December 18, 2016

Magic Water?

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Update: new reporting at the Herald, who got the stuff tested. It contains quite a lot of bleach (hypochlorite/hypochlorous acid). And it’s expensive.  When I wrote this, based on the Stuff article, I was willing to assume the assertions quoted in the article about the trial conduct and standards of research were true in the absence of evidence to the contrary. Not so much now.  Good work by the Herald. 

 

So, last week on Stuff there was a story about an unproven cancer treatment that rugby-great Colin Meads was taking.  Sir Colin is now feeling better than he was, which is good news, and thinks the treatment is the cause, which is predictable.  What’s unfortunate is the story endorsing his beliefs.

This case is different from many cases of unproven cancer treatments, because it doesn’t look like a simple story of venal or credulous quacks making money from the dying.  Vern Coxhead seems to have a reasonable grasp of how things are supposed to work, and he wasn’t the one using the phrase “magic water”. His company is “conducting a clinical trial and investigating the potential for the induction of remission in various metastatic cancers”,  and the patients in the trial aren’t being charged for the treatment.  A trial with that aim could be done without a randomised control group, to provide a basis for a subsequent randomised trial looking at survival and/or quality of life.

However, the level of secrecy would be very unusual in clinical research, especially with a potentially commercial product. Usually the treatment has been patented and participants and their doctors know what they’re getting.  I can’t find any sign the trial has been registered (as required by the Declaration of Helsinki), which would make it harder to use any positive data to support product registration and marketing.  It’s also worrying that Coxhead says he doesn’t know how much longer the trial will continue; there should be a detailed plan.

Like all early candidates for cancer treatments, “Te Kiri Gold” is very unlikely to end up being beneficial. What’s important at this stage is whether the developer cares if it works, and how he plans to find out.

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Thomas Lumley (@tslumley) is Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Auckland. His research interests include semiparametric models, survey sampling, statistical computing, foundations of statistics, and whatever methodological problems his medical collaborators come up with. He also blogs at Biased and Inefficient See all posts by Thomas Lumley »

Comments

  • avatar
    Nat Marshall

    Has there been any news at all about this. I was also intrigued by the claim there was a clinical trial going on but then the avoidance of answering any of the follow-ups (including who the physician was) so that I could find it on the ANZCTR

    7 years ago

  • avatar
    Lynda Northcott

    I have been taking this water for months for my excema. I am 48 and have had severe excema all of my life. Constantly on topical and/or oral steroids, antihistamines, even methotrexate – which has many and serious potential side effects. Since having this water every day my skin is perfectly clear. I no longer use any of the other medication. I am a registered nurse and have no hesitation in recommending people to try this for themselves.

    7 years ago

    • avatar
      Nat Marshall

      Do you honestly not see a problem with recommending an unproven therapy with no demonstrated effectiveness and no known safety profile that’s being touted as a cure for cancer/s for other less serious conditions?

      7 years ago

      • avatar
        Lynda Northcott

        I understand your caution. I have seen and felt its effectiveness so it had been definitely been demonstrated. I first sourced it for my Mother who has Cancer, I took it myself so that I could gauge how it made myself feel… a personal trial I guess and yes that does sound a little reckless. However I was happy to do this with what I have seen and heard about this water. I would not do that with any chemotherapy ‘remedies’ for example… because of what I have heard and seen. Sometimes people have not the time to wait for clinical trials and legalities. It is entirely a personal choice. A lot of people live with conditions that are not life threatening but that have such an impact on their lives. These conditions are often treated with medications like steroids that have multiple side effects. These medications are known to be dangerous, are not always that effective and the doses are often needed to increase to obtain even a marginal result. I know I am so much healthier from taking Te Kiri Gold (the water in question) than all the topical and oral medications that I have had since birth.

        7 years ago

    • avatar
      Thomas Lumley

      I’ve moderated a comment asking how to buy the stuff.

      I’m generally willing to allow discussion in comments, but this is not the place for information about sales of a unapproved medication.

      There’s a good reason why the Medicines Act forbids advertising based on testimonials — and especially testimonials by health practitioners.

      7 years ago

  • avatar
    John Mack

    aranaki GP Dr Mitchell Feller registered PureCure in June 2016 and holds a 50 per cent share in the company.

    On the side of a Te Kiri Gold bottle, a testimonial from a “Dr Mitch” endorses the product.

    “I’ve repeatedly seen it work in my surgery. Patients can’t believe it and immediately want more. See what you think. That’s my guarantee! – Dr Mitch.”

    In 2005, Feller was convicted in the United States for self-prescribing OxyContin.

    His New Zealand medical registration was removed in 2014 after the international firm which hired him unexpectedly ended his contract. Medical Council New Zealand reinstated his practicing certificate later that year.

    Feller, who has moved twice since he registered PureCure to a Hawera address last year, was unable to be located for comment.

    7 years ago

  • avatar
    George dudson

    Having lost my wife to cancer that was incurable 8 years
    I still follow things that would possibly have cured her. Doe’s this work ? I’m not sure and without further research I’d probably put it in with miracle mineral water. Would I have tried it if she had wanted to ? Definitely
    If you have nothing at all you have nothing to lose
    Colin meads is high profile but if he gives it a go good for him and the very best of luck it’s his never give up attitude
    All the best George

    7 years ago