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Comment and OpinionRead the CCRG Correspondence File Canadian Cancer Research Group The following was written in February 2000. The man who owns this site has a son who was diagnosed with cancer. The son had surgery for one tumour and radiation and chemotherapy for another and now appears to be cured. His parents are suing the doctors who saved his life. This site claims to have the best database of information about cancer in the world and also offers advice about handling cancer. There would be no problem if the database led patients and their families to qualified oncologists, hospitals specialising in handling certain types of cancer, medical researchers who were investigating new treatment methods, reports of new pharmaceutical advances or doctors specialising in treating certain rare complaints. Much of this information would be available in medical journals or through networks (both formal and informal) such as specialist colleges, seminars and conferences, but nobody can know everything so a comprehensive database of current knowledge would be an invaluable resource. Unfortunately, the words and testimonials offered on the site suggest that the sort of advice people get leads them to expensive, unproven treatments using methods that real scientists have either rejected or see as extremely speculative. Anyone with cancer has legitimate reasons to be concerned; anyone told that they are dying has reason to feel desperate. Meeting the concern and desperation with promises (or even suggestions) of miracle cures is a reprehensible practice and it is not made better just by having a fancy and good-looking web site. I had written the commentary above but had not yet loaded it up to the web site when the following email came in:
Well, it's now past the close of business on the day specified and all I can say is that I am still referring to the Canadian Cancer Research Group, I am linking to its web site, I am mentioning its web site which is at http://www.ccrg.com, I am mentioning that the Canadian Cancer Research Group is a group, and I am displaying the name of Mr William P. O'Neill. The amazing thing is that the legal action was threatened when the only thing on this site was the group's name and a link to its web site, without any comment. I always assumed that you made web sites to get attention, but these people must be extremely frightened of something if they think that my referring to them is a significant threat. Mr O'Neill should possibly get some better legal advice, as I am sure the World Court (or International Court of Justice) would be a bit surprised if we turn up in The Hague with our teams of lawyers to settle a libel suit, given that the court mainly deals with disputes between nations (although it has just accepted that it can consider accusations of war crimes). As the current load at the time of writing includes a dispute between Nicaragua and Honduras over territorial waters, a charge by Pakistan that India shot down one of its planes, and a lot of cases involving Yugoslavia and the countries which were part of the recent NATO activity in that part of the world, I imagine that it might be some time before they could fit us in. Update - March 4, 2000 You may notice how polite I was towards the Canadian Cancer Research Group in my original comments. That was before Sandra Schmirler died. Ms Schmirler was the captain of the Canadian curling team which won the gold medal at the Nagano Winter Olympics and, like most sporting champions, was somewhat of a folk hero in her native country. She died on the morning of Thursday, March 2, 2000, from cancer. She left behind her husband Shannon and her two daughters, Sara (2) and Jenna (8 months). On February 11, Ms Schmirler held a press conference where she talked about how, in her desperation, she had turned to the Canadian Cancer Research Group for help when it seemed that there was little hope of success from the treatment she was already receiving. She talked at that press conference about her hopes for the future, about how she was about to start doing commentaries on and even participating again in the sport she loved. She talked about her joy at bathing her daughter for the first time. Three weeks later she was dead. Sandra Schmirler's funeral will be held on Monday, March 6, and it will be televised. At first I thought that William O'Neill of CCRG might be too ashamed to watch the funeral, but then I remembered that people like him are incapable of feeling ashamed. He will probably turn up for a photo opportunity, that is if he isn't too busy giving advice or going to the bank to deposit the proceeds. Don't bother threatening to sue me, Mr O'Neill. The money you would waste trying to frighten me on the other side of the world would be better applied to setting up an educational trust for Jenna and Sara. After all, they don't have a mother any more.
See the CCRG Correspondence File and The GAL Chronicles for further communications from Mr O'Neill. Update October 19, 2002 The following appeared on the front page of The Millenium Project on October 19, 2002.
Speaking of charlatans and cancer ... (4/2/2006)
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by journalist Perry Lefko and Shannon England (Ms Schmirler's husband). The book is now out of print, but used copies are available through Amazon.com.
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