› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Has anyone ever gone to see Nicholas Gonzalez, MD for treatment?
- This topic has 18 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 8 months ago by
LynnLuc.
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- December 21, 2010 at 7:02 am
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- December 21, 2010 at 7:27 am
I was in the process of responding myself but lost the whole thing… and it was loooooong!
I went and googled (surprised to find this guy rather than a melanoma specialist) and went to his website. I nearly laughed at the predictable "case studies" (and I use the term loosely)- somehow I wasn't surprised to hear the people who stopped being compliant to his protocol died shortly after.
Then I went to look at the Research, which was strangely remiscent of my 5 year old having a little tanty, and tried to read his version of being scientific through the mass of holes in logic (and knowledge) In an effort to be fair, I located and read the entire research he was referring to… and this merely served to reinforce the questionable legitimacy of Gonzalez.
Found this gem which which perfectly summed up all of my issues while reading his version of "research" and his rebuttal:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/09/nicholas_gonzalez_response_to_the_failed.php
And not only did I see the article mentioned by anonymous above, which was not what I would consider confidence-inspiring, but I found THIS frightening and disturbing bit of information which served to reinforce to me that the only reason I would go to this guy would be if I couldn't find Kevorkian 😐
Honestly, I am not averse to unconventional/alternative/naturopathic (whatever one wants to call it) but I'll look into ALL forms of treatment and APPLY SOME CRITICAL THINKING concerning the available evidence, before I drawn my conclusions. Reading a few testimonials online doesn't quite do it for me.
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- December 22, 2010 at 1:57 am
Hi NicOz,
I understand your concerns.
A few points though:
1) Last visit of a person that is listed on the scanned document that you provided the link for and for the document link provided by "anonymous" was in 1992…18 years ago…maybe he was too cavalier back then.
2) I will tell you that he still practices today. He's been on a few tv shows including Larry King (doesn't mean much except that he's not hiding) and I spoke to someone that purportedly had stage IV melanoma and was doing great a few years later…he said that his tumors shrunk until they disappeared after doing Gonzalez program.
3) He did get the "stamp of approval" from 2 big shots from Proctor and Gamble and Hersheys, if I'm not mistaken. You can't lie about that and get away with it.
I want to try and get the person that I spoke that is doing his program to post on here. Note: I did not get his name thru Gonzalez.
Not trying to argue, just making a few points. It would be great if he were legitimate. I believe that he is but I've only met with but never been treated by him.
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- December 22, 2010 at 8:39 am
I dunno Jake, after reading some more I think the doc still is mighty cavalier, even if he does have a chocolate stamp of approval…
I found these from Nic's links.. http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/09/the_gonzalez_protocol_worse_than_useless.php
http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/28/12/2058.abstract
Results At enrollment, the treatment groups had no statistically significant differences in patient characteristics, pathology, quality of life, or clinically meaningful laboratory values. Kaplan-Meier analysis found a 9.7-month difference in median survival between the chemotherapy group (median survival, 14 months) and enzyme treatment groups (median survival, 4.3 months) and found an adjusted-mortality hazard ratio of the enzyme group compared with the chemotherapy group of 6.96 (P < .001). At 1 year, 56% of chemotherapy-group patients were alive, and 16% of enzyme-therapy patients were alive. The quality of life ratings were better in the chemotherapy group than in the enzyme-treated group (P < .01).
Conclusion Among patients who have pancreatic cancer, those who chose gemcitabine-based chemotherapy survived more than three times as long (14.0 v 4.3 months) and had better quality of life than those who chose proteolytic enzyme treatment.
Sure looks like the big NCI chance to prove himself failed miserably (particularly for the patients).
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- December 22, 2010 at 7:05 pm
His name has come up once or twice in the past and I think now as I did then that the gentleman is a snake oil salesman.
I'm not impressed with one or two examples of non-clinical success. Frankly I'd rather have my coffee hot in a cup and not in an enema.
Jerry from Cape Cod
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- December 23, 2010 at 2:17 am
Jerry,
With all due respect, I actually met and although I didn't do his program or anything, I did come away impressed. I could go on an on but I just wanted to see if anyone on the site was actually treated by him.
As far as the coffee enemas, read about Dr. Hiromi Shinya, MD, a GI doctor in NY who invented parts of the colonoscopy procedure. See what he has to say about coffee enemas. I would also recommend his book "The Enzyme Factor" to anyone. Fast, easy reading with some great stuff, including the mention of the coffee enemas.
Jake
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- December 23, 2010 at 2:17 am
Jerry,
With all due respect, I actually met and although I didn't do his program or anything, I did come away impressed. I could go on an on but I just wanted to see if anyone on the site was actually treated by him.
As far as the coffee enemas, read about Dr. Hiromi Shinya, MD, a GI doctor in NY who invented parts of the colonoscopy procedure. See what he has to say about coffee enemas. I would also recommend his book "The Enzyme Factor" to anyone. Fast, easy reading with some great stuff, including the mention of the coffee enemas.
Jake
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- December 25, 2010 at 4:47 am
I wonder how many of his services are covered by health insurance…
I grind my coffee beans every day and drink about 5 pots , not to include my lattes! I think my mouth enjoys it better than any other orafice would! Sounds like Nick is a spliter doc from the Gerson Therapy…
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- December 25, 2010 at 4:47 am
I wonder how many of his services are covered by health insurance…
I grind my coffee beans every day and drink about 5 pots , not to include my lattes! I think my mouth enjoys it better than any other orafice would! Sounds like Nick is a spliter doc from the Gerson Therapy…
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- December 22, 2010 at 7:05 pm
His name has come up once or twice in the past and I think now as I did then that the gentleman is a snake oil salesman.
I'm not impressed with one or two examples of non-clinical success. Frankly I'd rather have my coffee hot in a cup and not in an enema.
Jerry from Cape Cod
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- December 22, 2010 at 8:39 am
I dunno Jake, after reading some more I think the doc still is mighty cavalier, even if he does have a chocolate stamp of approval…
I found these from Nic's links.. http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/09/the_gonzalez_protocol_worse_than_useless.php
http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/28/12/2058.abstract
Results At enrollment, the treatment groups had no statistically significant differences in patient characteristics, pathology, quality of life, or clinically meaningful laboratory values. Kaplan-Meier analysis found a 9.7-month difference in median survival between the chemotherapy group (median survival, 14 months) and enzyme treatment groups (median survival, 4.3 months) and found an adjusted-mortality hazard ratio of the enzyme group compared with the chemotherapy group of 6.96 (P < .001). At 1 year, 56% of chemotherapy-group patients were alive, and 16% of enzyme-therapy patients were alive. The quality of life ratings were better in the chemotherapy group than in the enzyme-treated group (P < .01).
Conclusion Among patients who have pancreatic cancer, those who chose gemcitabine-based chemotherapy survived more than three times as long (14.0 v 4.3 months) and had better quality of life than those who chose proteolytic enzyme treatment.
Sure looks like the big NCI chance to prove himself failed miserably (particularly for the patients).
-
- December 22, 2010 at 1:57 am
Hi NicOz,
I understand your concerns.
A few points though:
1) Last visit of a person that is listed on the scanned document that you provided the link for and for the document link provided by "anonymous" was in 1992…18 years ago…maybe he was too cavalier back then.
2) I will tell you that he still practices today. He's been on a few tv shows including Larry King (doesn't mean much except that he's not hiding) and I spoke to someone that purportedly had stage IV melanoma and was doing great a few years later…he said that his tumors shrunk until they disappeared after doing Gonzalez program.
3) He did get the "stamp of approval" from 2 big shots from Proctor and Gamble and Hersheys, if I'm not mistaken. You can't lie about that and get away with it.
I want to try and get the person that I spoke that is doing his program to post on here. Note: I did not get his name thru Gonzalez.
Not trying to argue, just making a few points. It would be great if he were legitimate. I believe that he is but I've only met with but never been treated by him.
-
- December 21, 2010 at 7:27 am
I was in the process of responding myself but lost the whole thing… and it was loooooong!
I went and googled (surprised to find this guy rather than a melanoma specialist) and went to his website. I nearly laughed at the predictable "case studies" (and I use the term loosely)- somehow I wasn't surprised to hear the people who stopped being compliant to his protocol died shortly after.
Then I went to look at the Research, which was strangely remiscent of my 5 year old having a little tanty, and tried to read his version of being scientific through the mass of holes in logic (and knowledge) In an effort to be fair, I located and read the entire research he was referring to… and this merely served to reinforce the questionable legitimacy of Gonzalez.
Found this gem which which perfectly summed up all of my issues while reading his version of "research" and his rebuttal:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/09/nicholas_gonzalez_response_to_the_failed.php
And not only did I see the article mentioned by anonymous above, which was not what I would consider confidence-inspiring, but I found THIS frightening and disturbing bit of information which served to reinforce to me that the only reason I would go to this guy would be if I couldn't find Kevorkian 😐
Honestly, I am not averse to unconventional/alternative/naturopathic (whatever one wants to call it) but I'll look into ALL forms of treatment and APPLY SOME CRITICAL THINKING concerning the available evidence, before I drawn my conclusions. Reading a few testimonials online doesn't quite do it for me.
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- December 21, 2010 at 7:02 am
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