancer. "

 

Regardless of their efficacy, Ben-Joseph argues, apricot seeds are

no more dangerous than other natural remedies, and he believes they

should be legal for use as a cancer treatment.

 

Vale is not alone in touting laetrile as a cure; Donald Factor,

the son of cosmetic tycoon Max Factor, sought natural cancer treatment

in Mexico 17 years ago. After being treated with laetrile and other

natural remedies, Factor's cancer disappeared, and he is still alive

today.

 

And Vale claims that his apricot seed products have helped over

30,000 cancer patients, many of whose personal testaments are

documented on Vale's website.

 

Ben-Joseph considers Vale's case a " freedom issue " and calls the

government's prosecution an inappropriate use of the judicial system.

 

" To make a law that says that the public cannot eat an apricot

pit, because they think it might keep people from going to regular

cancer therapy, I think is a ludicrous jump in jurisdiction, " he said.

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