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By Jack Nichols
Foreign-based clinics charging frightened and sickly AIDS or cancer patients thousands of dollars for suspect vaccines that are reputedly linked with "success" (defined as destroying HIV or cancer in the bloodstream) should be surrounded with a phalanx of red flags signaling the possibility that its promoters are engaged in the vilest of scams.
GayToday has received reports of patients' money spent on such useless vaccines from a clinic in Mexico, a clinic that reputedly sends those same patients a clear-looking substance with no accompanying directions. Such reports seem cause for even further alarm. If such scams are indeed in progress, GayToday calls on the international AIDS community—both activists and medical personnel-- to move swiftly against their perpetrators. Heartless scheming scoundrels, operating from the safety of foreign soil and under the guise of high-sounding medical credentials and reputed AIDS expertise, would deserve not only condemnation, but, if it becomes clear that their operation is taking money from trusting patients illegally, long-term imprisonment as well.
He now wishes to call attention to the clinic he says has conned him with a useless mix, one advertised in The International Journal of Medicine, an on-line publication: www.jps.net/ijm. This Journal also reviews the works of several medical AIDS and Cancer dissidents, authors who seem to have had no known connections with the clinic, Centro Internacional de Investigación Médico, S.A. de C.V., of Tijuana, Mexico. Of the Tijuana "clinic" itself, however, the Journal approvingly says it claims to possess vaccines that will destroy HIV in the bloodstream and bring T-4 and T-8 cells up to normal or nearly normal parameters in 6-8 weeks. Such claims, suspect under the best of circumstances, reek of possible fraud. The Journal's announcement, using "authoritative" jargon, and invoking "medicine and science" in its headline reads: "News and Notes from the Field of Medicine and Science." "Centro Internacional de Investigación Médico, S.A. de C.V., of Tijuana, Mexico, a multi-national medical and biological research corporation with a small international staff of scientists, has announced that its three AIDS vaccines will go into clinical trials in Europe. The company claims their vaccines destroy HIV in the bloodstream and bring T-4 and T-8 cells up to normal or nearly normal parameters in 6-8 weeks. These vaccines are based on the isolation of cancer-associated microbes. Antigens to the cancer microbes were developed which assist the immune system in destroying the underlying cause of the disease. This vaccine is designed to stimulate the immune system and rid the body of cancerous organisms. The vaccines are said to be safe and have no side effects except for an occasional fever. "The company has also developed a set of four vaccines which it claims produces remission in cases of prostate cancer and breast cancer. It has an arsenal of vaccines for lukemia, multiple myeloma, bone cancer, melanoma, and several auto-immune diseases which have been used successfully and which they plan to go into clinical trials as soon as funding is forthcoming." Subscription forms are linked to this site.
"Centro Internacional Investigación Médico is not listed in any obvious place in the confusing and jumbled Tijuana Yellow Pages, which I just dug through, and a friend I checked with in Tijuana had not heard of the place. I will continue to ask around on my weekly trips across the border. "In the meantime, tell your readers one thing: Do not seek treatment for HIV-related matters in Mexico. At best, Mexican AIDS doctors are not completely up-to-date on AIDS treatment issues. At worst, it's a scam. "My good friends who work in the AIDS field in Tijuana will tell you the same thing. Mexican AIDS treatment is for people who have no option of getting treated on this side of the fence. Period." The Atlanta-area patient claiming to be a victim of fraud, stated his case in an e-mail to GayToday: "Suzanne Henig, Ph.D., editor of International Journal of Medicine…has been falsely advertising on the internet, the cause of cancer and Aids, is cancer associated microbes. "Henig in the International Journal of Medicine advertises a Tijuana, Mexican clinic that has developed AIDS and all types of cancer vaccines claiming cures. The FDA has been contacted and notified of this scam as has the California Attorney's Office. "Henig has been associated with the clinic in Tijuana, Mexico offering the vaccines for sale since 1995, but has now gone international on the world wide web at www.jps.net/ijm and other sites. According to the FDA agent these vaccines are illegal, have not been tested and are to be avoided as quackery. "Henig has avoided prosecution from the San Diego California Medical Board because she is not a medical doctor and they have no jurisdiction in Mexico. Henig also hides behind her lawyers and to this date has refused to cooperate in an investigation as well as turn over these miracle vaccines to the California FDA." Telephoned by GayToday, Dr. Henig failed before deadline to reply to two voicemails left on her answering machine. The Atlanta-area patient, who has asked to remain anonymous, appeals to GayToday's readers: Editor's Note: On May 14, 1999 Ms. Henig's site was removed. |
Rex Wockner 
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