Blogs and Stories
Does Suzanne Somers Cause Cancer?
Dominic Chan, WENN.com / Newscom
The former actress has one of the nation’s top books, touting secret cancer cures. But these methods, reports Gerald Posner, may actually increase the disease risk. Specifically, Posner reveals how:
PLUS: Somers Defends Herself: 'My War on Cancer'
Suzanne Somers, who came to fame in the 1970s as the ditzy Chrissy Snow on the iconic Three’s Company, yesterday pulled off the kind of feat generally reserved for the likes of John Grisham and Malcolm Gladwell. She scored her second New York Times bestseller in three years, Knockout: Interviews With Doctors Who Are Curing Cancer and How to Prevent Getting It in the First Place. Knockout further established the 63-year-old Somers as the high priestess of alternative health remedies.
More than that, Somers has positioned herself, with Knockout, as a messenger with the solution to a top killer in human history. “There are doctors out there who are curing cancer,” the book declares, citing interviews with 13 doctors, nutritionists, and Ph.Ds.
“We will eventually see a dramatic increase in uterine cancer,” says one doctor, “because of bioidentical regimens like the one promoted by Somers.”
Somers is no stranger to boastful medical discoveries. Her last bestseller, 2006’s Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones, claimed to have discovered “the fountain of youth we've all been looking for,” through her daily regimen, which involves injecting human growth hormone and two vitamin B solutions, shooting an estrogen hormone into her vagina, rubbing estrogen cream into her arm and taking 60 supplements. (“She just might be a pioneer,” said Oprah, who hosted Somers on her show in January and then began Somers’ bioidentical hormone program.)
Ageless, however, was mostly about quality of life. Knockout tackles life-and-death, painting a picture of traditional cancer care as “a debilitating, often deadly fraud,” and suggests a vast conspiracy involving the FDA, Big Pharma, a compliant mainstream media, and most oncologists, who all have an “incentive to keep cancer alive and well” since it’s “big business.”
• Somers Defends Herself: 'My War on Cancer'
To many cancer experts interviewed by The Daily Beast, this now makes Somers extremely dangerous. A flawed decision won’t lead to a lower sex drive or body aches. It will lead to death.
Specifically, these doctors told me, not only are some of the methods Somers espouses not proven to cure cancer, they are in fact more likely to cause cancer. Doctors who have followed her medical history even suggest that she may have helped bring on her own breast cancer.
I’m not someone who would naturally be skeptical of Somers’ 19 tomes. I’ve long used alternative medicine and take almost 20 supplements daily. In 2000, I helped research my wife Trisha’s book, No Hormones, No Fear, in which she used natural supplements and herbs to pass through menopause without resorting to Big Pharma’s hormone-replacement drugs. But a look at Somers’ background and motivations—and those of the experts on which she bases Knockout, raises some serious concerns.
The Suzanne Somers Wonder Drug
Somers’ core message revolves around the use of bioidentical hormones as wonder drugs. In Knockout, she writes that they fix “sex drive, inability to sleep, weight gain, bloating, body itches, mood swings, hot flashes, and memory loss… [and] also restores quality of life.” Bioidenticals, she writes, are “a good idea if you want to stay alive for twice as long as your body intended.”
So what makes bioidenticals different from hormones packaged and sold by major pharmaceutical firms?
According to doctors I spoke with, nothing.
“Bioidentical is a pseudo-scientific term used by Somers and others only as a marketing gimmick,” says Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman, an Associate Professor in Complementary and Alternative Medicine at Georgetown’s School of Medicine. “Bioidentical hormones are not natural products; they are synthesized in a laboratory. Bioidentical preparations use exactly the same pharmaceutical hormones that are used in branded hormone preparations.”
The Right Dumps Carrie
Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
Sarah Drops the Act
Tina Brown is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast. She is the author of the 2007 New York Times best seller The Diana Chronicles. Brown is the former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Talk magazines and host of CNBC's Topic A with Tina Brown.
Palin's Gold Mine
Duff McDonald is a contributing editor at New York magazine and a former contributing editor at Condé Nast Portfolio. His book, Last Man Standing, about Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, was published by Simon & Schuster in October.
Her Majesty's Secrets Revealed
Gerald Posner is The Daily Beast's Chief Investigative Reporter. He's the award-winning author of 10 investigative nonfiction bestsellers, ranging from political assassinations, to Nazi war criminals, to 9/11, to terrorism. His latest book, Miami Babylon: Crime, Wealth and Power—A Dispatch from the Beach, was published in October. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife, the author Trisha Posner.
Left Off Holder's List
Gerald Posner is The Daily Beast's Chief Investigative Reporter. He's the award-winning author of 10 investigative nonfiction bestsellers, ranging from political assassinations, to Nazi war criminals, to 9/11, to terrorism. His latest book, Miami Babylon: Crime, Wealth and Power—A Dispatch from the Beach, was published in October. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife, the author Trisha Posner.
The Karzai Brothers Fight Back
Gerald Posner is The Daily Beast's Chief Investigative Reporter. He's the award-winning author of 10 investigative nonfiction bestsellers, ranging from political assassinations, to Nazi war criminals, to 9/11, to terrorism. His latest book, Miami Babylon: Crime, Wealth and Power—A Dispatch from the Beach, was published in October. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife, the author Trisha Posner.
Celebrity huckster.
Well said.
I am amazed at the defense of Big Pharma among all the comments. Suzanne Sommers cured herself without chemotherapy. We are definately losing the war on cancer. Over a half million Americans die every year from cancer. Over 25 million people die worldwide evry year from cancer. This isn't complicated folks. It is well past time to look for alternatives to what is offered to treat this disease. I lost my 13 year old daughter to bone cancer and my mother to colon cancer in 2006. I have firsthand knowledge of how pathetic and arcane current cancer treatments are. Cancer is a HUGE business with very little motivation to cure it. My daughter's cancer was cured in the early 1970's at Berkeley with immunotherapy, and the results and cure went NOWHERE. The problem was and is, that immunotherapy is cheap relative to chemotherapy. My daughter is dead because the cure wasn't expensive. So all you detractors of Ms. Somers should carefully look at the evidence. Her book is a bestseller because millions of people are catching on to the cancer scam and want to live.
I am so sorry for your loss.
I'm printing off a dozen copies of this and leaving it in the waiting room of my clinic.
"Snake Oil Salesmen" have been and will always be around....selling hope with their hype.
That's what she illustrates: How much people are willing to believe for hope. How much people will believe a sitcom actress as long as she's promising eternal youth and life.
Anybody who gets medical advice from bimbos like Somers and Jenny McCarthy deserves whatever she gets.
And what medical school did Chrissy go to?
Doctors make a lot of mistakes, they misdiagnose, miss treat and its a pot luck at the end, and they went to medical school.
However, wouldn't you rather hear from an MD who does have a science background than from a sitcom actress who is looking for a financial hook?
Regarding hormone therapy, of any kind, be very careful!
Before I ever heard of Somers on anything but Thighmaster, I attended a wellness conference at my alma mater, Smith College. Actual, life long, alumnae clinical researchers on hormone replacement explained the difference between bio-identical (plant derived) and synthetic (ex. horse urine derived) hormones. The presentation was non sensationalized, nothing was offered for sale, no pitches were made to sign up for anything. But the information presented was very well researched.
There is a legitimately researched difference in hormones, and there are legitimate reasons for hormone replacement use, especially for the maintenance of brain cells. Maybe the cancer cure claims and some other ideas of Somers are hooey, but bio-identical hormone replacement is legitimate and can be very beneficial for many women.
We should listen to all her medical expertise and brilliant logic because of her great academic work in the historical social docudrama on the social and ethical ramifications of a male sharing living quarters with two females quaintly named 'Threes Company.'
It's even worse than that. See:
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=2244
One more good takedown from a colleague...
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/11/blogging_suzanne_somers_knock out_part_2.php
"shooting an estrogen hormone into her vagina" it's beyond.
And where did Burzynski get the antineoplastons he used to "treat" cancer? From human urine. See http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/burzynski1.html or google "Burzynski urine". Supposedly he now has a way to manufacture the stuff without using urine. Doc, do you mind injecting me? I'm not too keen on the oral medication.
"Several doctors and experts she uses as the basis for her book have medically checkered backgrounds."
"Dr." Uzzi Reis, the one she touted in her previous book, no longer practices life-extension. He bailed out. Notice she doesn't mention him at all anymore, only other lesser-know quacks.
She just landed in the hospital because of her nutty pill-popping and injections. And she still denies what she does has anything to do with her wacky health history.
Qualifications:
Undergrad work - Some College
Ph.D. - University of Life
Single-handedly responsible for the creation of a large number of obese persons with rock solid inner thighs. Some of these people have been known to be unable to exit their homes without removal of a wall, but many can crush a coconut between their knees.
Has publicly advocated for wild beavers (Castor Unshavenus) via various pictorial presentations.
It is suspected that Ms. Somers' poetry was read to Guantanamo inmates until the tactic was ceased due to a large number of suicides by inmates and readers alike, prompting the introduction of the more humane technique of water-boarding.
Much like Johnnie Walker Black, Ms. Somers' poems are considered amusing in small doses, but can be fatal if too much is ingested. The following is considered the maximum safe dosage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unD2bzhDkLk
As a 20 year long patient of Dr Gonzalez, who is quite well now,
I speak with some knowledge of the man and his approach to concer. The author conveniently forgets to point out that the authors of the article he cites discrediting Dr Gonzalez were cited by the federal government for major irregularities in the conduct of the study. If you go to dr-gonzalez.com you will see a detailed lengthy and very specific rebuttal of the study which demonstrates its utter worthlessness. You are irresponsible Mr Posner for not doing your research or worse knowing what I just wrote and leaving it out of your article.
Since the case reports in the book by Gonzalez's patients have their names and cities, why didn't you bother to contact any of them? They each tell a story about survival with advanced cancer that would be unheard of with conventional medicine.
Dr Gonzalez is a true hero to thousands of patients, and by your disparagement of him you've probably caused any number of people to doubt his work and possibly lose their lives as a result. What an unprincipled hack you are.
FaceMaster?!
Okay, then:
ThighMaster meet FaceMaster.
It depends on who you ask. I get my bioidentical hormone prescription from an M.D. who prescribes per my bloodwork. The guy who owns the formulary pharmacy where I get it is a degreed and licensed Pharmacist. Check out this MD on this topic:
http://www.drnorthrup.com/womenshealth/healthcenter/topic_details.php?t opic_id=129
I don't understand how people like the chick from The View and Suzzane Sommers are even able to sell these kinds of books. Sometimes I stumble across 700 Club and see people asking Pat Fakerson medical questions too. Are we so stupid that we believe people just b/c they are on television?
Sadly, yes. But that has always been true for being in print.
Unfortunately the answer to your question is an unqualified yes. Suzzane Sommers is the epitome of the dumb blonde--and yet people buy her books and take her word as gospel on issues that can literally make the difference between life and death. Same with Oprah, who has had this ditzoid on her show and did nothing to present a credible argument grounded in science to this idiot.
For some reason, people seem to take at face value whatever anyone says on tv--whether they are a "political analyst" or are presenting pseudo-science like that in which Sommers specializes.
Wake up people! They are all there for one reason--MONEY. How much do you suppose she has made on these books she has "written?" She may be dumb enough to actually believe what she is saying; for sure many people are dumb enough to unequivocably believe what she says. It would seem we are turning into a nation of bleating, unthinking sheep.
Tom Cruise, Jenny McCarthy, and Suzanne Sommers all are responsible for thousands of people not going to their doctors and seeking legitimate treatment. They instill fear with their hypocritically altruistic rhetoric.
rpagan2
Good for you . You are correct .Larry ,Moe , and Curly!
You and your expert are wrong that there is no difference between bioidentical hormones and the big pharma hormones.
Premarin (including Prempro, Premphase, Prempac, and Premelle) is a drug made up of conjugated estrogens obtained from the urine of pregnant horses.
The number of estrogen receptors of a human and horse don't match. That makes a vast difference in how estrogen from a horse works in the human body.
Somers may be wrong on a lot but Posner has been and will always be a hack for those who wish to protect the status quo.......
Gerald, ask you wife if she doesnt buy into the idea that Big Pharma (wisely, in bed with Obama now so nothing will change) makes billions on useless or near useless chemo treatments of cancer? Ask her to answer you honestly.....
There is a need for bioidentical hormone replacement. They work, and many I know feel it worth the risk because their quality of life was basically unbearable before using them. Now that the money is rolling in from the demand for these products, maybe some UNBIASED entity will actually do some recordkeeping. The demand is out there--the consumer market is there--the profit is there for whomever gets to the finish line first. I'm sick of the hysteria from both sides on this and feel we deserve nothing less than some real answers. Although Ms. Sommers takes her 'alternative' treatment to what seems to me to be an extreme, I give her a lot of credit for trying, and the medical establishment has been able to offer little help on their side, including poorly researched drugs that have contributed to the deaths of many women. Some real help for those who suffer and some real answers would be seriously appreciated.
Anyone has a right to become a human guinea pig. They don't have a right to tout it like that isn't the case.
Did you read what 'bioidentical' actually means? They work because they are the same thing pharma is selling in a different form with a different name. In short, they work because they are drugs. If you want to use them, use them. Just be aware of what they actually are. I can't figure out where people get the notion that compounds are safer simply because they are in a supposedly 'natural' form. Many of the drugs we have come directly from nature. Belladonna is no less deadly because you made a paste of it or steeped it into a tea than if you take it in the form of atropine. In this respect, Ms. Somer's is either ill-informed or deceitful, neither of which is very flattering to her. I agree we need real answers, but we also need willingness to call a spade a spade and your first sentence indicates that you have already determined that is one side is correct and one is not.
In many countries, menopause is not considered a 'disease' requiring treatment--'bioidentical' or otherwise. Medicalization of this sort is in many ways a socially constructed feature of our self-focused culture--especially celebrities--turning every normal unpleasant aspect of human existence into an illness or experience that is of such great significance it requires they write a memoir to share their vast suffering and describe how they managed to survive the realities of say, NORMAL AGING. In previous decades, this would probably be seen as the blatant narcissism it is. Nowadays, these folks develop a cult following and create pseudo-pharma companies to compete with (and share the profits from) traditional pharmas. Maybe rather than suggesting alternatives to standard drugs (which just happen to be made by companies celebrity A, B or C is affiliated with) people could try what worked for millennia prior to modern western culture--take nothing and let the body age in its own way and time. Granted, I would prefer a better quality of life during this whole menopause thing, too, but there is a big distinction to be made between quality of life deficits and true illness. Where/if they overlap is certainly a matter for debate, but Somer's is a drug pusher, too--just different drugs.
Love the bullet point summary at the top of this article.
Nov/9/9
Natural supplements do work.If you are afraid of injecting
anything in your genitals,then,don't do it.
In other countries,e,g; Germany,Italy,Japan et cetera.
Natural supplements had been in use for many yearssupplements do work.And are being ingested by millions of
people all over the world.The USA is a backward nation con-
cerning natural supplements.
It is true what Suzanne Somers is saying.The big
pharmaceutical companies,unethical medical doctors,unethical
dentists,the FDA and all the crooked republican senators are
blocking the proper use of natural supplements.Why?
Because,bribes coming from the giant health companies.
These bribes are giving to the FDA and medical doctors and
dentists.The bribes come in the form of free trips to Las Vegas
for several days,everything free ( whores included ),plus under
the table payments to the big boys running the FDA.Millions
of dollars in campaign ( donations ) contributions to the crooked republican senators.This is why the Federal Drug Ad-
ministration ( FDA ) is always going along with what Big Pharma tells them to do.
The FDA does not verify the ingredients and the
quantities in the natural supplements being sold in the Health
Food Stores in the USA.The USA consumer is at the mercy of
the providers.
Cancer treatments and treatments in Diabetes,Heart disease et cetera are a big ( fraud ) business.It is a way to
screw the sick people and the USA taxpayers.
Everybody knows that the stinky USA Health Care Industry had been buying the services of the crooked republican senators for many years.This is why the FDA works
for the big pharmaceuticals instead of protecting the USA citi-
zens.
Now is the time to correct the wrong infringed upon the
sick persons in this country.Barack Obama needs to mandate
the FDA to research the natural supplements being sold in the
USA health food stores.It is time that the FDA work for the
USA citizens instead of doing whatever the Health Industry
tells them to do.
We also need to stop dealing with health insurance companies.They are a bunch of crooks.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------
I believe that the truth lies somewhere between Posner and Somers. There is a legitimate need for hormone replacement therapy but there are also great risks. It is dangerous for Somers to assert otherwise. It's also ridiculous not to acknowledge the need for hormone supplementation for some people at some time(s) in their lives.
Other comments here have discussed what the difference is (or was?) between bio-identical hormones and the hormones that Big Pharma was pushing. The Big Pharma hormones were intentionally made to be different from human hormones so that they could be patented. You wouldn't put a Ford part into a BMW so why put unmatching hormones into humans? That said, I have recently read that Big Pharma does now sell hormones that match human ones because of the demand for bio-identicals from women themselves. This is the only reason that they are now able to say that there is no difference between their hormones and the bio-identical ones.
Very well said.
Also, there is a lot of ignorance surrounding the use of estrogen vaginally. This isn't some crazy, unusual practice that a few unorthodox practitioners are promoting. The use of vaginal estrogen cream is a common prescription by gynecologists for menopausal women. It keeps the vaginal walls from becoming too thin and dry so that older women can still enjoy sexual intercourse. The hormones are low dose and they have very little spread to the rest of the body making them a safer way to address this issue rather than taking estrogen orally. Shame on Posner for not researching this further.
And there are eons-worth of data from women all over the world who managed to get by without using any drug or supplement to treat normal aging at all. Does that prove it doesn't work? One thing the supplement crowd likes to do is make broad statements like "this is common" and "been doing it for decades" without citing any supporting evidence whatsoever. Pointing out someone else's supposed sloppy research is much less effective in the context of sloppy 'research' of your own.
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.
Please log in to leave comments.