James R. Privitera
"James R. Privitera, Jr., M.D., who served a brief prison sentence 25 years ago for conspiring to prescribe and distribute laetrile, has been reprimanded in connection with the death of a patient. Privitera, who practices in Covina, California, states that he specializes in "allergy, nutrition, chelation, clot detection, darkfield microscopy, toxicity testing, mineral testing, and immunity testing [1]. His Web site also describes him as an "internationally acclaimed researcher, author, and leading authority on natural, nontoxic alternative therapies" and "a pioneer in darkfield microscopy.""
"Laetrile is a quack cancer remedy [2] In 1975, Privitera was convicted of conspiring to prescribe and distribute it and was sentenced to six months in prison. In 1980, after the appeals process ended, he served 55 days in jail but was released after being pardoned by California Governor Jerry Brown. Then, because Privitera been prescribing unapproved substances for the treatment of cancer, the California Board of Medical Quality Assurance suspended his medical license for four months, placed him on ten years' probation, and prohibited him from making any representation that he was able to cure cancer through nutrition. During this period, he developed a bogus diagnostic test called live blood analysis and marketed equipment for doing it [3]. [1]
- Former governor, National Health Federation
