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Desperate Cancer Victims Turn to Do-it-Yourself Cures

Americans create risky cancer cocktails they hope will help

By Jim O'Neill,  Newser User

Posted Dec 15, 2007 7:18 AM CST

(Newser) – Desperate for a cure, and fed up with waiting for a federal Food and Drug Administration they say takes too long to approve drugs, some ill Americans are concocting cancer medicine "cocktails"—many of which haven’t been approved or tested—they hope will save their lives, reports the Wall Street Journal. 

Experts warn that combining drugs could be dangerous, but researchers say it may be the most promising approach because cancer tends to defeat individual treatments. "It's terrifying, but it's our only hope," said the father of one 7-year-old cancer victim. The internet is helping spread the do-it-yourself approach. Cancer kills roughly 565,000 people in the US annually.

Researchers believe a combination of drugs, a cancer cocktail, is the answer to suring or curbing cancer.
Researchers believe a combination of drugs, a cancer cocktail, is the answer to suring or curbing cancer.   (KRT Photos)
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington.   (Associated Press)
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COMMENTS
Showing 1 of 1 comment
hempangle
Aug 29, 2011 9:22 PM CDT
I'm not waiting for the feds to tell me what i can use for the treatment of cancer.I'm just going to do it.The VA diagnosed me with fibromyalgia.I took thc enriched hemp oil twice a day for five days and it went away.This was nine months ago.Run me in the ground i don't care.It works for me.

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