Dr. Annie Sasco Silenced After London Conference on Childhood Cancer

On 26 April 2012, Dr. Annie Sasco, Director, Epidemiology for Cancer Prevention, INSERM (Institut national de la santé et de la recherché médical, France) delivered a presentation at the Childhood Cancer 2012 conference in London under the topic, “What positive steps can be taken to reduce the risks of childhood cancer”.  When she returned to France, she was informed that she could not continue her teaching work at Segalen Bordeaux II University.  This may have been related to the fact that Dr. Sasco, who has 3 degrees from Harvard University and worked at the International Agency for Research on Cancer for 22 years, spoke up in the conference very clearly about the reasons for cancer and conflict of interests.  The conference was watched livestream on the internet internationally. 


In her lecture, Dr. Sasco devoted at least 10 minutes to the risks of electromagnetic fields emitted by wireless technology, particularly cell phones.  Her lecture was delivered in session number 12 (see here for full program and access to all the lectures and discussions).  Her comments on conflict of interests in the panel discussion which followed are available at the end of the same session.  Following session 6, she commented on the study on aspartame causing cancer in animals by Dr. Morando Soffritti where she spoke up about the similarity between cancer findings in animals and humans. Following is my résumé of her presentation at the conference, in part verbatim and also based on her slides.  Thank you to Microwave Factor for this information.


We cannot allow industry and others to bully experts who admirably and courageously speak the truth!

Statin Controversy - UPDATED 18 May 2012

We are hearing more and more from health experts about harmful side effects of medications – certain painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, statins.  This article is being re-issued for a second time because there is more and more evidence that, among other serious side effects, statin-type cholersterol-lowering drugs, are associated with increased risk for type 2 diabetes and memory problems.  Statins are one of the biggest swindles that pharmaceutical companies have created.  They are being used widely in secondary prevention and even their effectiveness in primary prevention is being questioned.

UPDATE (7 July 2012):  An article published on 25 June 2012 in the Archives of Internal Medicine concludes:  Statin therapy is an effective intervention in the secondary prevention of cardiovascular events in both sexes, meaning, those who have already had a heart attack, but there is no benefit on stroke and all-cause mortality in women.   Click here for full article.

UPDATE (18 May 2012):  On 16 May 2012, the Television Suisse Romande (RTS) showed a documentary on statins as part of its health program "36.9". Worldwide, pharmaceutical companies earn $30 billion per year from the sale of statins. AstraZeneca, producer of Crestor, is the 5th largest pharmaceutical company in the world, representing total net sales of $33 billion per year, 17% of which is earned from statins. Originally developed for a specific cholesterol problem, diagnosed family hypercholesterolemia, these drugs are prescribed to millions more persons in the world: 20% of Americans take statins and 10% of Swiss. Insurance companies in Switzerland are paying out some $160,000 million per year for statin prescriptions without questioning their effectiveness or serious side effects. 

Scientific and Citizen Forum on Radioprotection: Official Press Release and Abstracts of Presentations

Following is the Press Release from IndependentWHO on the Scientific and Citizen Forum on Radioprotection which took place in Geneva, 12-13 May 2012.   Please see:

Press Release and also abstracts of the presentations

The “Scientific and Citizen Forum on Radioprotection: from Chernobyl to Fukushima”, organised by the collective ‘IndependentWHO – for the independence of the World Health Organisation(WHO), took place in Geneva on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th May.

Saturday 12th May was devoted to presentations by Dr Eisuke Matsui, Kolin Kobayashi, Aya Marumori, Wataru Iwata and Miwa Chiwaki (Japon); Dr Galina Bandajevskaia, Alexei Nesterenko and Vladimir Babenko (Belarus); Alexei Yablokov (Russia), Dr Youri Bandajevsyky (Belarus – now in Ukraine), Chris Busby (United Kingdom), Paul Lannoye (Belgium), Dr Michel Fernex (Switzerland) and Dr Sophie Fauconnier, Paul Jobin, Roland Desbordes and Michèle Rivasi (France).

Scientific and Citizen Forum on Radioprotection, Geneva, Switzerland, 12 May 2012: Personal Reflections

The Scientific and Citizen Forum on Radioprotection held in Geneva, Switzerland, 12 May 2012, and attended by over 200 persons, invites reflection.  The forum was organized by IndependentWHO, a group of individuals and associations supported by a broad coalition of NGOs whose major concern is that the World Health Organization (WHO), through its alliance with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is unable to fulfill its constitutional mandate “to act as the directing and coordinating authority on international health work” and “to assist in developing an informed public opinion among all peoples on matters of health”, including in the area of radiation.  WHO has chosen to ignore the large body of research documenting the suffering of radiation victims from the fallout from nuclear weapons testing, the explosion of the reactors at Chernobyl and Fukushima and other accidents resulting from the use of depleted uranium weapons or “normal” emissions in water or air produced by the nuclear industry. (Résumés of the presentations and program are available here.)

The forum gathered together doctors, independent scientists, two members of the European Parliament (Paul Lannoye, member of the Commission on Health, Environment and Consumer Protection, and Michèle Rivasi, founder of the independent Committee for Research and Independent Information on Radioactivity, CRIIRAD, which is aiding the people of Fukushima), members of associations, and citizens, giving all an opportunity to share their knowledge and experience concerning the Chernobyl and Fukushima catastrophes.  The reasons for such a forum should never have existed.  There never should have been a Fukushima, Chernobyl, Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

A Tribute to Swiss Pediatrician Dr. Beat Richner for His Care of Children in Cambodia

Dr. Beat Richner, founder of the Kantha Bopha
children hospital, died on 9 September 2018 at age 71.

Since 1991, Dr. Beat Richner, Swiss pediatrician, has set up five children’s “Kantha Bopha” hospitals and one maternity hospital in Cambodia’s major cities, including two in Phnom Penh and one in Siam Reap.  Over the last 20 years, one million seriously ill children have been treated in his hospitals and 10 million as out-patients.  Treatment is free of charge since 90% of the children come from families whose income is less than one dollar a day.  Most of the children are treated for Japanese encephalitis, malaria, dengue fever, thyroid and tuberculosis (TB) which is the number one killer in Cambodia.  The high TB rate is a direct consequence of the war.  The mortality rate in Dr. Richner’s treatment centers is very low – only 1%.

News from Geneva: Lecture on "The Marketing of Madness": Psychiatric Medications Dominate Mental Health

On 18 April 2012, the Citizens’ Commission for Human Rights (CCHR) organized a lecture in Geneva, Switzerland, on the marketing of psychiatric diagnoses and medications and their adverse effects on health.  Dr. Nicolas Franceschetti, President of CCHR, Geneva, introduced the evening by referring to recent developments such as the British Medical Journal article published on 27 February 2012 warning about the deadly adverse effects of regular ingestion of hypnotics (sleeping pills) which include shortening of lifespan and cancer.

A nurse who works at a “home” for aged persons (EMS) in Switzerland gave testimony of the over-prescription of medications to the elderly in these establishments.

Extracts of the documentary, “The Marketing of Madness” were shown. (YouTube access to the 177-minute film is available at the end of the article).  The film discusses “how psychiatric medications with deadly side effects and no known rate of cure came to dominate the field of mental health”, for example through the drawing up of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).  This manual creates “disease out of everyday suffering and as a result, pads the bottom lines” of pharmaceutical companies (ref: “Inside the Battle to Define Mental Illness”, by Gary Greenberg, 27 December 2010, Wired Magazine).  Another example is the prescription of atypical antipsychotics to some 2.5 million children in the United States.  This new type of psychiatric medication, which includes Risperdal and Zyprexa, can cause weight gain, cardio-vascular dysfunction and Parkinson’s disease-like symptoms.  These drugs sometimes require the prescription of other psychotropic medications to lessen side-effects, a practice called “poly-pharmacy”.

Cell Phone Tower Dangers: Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and Lecture by Dr. Magda Havas

The Health Department for Brazil’s third largest city, Belo Horizonte, recently released a government-funded cell phone antenna study showing an increased risk of cancer for those living within 500 meters of the antennas.  The city prosecutor has wasted no time in suing the cell phone companies, with the result that 66 of the 500 antennas which the citizens asked to be removed, have so far been taken down.  Between 1996 and 2006, 7,191 cancer deaths occurred within an area of 500 meters from the cell phone antenna base station:  a high mortality rate of 34.76 per 10,000 inhabitants.  Outside of this area, there was a decrease in the number of cancer deaths. 

Watch this 4-minute video on cell towers and cancer study in Belo Horizonte (26 March 2012)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt0G23GXJzc

In a 52-minute lecture on cell phone tower microwave radiation given in Oakville, Ontario, Dr. Magda Havas, leading Canadian expert, mentions this study. (15 March 2012)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEOcB7Svhvw

News from Geneva: The United Nations Orchestra Gives Its First Performance in Victoria Hall

The newly-formed United Nations Orchestra of Geneva gave its first performance in Victoria Hall, Geneva, on 16 March 2012 to a full audience of UN employees and dignitaries from Belgium, Sierra Leone and Switzerland.  Many of the 45 musicians work every day at the United Nations and other international organizations. 

“Since music is a universal language, what could be better than an orchestra to create a multicultural bridge and to strengthen links within international Geneva? Who better than the staff of international organizations themselves, many of whom are talented amateur musicians, to constitute an orchestra representing their institutions and the ideals they promote?”

Switzerland: Waves from Wireless Communication: Physicians for the Environment Requests Strict Application of the Precautionary Principle

Basel, 22 March 2012

Press Release from Physicians for the Environment (MfE – Switzerland)

Mobile Telephony :  MfE requests stricter limit values

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) considers the waves emitted by wireless communication “possibly carcinogenic”.  According to the IARC, the risk of cancer for this type of radiation is thus similar to that of the insecticide DDT, rightly banned.  Physicians for the Environment (MfE) is concerned that the limit values expected to protect the Swiss population, notably vulnerable groups such as children and pregnant women, constitute insufficient protection.  In a communication sent to the Federal Assembly, MfE thus requests strict application of the principle of precaution and – in view of the risk of cancer – lower limit values.

Children’s rooms, housing, trams or offices are experiencing a growing exposure to radiation from diverse sources:  babyphones, mobile telephony, wifi, etc., yet more and more studies warn against the serious health consequences of electromagnetic pollution for human beings and animals.

Cataracts in calves, Alzheimer’s Disease, cancer …

Mesothelioma - A Personal Testimony

The recent conviction of two directors of the asbestos company Eternit by a court in Turin has a great deal of personal meaning.

My companion, Adon, died on 1 April 2009 from mesothelioma (cancer of the pleura) caused by exposure to asbestos.  He believed he had been exposed to the substance nearly 40 years ago while working in a factory in Belgium.  He was diagnosed with the disease in July 2008, after two months of investigations, including invasive procedures.  Shortness of breath while climbing stairs led him to consult his generalist in May who mentioned a possible diagnosis of mesothelioma.  

At the time of the definitive diagnosis, we felt we could not get through this on our own.  We needed friends, family, sound advice, support, and especially the opportunity to share experiences.  We were met with a culture of silence from medical personnel and the Swiss Cancer League.  No one could or would put us in touch with others, including family members of persons diagnosed with mesothelioma.  By the time I started sharing my thoughts on the Internet cancer forum, Adon was within days of dying.  Just a few persons helped us:  the compassionate surgical team;  the palliative care nurse at the Cancer League;  and a lady in the United States whose husband Steve had been diagnosed with the same cancer several months after Adon’s diagnosis;  he died in July 2009 after complications from radiotherapy.  Steve’s father had been exposed to asbestos in a factory in England.  Each evening, he would return home with his clothes covered in dust.  Both his son, Steve, and his wife were diagnosed with mesothelioma around the same time, nearly 40 years later.