A California man is scheduled to appear in court in a few weeks after police alleged he gave cancer patients bogus treatments and tricked them out of thousands of dollars. His cancer-stricken victims often turned to him as a last resort, believing that he could cure their aliments with special vaccines.
But the opposite happened. Investigators contend that Vincent Gammill posed as a chemist and gave unsuspecting patients an ineffective, and sometimes dangerous, mix of the medications — including empty capsules, powders, and vials of liquid. A search of his home yielded laboratory equipment, corrosive liquids, and more than 25,000 prescription tablets — including morphine, Ambien, steroids, and Mexican and Russian drugs.
Even with no formal medical training beyond a “science degree” he said he obtained in the 1990s, Gammill successfully duped a cancer patient who spent two days at his Natural Oncology Institute in Richmond, California, last month. During that visit, he allegedly conned her out of $2,000 and prescribed a cocktail of empty capsules, powder, and vials of liquid.
“I was very upset that there was somebody who’s preying on cancer victims who are desperate to live,” the victim, who wished to be identified as Fern, told a Philadelphia ABC affiliate. Fern, a married mother of two with breast cancer, stopped chemotherapy and embraced natural medicine once her cancer had spread to other organs, ultimately seeking Gammill’s services after coming across his name online.
Fern said her suspicions arose when Gammill didn’t review her medical history and later when he experienced a burning sensation in her stomach upon taking his treatment: “I took one tablet in his office. He instructed me on how to mix it, told me it was very caustic. There was a frying pan that he gave me. He said, ‘Don’t let this get on the desk. It’ll burn a hole through the desk,” she added.
Fern counts among the many victims of what the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) describes as online cancer fraud — an attempt to capitalize on cancer patients’ desperation and peddle fake cancer treatments online. Bogus treatments often come in the form of pills, tonics, and creams that schemers market as natural treatments and dietary supplements. Though fraudulent cancer treatments have existed for decades, the prevalence of such predatory information has increased with the growing appeal of the Internet. In a 2008 Consumer Update, Gary Coody, R.Ph, a consumer safety officer with the FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs warns consumers against falling victim to these “treatments” saying that though they appear harmless, some could potentially cause indirect harm or interfere with proven treatment.
Years after the FDA released that advisory, some people still haven’t heeded the advice — perhaps out of desperation to improve their health.
In 2013, a California judge sentenced a man to 14 years in federal prison for creating a fake treatment program that collected more than $ 1million and selling a bogus cancer cure that killed some of his patients. A federal grand jury indicted a Kansas woman last year after she too created an online treatment center and charged cancer patients as much as $12,000 for her “secret sauce” — an infusion of non-FDA approved drugs. Such fraudulent behavior isn’t endemic to the U.S. In an attempt to sell her cookbook with “cancer-curing recipes,” an Australian woman lied about curing her fake terminal brain cancer with a special diet and alternative medical therapies.
The FDA says warning signs of bogus cancer treatments include exaggerated claims about their efficacy, as well as unverified testimonials, research results, and product names. Cancer patients are encouraged to consult with their health care provider before starting new therapies or adding to ongoing treatments. In his consumer update, Coody also implored patients to understand the difference between fake drug products and “investigational” drugs — medicine that undergoes clinical testing to determine their safety and effectiveness.
The advent of online cancer fraud cases has shone light on complementary medicine — a combination of conventional and alternative therapies — that some patients argue can control their cancer symptoms without the negative side effects of more traditional treatment like chemotherapy. Medication labeled as “natural” and “herbal” may sound like a safer alternative to radiation. For other patients, looking beyond the options provided by their health care provider often helps them feel more in control of their treatment.
However, questions remain about the effectiveness of alternative treatments, particularly those peddled by people with little medical education. That’s why medical professionals often encourage cancer patients to exercise some prudence in choosing treatments and keeping in mind the warning signs the FDA outlined. Otherwise, they may end up in Fern’s situation. “He robbed me of my money, of my time. It was three days driving up, I was away from my children and my family,” she said.