A doctor from Houston, Texas is being accused by the family of a brain tumor patient of giving them false hopes, according to HNGN.
Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski offered the family an alternative cancer treatment for $25,000 after their son, a six-year old boy, was found in his bed, unresponsive and unable to open his eyes, according to USA Today. Josia Cotto's parents hired an ambulance and took him to a hospice room at a local hospital. "We told him the choice was his, whether to keep fighting or be in peace with God," said Josia's mother.
Two months earlier they were offered by Dr. Burzynski, 70, an alternative treatment for their son's disease which required them to pay him upfront. The doctor claimed that he could perform a surgery that no other doctor could do and therefore cure inoperable pediatric brain stem tumors. Although 83% of pediatric cancers in the United States can now be treated, there is usually no hope for kid's with Josia's tumor and only five percent survive five years.
Burzynski, an internist with no board certification or formal training in oncology, claimed that he could cure half of the estimated 200 children diagnosed with brain stem tumors yearly. Josia's family was told that the treatment would cost them $100,000, mostly out of their own pockets because insurance does not cover Burzynski Clinic treatments.
The alleged doctor developed what he calls a miracle drug dubbed as "antineoplastons" which uses blood and urine. The urine was taken from public parks, bars and penitentiaries. None of his drugs have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration but he is giving them to patients suffering from AIDS, lupus and several other medical conditions. He also claims to have been given antineoplastons to some 8,000 patients since 2007. Some of his patients have expressed that his miracle drug have helped cure their conditions but the National Cancer Institute says there is no evidence that the doctor has cured a single patient or even helped one of them live longer.
