Miracle cures

[Gob]

Cancer and HIV patients have been told to buy bottles of ordinary blackcurrent squash and olive oil for £14 by a church claiming the blessed goods are a 'miracle cure' for their illnesses.

The Victorious Pentecostal Assembly (VPA) sells the over-inflated goods with the claim that once blessed by a pastor they can cure a host of serious health conditions.

Undercover reporters found members of the VPA congregation in Manchester were told that if a terminally-ill person drank a mixture of the specially blessed litre of squash and 500ml bottle of olive oil, which were being sold at double their real value, their ailments would disappear.

A church leader who identified himself as Pastor Mbenga also claimed to have previously cured diabetes and a brain tumour using the concoction.

He said the mixture would 'do what no man can do' through divine intervention and guaranteed the cancer would be cured.

'God will take over with divine intervention and the cancer will disappear,' Pastor Mbenga told the reporters from Manchester Evening News.

The church’s founder, Pastor Alex Omokudu, who lives in a £1.8million mansion in Hornchurch, Essex, has also regularly appeared in television adverts claiming, 'doctors do not have the answer - we have got the answer. We have got the answer to healing'.

The products sell in several supermarkets for less than £6.

Now a cancer charity has warned the practice is deliberately targeting the vulnerable and could stop patients from seeking proper medical treatment.

[Scooter]

It's nothing short of murder, to use his position as a pastor to encourage people to forego lifesaving medical treatment in favour of his price-gouging snake oil.

[Lord Jim]

Pretty cunning...

Very low chance of lawsuits since all the would be litigants will be dead....

[rubato]

Cancer and HIV patients have been told to buy bottles of ordinary blackcurrent squash and olive oil for £14 by a church claiming the blessed goods are a 'miracle cure' for their illnesses.

The Victorious Pentecostal Assembly (VPA) sells the over-inflated goods with the claim that once blessed by a pastor they can cure a host of serious health conditions.

Undercover reporters found members of the VPA congregation in Manchester were told that if a terminally-ill person drank a mixture of the specially blessed litre of squash and 500ml bottle of olive oil, which were being sold at double their real value, their ailments would disappear.
... "

Typical religious-whack lies and exploitation.

Still more conservative family values.


yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

Typical religious-whack lies and exploitation.

Typical over generalizing bigotry from a man who claims to hate over-generalizing bigotry...

As a wise man once said....

Those whose need to hate overwhelms them will invent negative generalzations; it is like the hatred of gays, blacks, &c. Mindless.

I was so glad to see this post of rube's. In another thread I was just compelled to completely agree with him. This typical bit of ignorant bigotry from him helps to reassure me that the natural order of the universe has not somehow been set asunder....

[Grim Reaper]

There are people all over who will tell whatever lies to earn a quick buck, even at the expense of the life of another human being.

[Lord Jim]

Absolutely Grim....

Amoral charlatans who prey on the fearful and vulnerable come in all shapes and sizes.

[rubato]

And so far the con is running on in solely right-wing enclaves.

Just a coincidence.

yrs,
rubato

[dgs49]

Oh yeah, us right wingers are all flocking to pray with this Black guy. I thought we were all prejudiced?

Judging by his website, he is making a lot of money from a lot more than this particular potion.

I'll bet it makes you regular, if nothing else.

[Sean]

Yes... Manchester... that famous "right-wing enclave".

[Lord Jim]

Gee, you mean rube didn't actually consider the specific facts before lunging to his pre-determined conclusion?

You have to understand, specific facts are not particularly interesting things to rube, more of an annoyance really; considering them would just slow him down in his rush to pigeon hole everything so that it fits properly into his ultra-simplistic world view.

Rube always begins with his conclusion and then back fills with cherry picked "facts" to support it, accepting those bits of data that tend to support his conclusion, and ignoring, discarding, or declaring irrelevant those that don't, so that he can then triumphantly announce how "the facts" support the conclusion he began with in the first place....

Just like any good scientist....

[Scooter]

In fairness, it is a Pentecostal church, which puts it on the right-wing of Christianity by definition.

[Crackpot]

out of curiosity what "wing" would you place Jim Jones?

[Scooter]

Politically, he was pretty extremely left wing. I don't know enough about the theology propagated by the People's Temple to judge in that sense.

[Lord Jim]

It is very likely that (at least in the US and other Western countries) far more deaths per year are caused by unscrupulous medical con artists, (including some actual MDs ) than by religious fakirs.....

These quacks are not know for being particularly "right wing" (especially the touchy-feely New Agey "Holistic Medicine" charlatans, of which Northern California has an abundance)

Excellent article on this: (If you follow the link at the end, each of the individual cases also has a link.)

Victim Case Reports
Stephen Barrett, M.D.

The number of people harmed by quackery-related activities is unknown. Most such harm is not publicly reported because the victims are either too confused or too embarrassed to step forward. As historian James Harvey Young, Ph.D., noted in The Health Robbers: A Close Look at Quackery in America:

Failure seldom diminishes patient loyalty. When regulatory agencies seek to prosecute quacks, the agencies have a difficult task getting hapless patients to testify in court. Partly this results from the desire to avoid public exposure as a dupe; but often this objection to testifying rests on an inability to realize that deception has taken place. Many quacks do such a good job of exuding sincerity that their explanations seem all too plausible. Even patients faced with death believe in the "kindly" person who says the special remedy would have worked if treatment had only begun a little sooner.

To illustrate quackery's dangers, this web site will post reports of victims whose stories have become public—either through their direct efforts or through civil suits or criminal prosecutions that have come to our attention. It takes great courage for victims (or their survivors) to admit that they or their loved one made a serious error.

Even when a suit is filed, there may be little or no publicity. The news media often decide that it would be unfair to the defendant to publicize the case until a jury verdict has been rendered. The attorneys instruct their clients not to discuss their case with anyone. Plaintiffs' attorneys fear that a judge might conclude that publicity interfered with the defendant's right to a fair trial. Defendants' attorneys want to minimize publicity that could damage the reputations of their clients. Both sides may also fear that loose talk might hurt their case in other ways. The majority of meritorious cases are settled out of court years later with an agreement not to disclose the terms of the settlement and, in some cases, the details of the case. Such secrecy agreements may prevent the media from learning about the settlement and may make it impossible for the media to get sufficient detail to consider it newsworthy.
Individual Case Reports

Lorie Atikian (died of malnutrition and pneumonia under naturopathic care)—link to another site
Kristie Bedenbauer (killed by chiropractic neck manipulation)—revised 12/17/99
Debbie Benson (died of breast cancer while relying on "natural" methods)—posted 10/23/97
Magali Bianchini (father died in 1986 after relying on an unlicensed herbalist for cancer teatment—posted 12/27/11
Feingold diet victim (could not concentrate and suffered humiliation during childhood)—posted 3/15/04
HB (autistic child mistreated by chelation doctor)—posted 11/28/01
Lisa Campbell (frightened and upset by an iridologist)—posted 4/19/12
Ruth Conrad (face burned off by quack treatment with salve for nonexistent cancer)—posted 2/16/02
Paulette Cooper (trouble after writing a book critical of Scientology)—link to another site
Lucille Craven (chose bogus "alternative" treatments for her cancer)—posted 2/27/02
Tawnya Cummiskey (induced by doctor to buy unnecessary herbal products)—posted 10/18/99
Frances Denoon (stroke from chiropractic neck adjustment)—link to another site
Penelope Dingle (died of cancer under homeopathic care)—link to Homeowatch
Marian Fowden: (Her mother was a lifelong victim of quacks)—posted 2/21/02
Dale and Susan Fox (ripped off by Herbalife)—posted 2/14/04
Amy C. Hays (how a chiropractor used scare tactics to keep her coming back)—posted 1/4/00
Amy Hermanson (died of undiagnosed diabetes under Christian Science care)—link to another site
Lori Hoeksema (father with cancer defrauded by James Gary Davidson)—revised 9/15/02
Pam Hysong's husband (sickened by phony cancer cure)—posted 4/18/02)
J. Kesterson (mistreatment by an unethical chiropractor)—(posted 9/15/02)
Aubakar Tariq Nadama (autistic child killed by chelation therapy)—(posted 7/11/07)
Lisa McPherson (alleged Scientology victim—link to another site
Ryan Pitzer (killed by unfounded advice in a book)—posted 3/27/99
Robyn (suffered needlessly during the terminal phase of breast cancer)—posted 3/7/02
Kelley Smith (how a chiropractor ruined her life)—posted 6/11/01
Sheri Spencer (father victimized by a cancer quack)—posted 2/11/05
Kimberly Strohecker (died of epileptic seizures after chiropractor advised stopping medication)—posted 7/7/03
Matthew Swan (died of untreated meningitis under the care of Christian Science practitioners)—posted 9/23/97
Scott Tatro (chiropractic neck manipulation made him quadriplegic)—posted 11/17/09
James Turner (11-year-old child paralyzed by chiropractic neck manipulation)—posted 10/18/01
Andrew Twitchell (died of untreated peritonitis under Christian Science care)—link to another site
Andrew Wantland (died of undiagnosed diabetes under Christian Science care)—link to another site

http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRel ... ctims.html

[Rick]

I guess we should refer to Google "the overlord"...

[Lord Jim]

Google is a very useful tool if you just take the 30 seconds it takes to use it...

It can help you avoid saying embarrassingly stupid things like:

And so far the con is running on in solely right-wing enclaves.

Just a coincidence.

Conversely, it can also help expose those who say embarrassingly stupid things like that....

[dales]

Miracle cure via google:

[Gob]

The People's Republic of Manchester...

In Manchester, England, one third of Manchester City Council is elected each year for three consecutive years, followed by a fourth year without any elections. The Labour Party has had political control in Manchester since 1973.

[Grim Reaper]

Lord Jim, here's another site to look at, What's the Harm. They track a lot of the silly theories out there and how many people have been hurt or killed by not seeking proper medical advice.