BOGUS CANCER CURE
EXPOSED
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| Dubious practice continues in
Nuneaton |
Inside
Out exposes a therapist's bogus cancer treatment with the help of
a patient diagnosed with prostate cancer.
For
years, Reginald Gill, a self-proclaimed "wellness practitioner"
from Poole, Dorset, has used a device called an IFAS High Frequency Therapy
machine.
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| Gill
advocated the IFAS machine as a cancer cure |
It is an
Australian manufactured device with various leads and heads that generate
heat and light in a handheld glass attachment.
Gill has used the IFAS machine to treat everything from cancer through
to baldness and claims it is "magic".
In 2003,
Gill treated an award winning barbershop singer, Stephen Hall, who was
eventually diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer.
But Gill convinced Mr Hall that his cancer was curable.
Treatment fails
However,
Mr Hall was told to stop taking his pain killing morphine as part of the
treatment and to follow a bizarre nutritional regime which restricted
when and what he could eat.
This meant he had to drink a brown concoction of various supplements including
hemp seed oil.
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| Stephen
Hall had faith in the IFAS machine until it was too late |
Mr Hall was
also treated with the IFAS machine at Gill's house in Poole. During his
first treatment, Gill told Mr Hall's wife Rhiannon, "I have got it.
I've killed the bad cells. It's just the pancreas that needs work now".
But 10 weeks
after he was diagnosed and despite Mr Hall buying one of the machines,
at the cost of 拢2,500 - Mr Hall died of his illness.
His doctors had predicted that with conventional treatment he would live
between nine and 12 months.
Subsequently,
Reginald Gill was found guilty of two charges under the Trade Descriptions
Act at Bournemouth Crown Court and was warned by the judge to expect a
jail term when he is sentenced on February 6, 2004.
Hopes dashed
 |
| Sheila
Cracknell backed her son's trust in the IFAS machine |
Speaking
after the court case, Mr Hall聮s mother, Sheila Cracknell, said, 聯The
verdict today should go a long way towards protecting the sick and the
terminally ill who in good faith go to bogus practitioners who make false
claims.聰
聯People
like Gill give the alternative therapy world a bad name. He saw that machine
and thought he was on to a winner.
"When Stephen first told me about the treatment I was sceptical but
as time went on I became more angry. We carried on using the machine because
it gave Stephen hope.
"But I told Gill that once my son was dead I would be on his doorstep,
and I was.聰
Gill claimed
that the IFAS would "heal Stephen Hall of cancer". But, experts
say that the machine is of no more use to heal cancer than a hot-water
bottle.
'Healing' pracitice goes on
The Inside
Out team has found that Gill has trained other "practioners"
how to use the IFAS machine, and using secret filming, has investigated
the reality behind the bogus claims.
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| John
Inchley exposed Vernon's cure for what it is |
John Inchley,
diagnosed with prostate cancer was the team's front man when they visited
hypnotherapist John Vernon in his house in Nuneaton.
Mr Vernon
rubbed the patient's head with a glass attachment that glowed purple and
smelt of ozone.
When questioned, Mr Vernon claimed that oxygen was being pushed in through
the patient's skull, and that the oxygen would help cure the cancer.
He also said
the patient would need a positive mental attitude and a range of dietary
supplements.
After treatment,
John Inchley was dismissive of its effectiveness, "I wasn't impressed
with the machine at all.
"I don't believe that oxygen can pass through glass then pass through
my hands, into my body, in my bloodstream and I believe that as a means
of assisting the curing of cancer, it's completely useless."
Other people
have said that this practice is quackery of the worst kind and that it
exploits people who are extremely vulnerable because of their illnesses.
Refund
 |
| Vernon,
'I just use the machine and people get better' |
Mr Vernon
charged 拢40 for the treatment and a further 拢30 for a mushroom
supplement that would supposedly help fight the cancer. The pills were
past their sell by date.
When the
大象传媒 challenged Mr Vernon on the effectiveness of the IFAS machine, he
claimed he had never used it on a patient.
He later conceded that he had used it on this one occasion and he offered
to refund the money for the out of date pills.
The manufacturers claim you can "Potentially say goodbye to crippling
pain and enjoy life again" - when used for treatment of relatively
mild conditions such as insomnia and hair loss - they do not claim it
as a cure for cancer.
This Inside Out investigation has succeeded in highlighting, despite the
Gill court case and his pending sentence, that the IFAS machine is still
being used to exploit those with cancer and give them erroneous hopes
for their future.
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