Has anyone tried this?
And was it worth it?
I am looking it up-some say it is a scam.
But for 75 bucks it would be worth it if it reduced the supplements I am taking.
My fear is that it would add more…
Of course it would add more, that’s its purpose. Its a total scam. I didn’t realize it was even still around given actions in the 90’s and early 2000’s… heres what I have in my notes (not a complete picture by any means but enough to get the idea):
In 2005, the Rhode Island Department of Health ordered Joyce M. Martin, D.C., to stop performing live blood analysis [11]. An attorney for the state Board of Examiners in Chiropractic Medicine described the test as as “useless” and a "money-making scheme " A state medical board official said that the test has no discernible value and the public should be very suspicious of any practitioner who offers it . Edzard Ernst, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of Complementary Medicine at the University of Exeter, summed up the situation in an article in the British Guardian summed it up this way:
Seeing one’s own blood cells on a video screen is, admittedly, a powerful experience. It gives patients the impression of hi-tech, cutting edge science combined with holistic care. And impressed patients are ready to part with a lot of money. American websites explain how a practitioner can make $100,000 annually by purchasing the equipment necessary for performing LBA. The bulk of this money is made not through charging for the test itself but by selling expensive nutritional supplements to the patient with the promise that these will correct whatever abnormality has been diagnosed.
In other words, patients are potentially cheated three times over. First, you are diagnosed with a “condition” you don’t have; then a lengthy and expensive treatment ensues; and finally the bogus test is repeated and you are declared “improved” or “back to normal.”
In 2008, Robert W. Bradford, C.R.B., Inc. (d/b/a American Biologics), Bradford’s wife Carole W. Bradford, C.R.B.'s chief operating officer Brigitte G. Byrd, and John R. Toth, M.D. were charged with conspiring to violate federal food and drug laws and defraud individuals seeking medical care. The indictment states that Bradford, C.R.B., and Byrd marketed bogus Lyme disease products and the Bradford Variable Projection Microscope, which was falsely claimed to diagnose the disease. All three pleaded guilty and in 2011 were sentenced to probation and ordered to forfeit certain assets and pay restitution. Toth served a prison sentence for manslaughter related to the death of a woman whom he falsely diagnosed with Lyme disease and treated with a dangerous intravenous product sold by American Biologics.
In 2009, the Minnesota Department of Health obtained a consent agreement under which Troy Aupperle agreed to pay $3,5000 to the State of Minnesota and “cease and desist from the practice of unlicensed complementary or alternative health care in Minnesota. . . including taking blood from clients, or otherwise puncturing the skin of clients”.
In 2009, Carl E. Haese, an unlicensed practitioner in New Mexico who used the BVRM to misdiagnose Lyme disease, was arrested for fraud. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud and, in 2012, was fined $10,000, sentenced to 27 months in prison, and ordered to make pay a total of $164,522 in restitution to 21 victims.
These are only two cases of a number I have on file as it occasionally pops up on our Lyme Community
Anyone who is not a licensed health professional who uses livecell analysis for making diagnoses or recommending products would be guilty of practicing medicine without a license, which is a violation of state law. If you encounter anyone who does this, please complain to your state department of laboratories and state attorney general.
There are two primary proponents of this scam. The most active individual promoters of live-cell analysis have been James R. Privitera, M.D., of Covina, California, and Joel Robbins, D.C., of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Their books etc still are around and used by any number of quacks.
Privitera claims that “clot malfunction” is an underlying cause of many diseases, can be diagnosed with live cell analysis, and can be treated with large doses of dietary supplements. His book, Silent Clots, describes his “general daily guidelines [for supplements] that have worked well for many patients as an anti-clotting program.” The book also describes regimens for arthritis, asthma, baldness, bladder infections, cancer, colds, colitis, cramps, diabetes, diarrhea, diverticulosis, eczema, and edema, and includes case histories of patients he treated for many other conditions. There is NO any scientific evidence for these claims or that these regimens are effective as Privitera claims. His’s web site offers more than 150 supplement products for sale.
In 1975, Privitera was convicted of conspiring to prescribe and distribute laetrile and was sentenced to six months in prison. (Laetrile is a quack cancer remedy.) In 1980, after the appeals process ended, he served 55 days in jail but was released after being pardoned by California Governor Jerry Brown. (The pardon occurred in response to a letter-writing campaign generated by the National Health Federation, a group that espouses what it calls “health freedom.”) Then, because Privitera had been prescribing unapproved substances (including laetrile, calcium pangamate, and DMSO) for the treatment of cancer, the California Board of Medical Quality Assurance suspended his medical license for four months and placed him on ten years’ probation under board supervision. During the probationary period, Privitera was “prohibited from making any representation that he is able to cure cancer through nutrition.” He was also forbidden to tell patients they had cancer unless the diagnosis was confirmed in writing by an appropriate board-certified specialist. During the probationary period, Privitera commercialized live-cell analysis and founded two companies that marketed devices for doing it. Silent Clots mentions that in 1993, a federal judge signed an order authorizing Internal Revenue Service agents to enter his clinic premises to effect a levy and that a seizure was made.
In 1999, Privitera was implicated in the death of a 71-year-old woman who had consulted him for arm pain. While in Privitera’s waiting room, she complained of a headache while in Privitera’s waiting room. Documents in the case state that Privitera (a) prescribed 20,000 units of heparin (an anticoagulant) to be placed under the woman’s tongue, (b) examined a blood sample with a dark-field microscope, © concluded that the blood specimen showed too much tendency to clot, and (d) prescribed another 20,000 units of heparin to be given under the patient’s skin. Soon afterward, the patient became lightheaded, vomited, and passed out. She was rushed to a hospital. where it was noted that she was comatose and was bleeding from several places. She died a few hours later, apparently as a result of a massive hemorrhage inside her head. In 2003, the Medical Board of California charged that Privitera had (a) failed to properly evaluate the woman’s headache, (b) had no documented rationale for administering heparin, and © had administered an overdose [2]. The case was settled with a stipulation under which Privitera agreed to be reprimanded, pay $5,000 for costs, and take courses in prescribing and medical recordkeeping [3].
Robbins graduated in 1978 from Cleveland Chiropractic College in Kansas City, Missouri, but he also claims to have a Doctor of Naturopathy (ND) degree from the Anglo-American Institute of Drugless Therapy and a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the British West Indies College of Medicine. The Anglo-American Institute of Naturopathy was a British diploma mill that issued credentials to people who completed mail-order lessons, submitted a thesis, and paid a modest fee. The “British West Indies College of Medicine” was not an actual school but was a scheme created by con man Gregory E. Caplinger to defraud chiropractors of “tuition” money. In 1996, Caplinger was arrested in Florida on ten counts of racketeering and grand theft, but the charges were withdrawn after he made partial refunds.
So no its not “some” who believe its quackery at its finest. Even the most suspect “professions” realize it for what it is.
TJ
Thanks
I did read up on it when I got home and saw where that poor lady died.I
have another word for it.I cannot believe that Primavera got away with a
fine.
I was picking up some lysine(one supplement I have not tried) and noticed
the sign.The woman who will be doing the blood cell analysis is going to be
there on Saturday.Pretty much the whole day has been filled up already with
clients.
Not sure what the rules are in Canada.They do advertise online.
Once again you come through.
Thanks