This is a full reproduction of the TM movement's attorney's letter to Serena Stockwell, editor of the Oncology Times.
WILLIAM P. GOLDSTEIN
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1000 NORTH FOURTH ST
FAIRFIELD, IA 52557-1124
TEL 515-472-1175
FAX: 515-472-1141
December 15, 1992
Ms Serena Stockwell. Editor
Oncology Times
1180 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036
Dear Ms Stockwell:
I am the attorney for certain organizations that offer programs in Transcendental Meditation and Maharishi Ayur-Veda in the United States, i.e., World Plan Executive Council-US ("WPEC"), American Association of Ayurvedic MEdicine ("AAAM") and Maharishi Ayur-Veda Products, International ("MAPI"). An October 1992 article from Oncology Times entitled "Cults Hook AIDS Patients" has been forwarded to me by my clients. They were most shocked and surprised that such an article would be printed in your publication. They were never contacted prior to publication to confirm any of the information contained therein. I have reviewed the article. It is clear that it is false and defamatory.
The article states that Transcendental Meditation is a "cult" trying to make money by victimizinf AIDS patients, and that it is selling Indian folk medicines as a replacement for modern medicine. These are allegations which are not only completely and provably factually false, but are also malicious statements designed to injure my clients.
First, Trancendental Meditation is not a cult. Over a million Americans, including thousands of medical doctors and clergy of all religions, have learned the program. They find it a most valuable adjunct to their personal and professional lives, which in no way conflicts with their religious, scientific or professional views or responsibilities. You should also be aware that the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that testimony that Transcendental Meditation is a "cult" was not admissible in a court of law, as such allegation lacked proper scientific support.
Ms. Serena Stockwell, Editor
December 15, 1992
Page 2.
Second, to ascribe sinister motives to these organizations is hysterical and malicious. These organizations are not motivated by financial concerns, but by a sincere desire to provide programs that can help Americans utilize their full potential and lead healthy lives. My clients have rather nominal financial resources, certinly miniscule when compared with established organizations in the health care field who seem to feel threatened by even the whisper that there may be alternative or adjunctive approaches to curing the health problems of America which they have not thought of or patented.
Two further points are important. The "Indian folk medicine" the article is referring to is actually Ayurvedic medicine, the world's oldest system of medicine, founded in India. Ayur-Veda is recognized and supported by the World Health Organization. Maharishi Ayur-Veda is a contemporary formulation of Ayurvedic medicine.
And, contrary to the allegation in the article, the Maharishi Ayur-Veda and Transcendental Meditation organizations in the U.S. do not, and never have advocated that patients stop their "modern medicine." Absolutely to the contrary, Maharishi Ayur-Veda is administered in the U.S. by several hundred medical doctors trained in this program who use the Ayurvedic treatment as an adjunct to prescribed western medicine, not as a replacement for it. This is true inall cases, AIDS included. The Oncology Times statement to the contrary is egregiously and completely false.
It is from the platform of science that these organizations have been and wish to continue to be carefully evaluated. Over 400 studies at more than 200 institutions around the world have been performed on the Transcendental Meditation program over the last 22 years and have found consistently that it has significant and positive effects on mental, physical and social functioning.
Ms. Serena Stockwell, Editor
December 15, 1992
Page 3.
The real news for readers of Oncology Times is that in the health field, and with reference to cancer in particular, numerous scientific studies have been conducted at recognized institutions indicating the significant potential contribution of Maharishi Ayur-Veda to the prevention and treatment of serious disease. In a seies of ongoing studies, H.M. Sharma, M.D., Director of Cancer Prevention and Natural Products Research at the Ohio State University College of Medicine, has been investigating the effects of Maharishi Ayur-Veda herbal preparations (MAK-4 and MAK-5) on cancer in laboratory animals. These studies showed a significant chemopreventative effect by these preparations, both individually and in combination. In combination, these preparations shrank or eliminated tumors in 75% of subjects, causing cancer cells to differentiate into non-canerous cells (Sharma et al,. 1990a, 1990b). V. Patel at Indiana University School of Medicine found a 60% reduction in Lewis lung carcinoma who were given MAK-4 (Patel, 1990). IN a series of studies on neuroblastoma cells in culture, K. N. Prasad, Director of the Center for Vitamins and Cancer Research at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, found that cancer cells treated with a solution of MAK-5 differentiated into mature neurons; MAK is reportedly one of the few known non-toxic agents able to produce such an effect (Prasad et al., 1992). Nader et al. (1987) found a significant chemopreventative effect on colon cancer in animals given Maharishi Ayur-Veda Maharasayana (MAMR). A recent study on toxicity of Adriamycin, a chemotherapeutic agent commonly used in cancer treatment. found that MAK-4 significantly reduced Adriamycin toxicity in animals (Engineer et al., 1992).
On the basis of these results, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has included Maharishi Ayur-Veda preparations on its list of potential chemopreventative agents meriting further study. NCI is funding a series of studies on MAK-4 and MAK-5 at the University of Chicago, SRI International, and ManTech Environmental, Research Triangle, North Carolina. Findings from the first of these NCI studies showed inhibition of
Ms. Serena Stockwell, Editor
December 15, 1992
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carcinogen-induced cell transformation in animal tracheal epithelial cells (Arnold et al., 1991).
In addition, a large-scale five-year controlled study of medical care utilization in individuals practising Transcendental Meditiation, a principal stress-reduction modality of Maharishi Ayur-Veda, found that the TM group has a 55.4% lower rate of hospital admissions for tumors. The overall reduction in ,edical care utilization, both in-patient and out-patient, for all disease categories, was greater than 50% i nthe TM group as compared to non-medititating controls (Orme-Johnson, 1987).
A more detailed annotated overview of recent research on Maharishi Ayur-Veda is enclosed for your review. You may also be aware that the National Institures of Health, under COngressional mandate, has recently established an Office for the Study of Alternative Medicine (Cullhane, 1992). One of the lesding authorities on Mahrishi Ayur-Veda, Deepak Chopra, M.D., has been appointed to sit on the Advisory Panel for this Office.
The medical McCarthyism manifest in the October Oncology Times article has surfaced in other publications, e.g. JAMA. Please note that our response to their defematory October 1991 article was definitive: a suit was filed against JAMA by AAAM in Federal DIstrict Court in Chicago, which suit is now pending.
We certainly would prefer not to litigate but rather to rationally educate the medical community about Mahrishi Ayur-Veda and continue to inspire research on treatments which might prevent, cure or mitigate disease. We would like to accomplish this goal in a professional, scientific and co-operative spirit. Labeling such activity cultish, or mercenary serves, in our opinion, to suppress the pursuit of valid alternative approaches to improving health care, and is not in the social interest. Had Oncology Times adopted the standard journalistic policy of employing a fact-checker, you would have immediately found that the assertions contained in your article were untrue. We question the motives of those who engaged in
Ms. Serena Stockwell, Editor
December 15, 1992
Page 5.
name-calling and false accusations without checking facts, and are concerned that such reactions are motivated by vested economic and professional interests. It is important for the sake of scientific progress and the public welfare that such journalistic prejudice on the part of the medical establishment stop.
Very Truly
William P. Goldstein (signed)