Te Kiri Gold – scam?

The Herald reports:

Te Kiri Gold producer Vernon Coxhead said his creation changes the molecular structure of the immune system so the water can penetrate to the bone, then to the cancer cells.

Yeah, no it doesn’t change the molecular structure of the immune system.

Analysis of the results by Dr Nick Kim, from Massey University’s school of public health, concluded the sample tested contained 220 times the amount of free chlorine found in drinking water.

Drinking the maximum recommended daily dose — 600ml — for the full eight-week programme would see consumers digest half a kilo of salt, which could be harmful to kidneys, heart and blood pressure.

Kim says the sample contained the same free chlorine content as a 3 per cent solution of household bleach.

Salt and bleach – the miracle cancer cure.

A list of instructions that comes with postal orders says the water starts killing cancer cells immediately and patients will “feel better” for the first days.

Surely such advertising is illegal?

The Ministry of Health says any product making therapeutic claims is regulated under the Medicines Act 1981.

The act says any medicine must undergo a rigorous assessment and gain approval for use before it can be generally supplied and advertised in New Zealand. It says Te Kiri Gold has not been through a clinical trial or submitted an application for one.

Cancer Society medical director Dr Chris Jackson says because Te Kiri Gold is not licensed the society would not recommend it.

“Any organisation selling a medical treatment that claims to cure cancer, before they have been through clinical trials to … prove safety and effectiveness, is misleading and potentially dangerous.”

Consumer New Zealand says all companies have a legal obligation to ensure their products are safe. Companies that mislead consumers about a product’s benefits face fines of up to $600,000 under the Fair Trading Act.

As they should.

The full eight-week programme costs about $1600.

$1,700 for water, salt and chlorine!

Coxhead says he agonised about having to charge but can’t afford to give it away.

Asked whether it’s ethical and moral to potentially be giving false hope to the sick and vulnerable, he says: “There is no such thing as false hope. You either have hope or you have none.”

That says a lot. He does not care that the hope is false. He is making money from desperate people who are hoping for a miracle cure.

It is possible his “water” does kill some cancer cells. If you drank acid it would also kill some cancer cells. That doesn’t make it a cure.

If he thinks it has any validity, he’d arrange a scientific trial of it.