INTERVIEW WITH CHARLOTTE GERSON DY NEWS: It is a pleasure to see the Gerson therapy continue to gain acceptance and press worldwide. All this is primarily due to your efforts, which are truly an everlasting honor to your father's work. Could we begin with these questions, please. I have seen the Gerson VHS videos produced about 15 years ago, such as "Doing the Gerson Therapy at Home." How is your intention for this new documentary different? CHARLOTTE GERSON: The Gerson videotapes were produced well over 10 years ago mainly to provide information to patients about the therapy, how and why it produces results, how to manage the therapy (Vol. II, The Workshop) and (Vol. III) how to cook, juice, prepare coffee concentrate for enemas, and handle medications. The new documentary presents Dr. Gerson's work, how he started to understand the importance of the soil, how his own health problems forced him to search for solutions - then how he was able to elaborate on those to achieve healing of cancer. The documentary also presents 8 or 9 patients, most of them long-term recoveries after desperate diagnoses. This documentary should be distributed all over the world to inform the suffering public of the available healing, the natural approach instead of drugging symptoms. And this healing is not just for patients suffering from cancer, but for those suffering from other chronic 'incurable' diseases. DY NEWS: The documentary contains some very strong words and absolute statements about pharmaceuticals and modern medicine. What are the chief obstacles to your work at present? CHARLOTTE GERSON: The chief obstacles to spreading this information worldwide is the powerful medical/pharmaceutical industry. According to Dr. Ralph Moss, in his book "The Cancer Industry" (New York: Paragon Press, 1989), cancer treatments are bringing in over $100 billion dollars annually in the U.S. alone! The problem with the Gerson Therapy is that it is not patentable, and produces no profits for the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore they have powerful means, publicity, falsehoods that are spread by expensive TV and magazine ads to promote their "latest and promising" drug treatments. The general public is still convinced that only drugs and surgery, possibly radiation will help to overcome cancer. The advertisers do not publish the fact that each year the number of people dying of cancer increases by some 10% and more and more children suffer and die of cancer! Only when all "orthodox" treatments have failed do some enlightened patients look for alternative treatments. That is why over 90% of patients coming to the Gerson Therapy hospital are in "terminal" condition. If orthodox treatments could cure cancer, we would be out of business. DY NEWS: Dr. Gerson was, and still is, widely denounced by the pharmaceutical/medical establishment. For a therapy that works, why the resistance from doctors? CHARLOTTE GERSON: After my father presented five "cured hopeless cancer patients" before a U.S. Senate Committee in early July, 1946, the medical establishment increased its attacks with articles in the JAMA on Dr. Gerson. It published an editorial about the Gerson treatment with the heading "Of Fraud and Fables." It even either forced or paid a physician to retract his positive testimony during that hearing and had him write to U.S. universities and medical organizations stating that the Gerson Therapy had no effect in the treatment of cancer! This letter was subsequently published all over the medical press, and reported to anybody inquiring from the AMA about the Gerson treatment. Other attacks were more subtle: Dr. Gerson stated that some 25% of his best cases were regularly contacted by their previous doctors, asked to report on their progress. Then they were told that in their 'improved' condition, chemotherapy could now clear all cancer problems. When they agreed to take some chemotherapy, they died. DY NEWS: I hesitate to bring this thought forward, but the movie more than suggests that Dr. Gerson was murdered by arsenic poisoning. Can you comment more about this sensitive issue? CHARLOTTE GERSON: Dr. Gerson rented his office in a building originally supplied by grateful recovered patients. However the staff, headed by the same physician I referred to earlier, spied on Gerson, reported names and addresses of his patients who were then contacted by their prior doctors - and many of the patients' files and records "disappeared." It was a fact that even at an advanced age (77 years) Dr. Gerson had a somewhat low blood pressure and enjoyed one cup of coffee in the afternoon. He noted at one point that every evening, after having coffee served at his office, that he had violent cramps and diarrheas. He stopped taking this coffee but a subsequent 24-hour urine collection showed that he excreted arsenic! He did not die immediately; however this weakened him considerably and he subsequently contracted a viral lung infection that killed him Then the doctors committed their ultimate insult: they claimed that he died of lung cancer! Of course his lung X-rays did not show tumors but lung damage from his infection. You will find a good deal of this information in my son's biography of Dr. Gerson (http://www.doctoryourself.com/gersonbio.htm). Actually, Howard found it impossible to find a publisher in the U.S. They were afraid of trouble from the AMA or "Big Pharma." The publisher in Canada who agreed to print the book removed about one-third of the stories that were highly unflattering to the AMA, the JAMA, and more. DY NEWS: Thank you for your candor, and for the interview. CHARLOTTE GERSON: Thanks for this opportunity to inform your readers. For more information on the Gerson therapy: The complete how-to-do-it book: http://www.doctoryourself.com/gersontherapy.html Dr. Gerson's own words: http://www.doctoryourself.com/gersonspeech.html References and citations http://www.doctoryourself.com/bib_gerson_therapy.html and http://www.doctoryourself.com/bib_gerson.html. The Gerson Institute 1572 Second Avenue San Diego, CA 92101 Tel. 619-685-5353 Toll-free: 1-888-4-GERSON mail@gerson.org The Gerson Institute's Website: http://www.gerson.org Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encyclopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. 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