- Ernesto Contreras
Ernesto Contreras (1915–2003) was a Mexican doctor. He operated the Oasis Hospital in
Tijuana for over 30 years, treatingcancer patients withamygdalin (termed "laetrile" or, erroneously, "vitamin B17").Contreras received post-graduate training at the Harvard Children's Hospital in Boston. He served as the chief pathologist at the Army Hospital in
Mexico City and was Professor of Histology and Pathology at the Mexican Army Medical School.About extreme terminal cancer cases, Contreras said: "The palliative action [the ability of laetrile to improve comfort of patient] is in about 60% of the cases. Frequently, enough to be significant, I see arrest of the disease or even regression in some 15% of the very advanced cases." [Cancer News Journal, Jan./April, 1971, pp. 20.]
Cecile Hoffman, Contreras' first patient and a firm supporter of laetrile, died seven years after being treated for some time with intravenous laetrile injections. [Anna Cinqua, "History", Cancer Victors and Friends. [http://www.cancervictors.net/index.php?id=history available online] ]
Many of Contreras' patients came from the
United States , where use of laetrile is not approved by theFood and Drug Administration .References
External links
* [http://www.oasisofhope.com/dr_ernesto_contreras.html Oasis of Hope Hospital] - Biography of Ernesto Contreras.
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