“BASIC CANCER RESEARCH” AND “COSMOPOLITAN CANCER RESEARCH SOCIETY”
Medical journals, and some other technical publications, have received recently what purport to be items of news value sent out by the “Medical News Bureau,” 77 Seventh Ave., Brooklyn, New York. The “manager” of this alleged bureau is given as D. E. Woolley. These “news items” are undated but are marked: “(For immediate release)” One of these starts with the statement, attributed to Mme. Curie, that cancer can be cured by radium and then continues:
“Cancer can be cured by the use of selenium and tellurium, more plentiful and less costly elements,” says F. W. Humphreys of Brooklyn, an American born student of chemistry and science who has devoted years to the study of the cause of cancer and the discovery of methods for relief....
“For the purpose of further developing methods of control and treatment of disease by the use of selenium and tellurium discovered by a number of local scientists, chemists and physicians, the Basic Cancer Research has been organized and an efficient laboratory established at 847 Union Street, Brooklyn....”
“Through the education of the people and special instruction to physicians it is hoped it may soon be possible to gain control of and eradicate the disease which now appears so great a menace. Mr. F. W. Humphrey, one of the organizers of the new institution, estimates that within ten years, or perhaps less time, cancer will no longer be considered a fatal disease.”
Evidently the joker here is the “Basic Cancer Research” of 847 Union Street, Brooklyn!
Newspapers are approached from a different angle. They receive free publicity matter on stationery reading “Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society” (D. E. Woolley, secretary), 847 Union St., Brooklyn, N. Y. With this matter is a letter from Woolley addressed to the editor of the paper to which the stuff is sent and asking:
“In the interest of suffering humanity will you please give space to the enclosed?
“No object of greater importance has ever been presented for your helpful consideration. Thousands are dying whom you can help save.”
According to the “news item” that accompanies this letter the “Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society” has been founded for the purpose of “investigating and developing methods” by which cancer “may be successfully combated and eventually eradicated.” It states further that the “society” will “disseminate information concerning symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and methods of prevention” of cancer. Furthermore, the membership of the society “includes physicians, scientists and chemists of prominence, laymen of means, and the sympathetically inclined from all walks of life.” Nor is this all!
“Doctor Frederick Klein the eminent authority on urinology and the chemistry of cancer, has evolved a new colorimetric test which is a most wonderful and valuable discovery in the diagnosis of cancer and various other diseases. This test will be particularly valuable in all life extension work because it determines, even in children the possibility of predisposition toward any particular disease, whether tuberculosis, cancer, diabetes or any of the diseases which in later life may become fatal. It determines also the vitality of the subject enabling the physician to accurately determine the condition of any of the vital organs.”
We learn in closing that memberships in the “society” are “graduated from $1.00 upwards according to the ability and disposition of those who may be interested.”
Located at 77 Seventh Avenue, from which the press agent material of the “Medical News Bureau” is sent, is the “Basic Chemical Corporation of America.” According to such information as we have been able to get, the president of this concern is F. W. Humphreys, the “student of chemistry and science who has devoted years to the study of the cause of cancer and the discovery of methods of relief.” We are informed that Mr. Humphreys was for a while in the employ of a “chemical company” of Philadelphia, and has been in the photographic line down in Virginia and later was connected with a real estate concern in Brooklyn. Another officer of the Basic Chemical Corporation is said to have been in the grocery line in a small village in Missouri, selling out and later coming to Brooklyn and entering the insurance business. Still another officer, it seems, was in the fish business. In addition to these three officers, there are two directors, one of whom is in the fancy grocery line, and the other is a local practicing physician whose name we find in the Propaganda department’s testimonial file under Sanmetto and Arsenauro.
The Dr. Frederick Klein, who is described as the “eminent authority on urinology and the chemistry of cancer,” is not a physician but claims a Ph.D. from Munich, Bavaria. Klein claims to have developed certain urinary tests. One of these, according to him, “indicates the body Vitality with great accuracy,” another proves the presence of cancer, a third is the “syphilis test” and a fourth is the “pregnancy test.” And these are not all!
Those who read the reports of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry may remember that Frederick Klein is the gentleman who made “Sulfo-Selene,” which the Council, in refusing it recognition, described as a “mixture containing a selenium compound of undetermined composition produced by reduction of nitro-selenous acid with sulphurous acid, mixed with bile salts and diluents.” Sulfo-Selene was widely exploited in the newspapers in 1916 as a remedy for cancer, and Klein got a good deal of publicity at that time.
Just what product the Basic Chemical Corporation of America is putting, or is about to put, on the market we do not know. From the rather vague talk about selenium and Frederick Klein’s marvelous diagnostic discoveries, it might be inferred that “Sulfo-Selene” was to be resurrected. Be that as it may, it seems fairly obvious that the material being sent out by D. E. Woolley—whether as “Manager” of the “Medical News Bureau” or as “Secretary” of the “Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society”—is advertising matter in the guise of news.
In this connection it is worth noting that the American Newspaper Publishers’ Association, in a special bulletin issued in 1909, published a very complete list of press agents and the interests these agents represented. This list contains the name D. E. Woolley, who then was sending out press notices for the National Association of Piano Dealers of America. Is this the gentleman who is now acting as press agent for the Basic Chemical Corporation of America? If it is, it may be that the slump in the piano trade has caused Mr. Woolley to turn from musical instruments to cancer cures.—(From The Journal A. M. A., Sept. 3, 1921.)
Seleni-Bascca
In the issue of September 3 The Journal called attention to a campaign of free publicity that was being instituted by a Brooklyn concern that, apparently, had for sale an alleged remedy for cancer. The press agent material was of two kinds—for medical journals and for newspapers. That which went to the medical journals was sent out on the stationery of the “Medical News Bureau,” 77 Seventh Ave., Brooklyn. The “manager” of the bureau was given as D. E. Woolley. The items sent out to medical journals stated that the “Basic Cancer Research” had been organized to develop a treatment of cancer by the use of selenium and tellurium.
The material received by newspapers was sent out by the “Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society,” 847 Union St., Brooklyn (the same address as the “Basic Cancer Research”). The “Secretary” of the “Cosmopolitan Cancer Research” was D. E. Woolley!
The name of one “Dr. Frederick Klein” loomed large in the matter sent out by the “Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society.” Klein, we were told, is “the eminent authority on urinology and the chemistry of cancer.” The Journal called attention to the fact that Frederick Klein’s name was not unknown in the Propaganda files, as he was the gentleman who manufactured “Sulfo-Selene,” a product that was widely heralded in the newspapers in 1916 as a remedy for cancer. It was also brought out that Klein, who is not a physician, claims to have evolved certain remarkable urinary diagnostic tests whereby the presence of cancer, syphilis, etc., may be determined.
More than a month after the publication of The Journal’s article, a letter was received (October 8) from Frederick Klein. To quote literally from part of the letter:
“In the above Journal dated Sept. 3th, Vol. 77, on page 805, regarding the ‘Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society’ you have amongst others, mentioned my name Dr. Frederick Klein.
“I wish to inform you that I have given my legal adviser the order to write a note to the above Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society, 847 Union St., Brooklyn, forbidden them to the effect that my name should not be used by above society in any form or writing in any of their transactions, this has been done some time ago to prevent unethical conceptions concerning myself.”
Shortly after the article of September 3 another item appeared in the newspapers throughout the country to the effect that the Cancer Research Society was offering a “$100,000 Cancer Prize” for a “medicinal cure for cancer.” Many of the newspapers of the country seemed to bite on this piece of free publicity. This was in the first week of October. In the third week of the same month a Brooklyn paper announced that 3,000 people had submitted formulas for curing cancer to the Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society. The article containing this announcement gave interesting descriptions of some of the “cures” submitted and closed with the statement that the Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society was establishing “clinics” in various cities. It ended with the statement:
“All treatments are confidential. In this respect the society had the cooperation of the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities. It also has the cooperation of the American Medical Association.”
The closing sentence is, of course, unequivocally false.
At the time of The Journal’s article the name of the particular preparation which the Basic Chemical Corporation of America was putting out was unknown. Shortly after the article appeared it was learned that the product was on the market as “Seleni-Bascca.” A physician, himself a sufferer from carcinoma, after reading the article of September 3, sent The Journal some correspondence he had received from the Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society regarding the alleged cure. One piece was a letter signed “F. W. Humphrey, Acting Director; Dictated by Dr. George D. Barney,” which read in part:
“Our claim is a very simple one indeed, namely that the use of a proper preparation of Selenium (Seleni-Bascca) restores the Sulphur metabolism to normal; we claim that cancer cannot exist in any form, when the Sulphur metabolism is normal, the results from the proper use of Seleni-Bascca in cases of Carcinoma are quick and lasting, the Medical Profession can hardly realize that in this modest treatment a remedy for the Dreaded Carcinoma has been discovered.
“Seleni-Bascca in its colloidal form is quickly taken up by the blood stream, reaches the finest tissues and almost immediately resists the further growth of the disease. The research work has been going on since 1901, under the direction of Dr. Frederick Klein, in connection with Medical Men who have proved to their own satisfaction that Seleni-Bascca should be used as a treatment in every case of malignancy.”
Seleni-Bascca comes in small vials containing fifty tablets. Each vial bears a label reading:
“SELENIBASCCA. A mixture of Colloidal Selenium in tablet form. Recommended in the internal treatment of Carcinoma and some other cases of faulty metabolism.”
Some of the preparation was turned over to the A. M. A. Chemical Laboratory with the request that the tablets be examined to determine whether or not they contained, as claimed, selenium in colloidal form. The laboratory report follows:
CHEMICAL REPORT
“An original vial of ‘Seleni-Bascca’ (Basic Chemical Corporation of America) was examined in the A. M. A. Chemical Laboratory to determine whether or not the substance contained colloidal selenium. The bottle contained 50 tablets weighing approximately 0.1 gm. (about 11⁄2 gr.) each. The major portion of the tablet was soluble in hot water. Qualitative tests indicated the presence of chlorid, sulphate, small amount of nitrate, potassium, sodium, starch, talc and selenium. Tellurium was not found to be present. The ash was equivalent to 5.5 per cent.; over one-half of the ash consisted of a talc-like substance. The amount of selenium present in the specimen examined was only about 1.3 per cent.
“In the literature sent out by The Basic Chemical Corporation, ‘Dr. Frederick Klein’ is mentioned as chemist. Several years ago, the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry investigated ‘Sulfo-Selene,’ a cancer remedy, with which the same ‘Dr. Klein’ was connected. The alleged composition of ‘Sulfo-Selene,’ as given to the Council, was:
| “Selenium | .25 |
| “Sulphur (partially in colloidal and partially in crystalloid state) | .10 |
| “Potassium carbonate | .10 |
| “Nitrogen | .05 |
| “Bile Salts | .50 |
| “To which is added an inert base or vehicle; as sugar of milk or amylum.” |
“It was claimed that ‘Sulfo-Selene’ was prepared by reducing nitro-selenious acid with sulphurous acid, neutralizing with potassium bicarbonate and then adding bile salts. Assuming that the composition claimed for ‘Sulfo-Selene’ was correct the analysis of ‘Seleni-Bascca’ shows that the two products resemble each other. The tests, however, failed to reveal in ‘Seleni-Bascca’ the presence of the bile salts claimed to have been present in ‘Sulfo-Selene.’ ”
“The product is not colloidal as claimed as the selenium can be removed by ordinary filtration.”—(From The Journal A. M. A., Nov. 19, 1921.)
Repudiated by the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities
To the Editor:—My attention has been called to the fact that there appears in a recent issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association a statement that the Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society, located at 847 Union Street, Brooklyn, has the cooperation of the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities. In reply may I say that the Bureau of Charities has no connection, understanding, or relationship whatever, with the Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society, and has never sent a patient to them.
T. J. Riley, Brooklyn.
Secretary, Brooklyn Bureau of Charities.—Correspondence from The Journal A. M. A., Dec. 24, 1921.
BELL-ANS (PAPAYANS, BELL)[M]
As the New York Tribune’s “Ad-Visor” Sees It
“Why avoid draughts? Sit by an open window if you want to! Just take a few drops of Sneeze-o before you go into the draught and after you come out of it, and you’ll never catch cold.
“Don’t be afraid of contagion. Kiss your Uncle Ebenezer, even if he’s dying of tuberculosis! Just fortify yourself with a sip of Lungicide before you go to his bedside, and another when you come away, and you’ll be taking no risk.
“Are you going to sit there and let the other folks eat up all the good things just because you are afraid to pitch in, when 2 or 3 Bell-Ans taken before and after the meal would enable you to enjoy your share of all that’s coming without a bit of discomfort or distress? Bell-Ans has restored the pleasures of the table to thousands who say: ‘I can now eat anything and plenty of it, too.’ ”
“The first two blurbs are The Ad-Visor’s. The third is a bona fide advertisement of Bell-Ans, aimed to catch the holiday trade. They are all patterned after the same style and the first two are no more lacking in logic than the last. Overeat—deliberately court indigestion—invite gout—don’t be a gourmet, be a gourmand—be an anti-Hoover and eat a lot of food, whether you need it or not; than take Bell-Ans. If it doesn’t ‘absolutely remove indigestion,’ your druggist will give you back your money! Could anything be fairer than that?
“Such copy as this is not limited in its evil effects to the misguided individual who eats lobster and ice cream at midnight and trusts to Bell-Ans to atone for his indiscretion. The most serious effect of such reckless advice is the example which the advertising sets to other advertisers.”
The comments just quoted are from the Ad-Visor department of the New York Tribune of Feb. 7, 1918. They are respectfully referred to the New York Medical Journal, the International Journal of Surgery and the Woman’s Medical Journal—three presumably scientific publications that through their advertising pages urge physicians to prescribe Bell-ans.—(From The Journal A.M.A., Feb. 23, 1918.)