Deception in the Cancer “For Profit” Care Busines
The Truth in Advertising has done a meticulous job investigating the cancer treatment industry and either filed complaints with the FTC or put each organization on notice. Of the 50 Cancer Treatment Centers, 90% were reported or put on notice. Tina.org has also conducted a year-long investigation and filed complaints.
“As the largest cancer center advertiser in the country, spending on average more than $90 million a year over the last three years,
CTCA – Cancer Treatment Centers of America has paved the way for cancer centers across the nation to use the same deceptive tactics to lure patients to their facilities.”
We ask you to consider that if they are using fraud and deception to get you there, promising things that they cannot deliver, what do you think they are doing when you arrive?
“I think it’s important to make patients aware that there are potentially life-threatening downsides to chemotherapy. And doctors should be more careful about who they treat with chemotherapy.”- Professor David Dodwell, Institute of Oncology, St James Hospital, Leeds, UK.
Curing Cancer – A Whole Lot of Deception – It’s All Hype
Cancer Treatment Centers of America settled claims from the FTC that “they made false and unsubstantiated claims in advertising and promoting their cancer treatments.” Their advertising bosts of offering “genomic testing” and “precision cancer treatment.”
According to Vinay Prasad, this is all hype, a hematologist-oncologist at the Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, author of more than 170 peer-reviewed articles. They do not tell you how it is rarely ever successful. This doctor estimates that 1.5% of patients will benefit from this type of genomic testing and precision treatment. He believes that precision oncology remains a hypothesis in need of verification. Here is the only study completed at the time of this article, which concludes:
The use of molecularly targeted agents outside their indications does not improve progression-free survival compared with treatment at a physician’s choice in heavily pretreated patients with cancer. Off-label use of molecularly targeted agents should be discouraged, but enrolment in clinical trials should be encouraged to assess predictive biomarkers of efficacy.
According to the complaint, however, the Cancer Institute did not have adequate evidence to back up any of these claims.
“A yearlong investigation by TINA.org examined the marketing materials of the 50 cancer centers that spent the most on advertising in 2017. At the top of the list was for-profit chain Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), which accounted for nearly $69 million of the more than $140 million in expenditure. What TINA.org found was that 90 percent of the cancer centers still in business in 2018 – 43 out of 48 – were deceptively promoting atypical patient experiences through the use of powerful testimonials.”
TINA.org had filed a complaint with the FTC against CTCA, a repeat FTC offender, and put the other 42 cancer centers on notice that they are engaging in deceptive marketing practices.
TINA.org conducted a review of patient testimonials used to promote the 50 cancer treatment centers in the U.S. that spent the most money on advertising in 2017. Our results revealed that of the cancer centers still in business in 2018,
43 out of 48 – or 90% – deceptively used patient testimonials in their marketing materials by promoting anecdotal, atypical patient results without clearly and conspicuously disclosing what the generally expected results for a patient in a similar situation would be.
This website is for information purposes only; we are not diagnosing, treating, curing, mitigating, or preventing any disease or medical condition by providing the information contained herein. Before beginning any natural, integrative or conventional treatment regimen, it is advisable to seek the advice of a licensed healthcare professional.