And this is the gentleman who claims to have discovered the cause of, and offers for sale a cure for, one of the most baffling scourges known to modern medicine—cancer. Except for the articles that have been published during the past three years in the Medical Record, we are unable to find anywhere in representative medical literature anything to indicate that Edward Percy Robinson can lay any claim to special knowledge of, or skill in the treatment of, cancer. What we do find are advertisements describing Edward Percy Robinson’s alleged abilities as a “face beautifier,” puffs from utterly uncritical or discredited sources and a testimonial to the value of a preposterous “fat cure” fake.
With the best brains of the world at work on the problem of cancer, it is reasonable to assume that any man who has found out even a little more than has previously been discovered or is able to accomplish even a little better results than the average in the treatment of this dreaded disease, would be well known to scientific medicine.
After this article was in type physicians began sending in No. 3 (April, 1921) of Therapeutic Leaves. This is still another reprint of Nos. 1 and 2, with minor changes. In the first two, Tekarkin is described as “a solution of potassium nitrate of special strength;” in No. 3 it becomes “a special solution containing potassium nitrate.” In Nos. 1 and 2, Robinson described an alleged case of “Cancer of the Rectum Treated with Tekarkin.” In No. 3 this becomes “Medicinal Treatment Cures Cancer of the Rectum.” In No. 3 the names of the editors, assistant editor and general manager are eliminated.
The inside back cover of No. 3 contains an advertisement of Tekarkin, in which physicians are warned that “Cancer of the Lung May Present Diagnostic Signs of Tuberculosis.” It contains the further startling information that the particular micro-organism responsible for pulmonary tuberculosis is the Klebs-Loeffler bacillus! Thus:
“The Klebs-Loeffler bacillus may find a suitable habitat in a malignant area of lung tissue and thrive therein. The presence of the bacillus does not necessarily exclude the presence of cancer. A chronic cough with blood-streaked sputum may be the result of tuberculosis and cancer.”—(From The Journal A. M. A., May 28, 1921.)