Hulda Regehr Clark

Hulda Regehr Clark is a naturopath, author, and controversial practitioner of alternative medicine.

Background

Clark began her studies in biology at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, where she was awarded the Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude, and the Master of Arts, with a High Honors major in biology. After two years of study at McGill University, she attended the University of Minnesota, studying biophysics and cell physiology. She received her doctorate degree in 1958 from the University of Minnesota. Her own biographical sketch states that her degree was in physiology, but the Graduate School's Register of Ph.D. Degrees conferred by the University of Minnesota July 1956-June 1966 states that she received a Ph.D. in 1958 with a major in zoology and a minor in botany, with a thesis entitled "A study of the ion balance of crayfish muscle; evidence for two compartments of cellular potassium." [Library, University of Minnesota]

In 1979 Clark left government-funded research and began private consulting and her own research. Presently, she operates the Century Nutrition health clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, where her focus is primarily on late stage cancer patients. She has published several books on human health, including "The Cure of All Cancers", "The Cure for HIV/AIDS" and "The Cure For All Diseases". According to court records, Clark's books have generated over $7 million in sales, although Clark disputes this figure. [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/reports/tjclinics/20020224-9999-operator.html "The 95 percent promise? Complaints trail entrepreneur, who claims remarkable cure rate"] , by Penni Crabtree and Sandra Dibble. Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune on February 24 2002. Accessed March 7 2007.]

She has a naturopathy degree from the Clayton College of Natural Health, [http://www.drclark.net/en/hulda_clark/about_drclark.php Hulda Clark biographical sketch.] ] a school that lacks accreditation from any accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. [ [http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20070211/NEWS/702110399/1007/DATELINE09&cachetime=3&template=dateline "State’s diploma mills draw academic ire"] , by Adam Jones, "Tuscaloosa News". Published 11 Feb 2007. Accessed 14 Feb 2007.]

Clark's claims

Clark claims that disease essentially has two causes: parasites, bacteria and viruses; and pollutants which damage the immune system. She claims that parasites, bacteria and viruses can be eliminated by using herbal treatments and by using electrical treatments, which purportedly electrocute foreign organisms. In conjunction with eliminating pollutants from the diet and from the environment, such treatments can, she asserts, cure diseases.

In her book "The Cure For All Cancers" Clark postulates that all cancers are caused by the flatworm "Fasciolopsis buski". However, this worm does not live in the USA and Europe. "F. buski" exists mainly in India, parts of China, Vietnam and other east-Asian countries, and there only in rural areas where people are eating unboiled food from water plants, or where pigs live close to humans. She also claims that HIV is a worm virus and that that worm is responsible for AIDS: "I find it "(F. buski)" in every case of HIV, Alzheimer's disease. Without this parasite you can't get HIV." According to Clark depression is caused by hookworms.

She claims that all diseases can be cured using her methods, including pains in various parts of the body, digestion problems, all cancers, HIV/AIDS, warts, and diabetes.

She claims that scientific medical treatments for diseases such as cancers and HIV/AIDS often only focus on treating the symptoms of these diseases, while her treatments are able to cure the disease itself. [The Cure For All Diseases] David Amrein's website contains a disclaimer stating that Clark's treatments are "not prescribed as treatment for medical or psychological conditions" and that "...the treatments outlined herein are not intended to be a replacement or substitute for other forms of conventional medical treatment." [ [http://www.drclark.net/en/hulda_clark/drclark_disclaimer.php Disclaimer] from David Amrein's website, drclark.net. Accessed 15 Feb 2007.] [ [http://www.drclark.net/en/disclaimer.php A second disclaimer] from Amrein's website, drclark.net. Accessed 15 Feb 2007.] Nonetheless, Clark has advocated for the use of her methods as a substitute for standard medical care:

Regarding the effectiveness of her treatment, Clark has written, "The method is 100% effective in stopping cancer regardless of the type of cancer or how terminal it may be. It follows that this method must work for you, too, if you are able to carry out the instructions." [Clark HR. The Cure for All Cancers. San Diego, CA: ProMotion Publishing, 1993, p. 120.]

Major methods and topics

*Diet Cleanup: She talks extensively about how contaminated she believes our food and supplements are, with such things as heavy metals, manufacturing by-products and residue, and mold.
*Homeography: Clark calls this a "new science ... which is the electronic analog of homeopathy." She claims that an electronic signature of a substance can be transferred into bottles make a "bottle copy" of the original substance. The process can then be continued "ad infinitum" without any need to buy more of the original substance.
*Liver flush: She advocates the use of a 'liver flush', which is claimed to remove gallstones and parasites from the liver and bile ducts. This involves a partial fast for a day, epsom salt laxatives, and a mixture of olive oil and grapefruit juice.
*Parasites: Clark insists that most people have parasites inside them, and that these parasites cause a host of problems. She describes herbal and electronic methods to remove them. These methods include known herbal anti-parasitics as well as electronic treatment of her own device (Zapper, see below).
*Syncrometer: A device invented by Clark, which she claims can detect contaminants in substances up to one part per trillion. The Syncrometer is a so-called bioresonance (bio feedback) unit.
*Zapper: An electronic device which pulses low voltage DC current through the body at specific frequencies. Clark claims this device can kill viruses, bacteria, and parasites. In at least one reported case, a patient with a cardiac pacemaker suffered serious arrhythmias as a result of interference from the "Zapper". [cite journal |author=Furrer M, Naegeli B, Bertel O |title=Hazards of an alternative medicine device in a patient with a pacemaker |journal=N Engl J Med |volume=350 |issue=16 |pages=1688–90 |year=2004 |pmid=15084709 |doi=10.1056/NEJM200404153501623]

Federal Trade Commission and FDA action

The Federal Trade Commission brought a complaint against the Dr. Clark Research Foundation over claims made in support of the Syncrometer, the Super-Zapper Deluxe, and "Dr. Clark's New 21 Day Program for Advanced Cancers". [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20030129-9999_1b29quack.html "FTC sues over health claims"] , by Penni Crabtree. Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune on January 29 2003. Accessed March 7 2007.] In November 2004, a stipulated judgement was reached in which purchasers of these devices were to be offered a full refund, and the Dr. Clark Research Foundation was barred from making a number of claims about the efficacy of the devices in question. [ [http://www.casewatch.org/ftc/enforcements/amrein/consent.shtml STIPULATED FINAL JUDGMENT AND ORDER FOR PERMANENT INJUNCTION AND OTHER EQUITABLE RELIEF] , Civ. No. l:03CV0054. Decision of the United States District Court for the Northern Division of Ohio, Eastern Division, dated November 18 2004. Accessed March 7 2007.] The Director of Enforcement at the Food and Drug Administration has stated that Clark's devices appear to be "fraudulent".

Legal issues

In 1993, while Clark lived and practiced in Indiana, a former patient complained to the Indiana attorney general. An investigator for the Indiana Department of Health and a deputy attorney general visited her office as part of a sting operation. Clark proceeded to test the investigator and "told him he had the HIV virus ["sic"] , but said that he did not have cancer." She told the investigator that she could cure his HIV in 3 minutes, but that he would "get it back" unless he committed to returning for six more appointments. She then ordered blood tests from a laboratory. Upon learning of the undercover investigators' status, Clark stated that everything she had told them had been a "mistake". Two days later she had vacated the premises. [ [http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/clarkaff/huffman.html State of Indiana vs. Hulda Clark: Probable Cause Affidavit, Filed August 16, 1993] ] Hinnefeld, Steve, " [http://www.healthwatcher.net/Quackerywatch/Hulda_Clark/ht000419dismissal.html Clark won't face charges] " in the Herald-Times of April 19, 2000.] Hinnefeld, Steve, " [http://www.healthwatcher.net/Quackerywatch/Hulda_Clark/ht000405trial.html Woman who claims healing knowledge faces charges] ", Herald Times, April 5, 2000, Accessed 7-11-2007]

In September 1999, Clark was located and arrested in San Diego, California, based on a fugitive warrant from Indiana. According to Clark, this was the first time she learned about the charge. Her lawyer protested the long delay before her arrest, but a prosecutor implied that she fled Indiana "when she learned that she was being investigated by the state," and that the local police department had limited resources to devote to finding her. She was returned to Indiana to stand trial, where she was charged with practicing medicine without a license. The charge was later dismissed for failure to provide her with a speedy trial. The judge's verdict did not address the merits of the charges but only the issue of whether the delay had compromised Clark's ability to mount a defense and her right to a speedy trial.

In February 2001, Mexican authorities inspected Clark's Century Nutrition clinic and ordered it shut down, as the clinic had never registered and was operating without a license. In June 2001, the Mexican authorities announced that the clinic would be permitted to reopen, but was prohibited from offering "alternative" treatments. The clinic was also fined 160,000 pesos (about $18,000), and Clark was barred from working in Mexico, even as a consultant; however, the "San Diego Union-Tribune" reported in 2003 that there was evidence that Clark continued to work at the clinic.

Evaluation of claims and criticism

Hulda Clark has been criticized because her claims lack scientific validity and consist of anecdotal evidence. Joseph Pizzorno, a prominent naturopathic physician, evaluated Clark's claims and found that her books mixed patients with conventionally diagnosed cancer with those whose cancer diagnosis was based solely on her use of the "Syncrometer". The patients with medically diagnosed cancer did not respond to Clark's treatment, while those she had diagnosed using the "Syncrometer" were "cured". Pizzorno concluded that Clark's treatments were ineffective and that treatments based on Clark's recommendations "pose a substantive public health danger". [ [http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/clarkaff/pizzorno.html Western Herb and Dietary Products: Evaluation by Dr. Joseph E. Pizzorno, N.D.] May 8, 2001. Accessed 15 Feb 2007.] "A cure for AIDS", Avert.org, retrieved November 7, 2007. [http://www.avert.org/cure-for-aids.htm available online] ] "Feds prescribe a lawsuit for cancercure.com", Puget Sound Business Journal, June 15, 2001. [http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2001/06/18/tidbits.html available online] ]

The Swiss Study Group for Complementary and Alternative Methods in Cancer (SCAC) issued a strong warning to cancer patients considering Clark's methods: [ [http://www.swisscancer.ch/dt_fr/content/orange/pdf/skak/01_clark_e.pdf Swiss Study Group for Complementary and Alternative Methods in Cancer (SCAC)] warns cancer patients against reliance on Clark's methods.]

Prominent alternative medicine proponent Andrew Weil has written, "No studies have backed up [Clark's] bizarre claims, and it’s unclear whether the cancer patients she’s supposedly cured ever had cancer to begin with." [ [http://www.drweilselfhealing.com/print_friendly.asp?iDocumentID=183&iBDC=2196 Exploring Alternative Cancer Treatments] , from Dr. Andrew Weil's Self Healing. Accessed May 4 2007.]

In 2002, the "San Diego Union-Tribune" reported that Clark and her son Geoff operated a restaurant and leased housing for patients at Clark's Tijuana clinic. The article described a couple whose daughter, suffering from spinal muscular atrophy, was treated for 10 months by Clark at a cost of approximately $30,000 without improvement. Despite the cost and lack of improvement, the couple stated that Clark insisted she was close to curing the child, and that stopping treatment might endanger her. The patient's mother commented, "People don’t understand why we stayed so long, but Hulda Clark did a very good job of preying on us," and Clark, while stating she could not respond to the parents' allegations on grounds of patient confidentiality, denied their statements in general.

Works

* The Cure for All Cancers (1993)
* The Cure For HIV / AIDS (1993)
* The Cure for All Diseases (1995)
* The Cure For All Advanced Cancers (1999)
* Syncrometer Science Laboratory Manual (2000)
* The Prevention of all Cancers (2004)
* The Cure and Prevention of All Cancers (2007)

References

External links

Advocacy

* [http://www.HuldaClark.net/ Hulda Clark's official web site]

Legal

* [http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/01/drclark.htm Federal Trade Commission Action Against Dr. Clark Research Association] .
* [http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/clarkaff/huffman.html State of Indiana vs. Hulda Clark, Probable Cause Affadavit] . Filed August 16 1993.

Assessments of claims

* [http://www.swisscancer.ch/dt_fr/content/orange/pdf/skak/01_clark_e.pdf Swiss Study Group for Complementary and Alternative Methods in Cancer (SCAC): Hulda Clark] .
* [http://cancerguide.org/hulda_clark.html CancerGuide: Hulda Clark's "Cure for All Cancers"] .
* [http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/clark.html The Bizarre Claims of Hulda Clark] - Page on Hulda Clark from Quackwatch, which has been involved in litigation with Clark.

Newspaper coverage

* [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/reports/tjclinics/20020224-9999-operator.html "The 95 percent promise? Complaints trail entrepreneur, who claims remarkable cure rate"] . Published in the "San Diego Union-Tribune", February 24 2002.
* [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20030129-9999_1b29quack.html "FTC Sues over Health Claims"] , published in the "San Diego Union-Tribune", January 29 2003.