Hoxsey cancer treatment

The Hoxsey cancer treatment, also called Hoxsey herbal treatment, is a pseudo-scientific and thoroughly discredited quack cancer 'cure' that first emerged in the 1920s under the leadership of a former coal miner with no medical or scientific training or education.

The Hoxsey treatment, like so many other quack cancer treatments, claims efficacy against all cancer types thanks to its alleged ability to remove toxins from the body and boost the immune system. It exists in two forms: an herbal tonic for 'internal' cancers, and a 'paste' for external or skin cancers. There is also a Hoxsey diet, which is equally as worthless and potentially harmful as the tonic and the paste.

Who was Hoxsey?

The Hoxsey cancer treatment is named after Harry M. Hoxsey, an American coal miner by profession during the early part of the 20th century. He has been called that century's biggest quack.

According to Hoxsey, the concoction was first developed by his great-grandfather, a 19th century veterinarian who discovered it while attempting to treat a horse with a tumor on its leg. Later, Hoxsey's father would initiate the treatment in humans, and in 1924 in Illinois Harry himself opened the first Hoxsey cancer treatment clinic. Over the next several years Hoxsey opened a number of additional clinics in seventeen US states.

Hoxsey was not a doctor, nor a scientist, nor dietician, nor a college graduate or even a high school graduate. Consequently he was arrested multiple times for practicing medicine without a license. His concoction was finally banned by the US FDA in 1960, so a former nurse of his opened a Hoxsey clinic in Tijuana, which is still operational (known as the Bio-Medical Center).

In 1967, Hoxsey himself was diagnosed with prostate cancer. After the cancer treatment he had been hyping for over four decades failed to make a dent in his own cancer, Hoxsey underwent conventional treatment. He died in 1974.

Hoxsey waged a very public and acrimonious war with the conventional medical establishment, namely against the newly-formed American Medical Association (AMA) and the FDA, to legitimize his quack treatment. Like many quacks before and after him, Hoxsey used the fight to his advantage, claiming conspiracy theories and an organized effort to silence him and his treatment because, according to him and others, a true cancer 'cure' would rob them of the billions of dollars generated by conventional treatments.

What is the treatment involve?

Hoxsey claimed to have developed two herb-based treatments, one of which was consumed and treated 'internal' cancers, and a paste that was applied to the skin and treated 'external' cancers.

THE INTERNAL TONIC
Depending on the source, the Hoxsey tonic for internal cancers may contain any or all of the following:

• -- Pokeweed
• -- Licorice
• -- Barberry
• -- Burdock root
• -- Buckthorn bark
• -- Stillingia root
• -- Potassium iodide
• -- Cascara
• -- Red clover
• -- Prickly ash bark

THE EXTERNAL PASTE
Depending on the source, the Hoxsey paste and powder for external cancers may contain any or all of the following:

• -- Antimony trisulfide
• -- Zinc chloride
• -- Blood root
• -- Arsenic sulfide
• -- Sulfur
• -- Talc

What about Hoxsey's patient files?

Extensive analysis of the files Hoxsey maintained on patients who sought treatment at his cancer clinics has shown that virtually none of these patients underwent a biopsy or ever received a medically competent and pathologically reliable diagnosis of cancer. The thousands of cancer patients Hoxsey claimed to have cured most likely never had cancer in the first place.

In short, not a shred of scientific evidence exists that shows that Hoxsey's cancer treatment was anything but a vigorously advocated yet therapeutically worthless, concoction.

Conclusion

A public warning issued by the US FDA in 1954 concerning the inherent health dangers of the Hoxsey herbal treatment rings as true today as it did a half-century ago when it was issued, and I will quote liberally from it here:

… the so-called Hoxsey treatment for internal cancer has been found by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, on the basis of evidence presented by the FDA, to be a worthless treatment … [it is] a gross deception to the consumer. It is imminently dangerous to rely upon it in neglect of competent and rational treatment.

The Hoxsey treatment is not only worthless, it is potentially harmful and could result in hospitalization and death. Despite an utter dearth of evidence backing a single one of its claims, the Hoxsey treatment continues to be doled out just across from the southern California border in Tijuana.

Sources

American Cancer Society, Hoxsey Herbal Treatment

Public Warning Against Hoxsey Cancer Treatment

YouTube, Hoxsey: The Quack Who Cured Cancer?

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