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U. S. Department of Defense studying Church of Scientology Purification Rundown

Udarnik

Gold Meritorious Patron
That's exactly the kind of thing I'm afraid might happen.

I suspect this would shoot down the study with any reputable peer review journal. But in the meantime, the COS would have their favorable​ research results... and they could blame the psychiatrists and bigots​ for dissing their project. :p

I think this is exactly their game here. The Young Earth Creationists pulled a similar gambit with a cellar-dweller fifth-tier journal some years ago.
 

JGB

Patron
I am glad that the DoD is doing a pilot for the Gulf Vets on the purif. I am a Viet Nam vet and I have done the purif 3 times! The first time I was on it for 64 days! I did do a lot of drugs. When I finished I have never felt so clean in my life!:blush: My night vision returned and my eyesight improved.
The 2nd time (2 years later) it took 21 days. Again I never felt so clean in my life and vision again got better. The 3rd time it only took me 13 days to do. I did it because I wanted to. Again the same cleanliness feeling. I love the Purif. If I could, I would do it once a year. :yes:

Some may poo-poo Ron but the purif does work and our vets need it to get rid of the toxins our gov't put into their bodies.
 
I assume the MD on site will be Kathleen Kerr from Narconon Canada since she is listed as co-investigator with David Carpenter...

I have a feeling that monitoring for toxicity and CV stress was a big part of why it took so long to get off the ground. However, the person doing the negotiation was the Principal Investigator, and it looks as if he is going to be in Albany while the staff administering the study will be in Maryland. Is there going to be an MD on site when this is going on? I have big concerns that the negotiated safety precautions in the protocol amendment are going to go out the window with the half-trained Scilons at the study center.
 
DamOTclese2 on Tony Ortega's blog suggests:

Write to David Carpenter
[email protected] and to Albany Grants [email protected] to let them know what you think about tax money to promote and pretend to "research" Scientology "Purification Rundown" / NarCONon fraud.

If you would, point David and the grant people to
http://www.cosvm.com/ which shows what Scientology did to disrupt relief efforts in the aftermath of the Saudi attacks of September 11th, and tohttp://www.crackpots.us/ to show what Scientology's NarCONon frauds actually mean out in the real world.

The relevant authorities need to read the research.

They could start here: http://narcononreviews.net/info/formal-reports/

Renaming the Purif to "Hubbard Protocol" is sleight of hand, and the thought of any 'independent' study being run by Narconon is unbelievable.
 

oneonewasaracecar

Gold Meritorious Patron
I got to say this is very good news. Here we have Hubbard's bogus claims being publicly tested. When it fails completely to do what Hubbard/Scientology claims it will be public knowledge. It will be proven to be bogus. Every Narconon in the world will be proven to be a fraud and a scam.

Good news! 4 to 6 weeks of trial and then Narconon is dead.
I wonder if this is a deliberate strategy by the US Govt. They could shut them down for good.
 

Udarnik

Gold Meritorious Patron
DamOTclese2 on Tony Ortega's blog suggests:

Write to David Carpenter
[email protected] and to Albany Grants [email protected] to let them know what you think about tax money to promote and pretend to "research" Scientology "Purification Rundown" / NarCONon fraud.

If you would, point David and the grant people to
http://www.cosvm.com/ which shows what Scientology did to disrupt relief efforts in the aftermath of the Saudi attacks of September 11th, and tohttp://www.crackpots.us/ to show what Scientology's NarCONon frauds actually mean out in the real world.

This will be absolutely useless.


Carpenter and his study coordinator Crystal Grant ([email protected]) already have funding and approval for this study. The cgrant6 email is NOT for any "Albany Grants" oversight or anything like that, it is the work email of Crystal Grant, who is Carpenter's research coordinator - effectively his employee. Writing to her under the impression that she is some sort of grant oversight official will only make you look stupid and give them an excuse to discount your concerns. In any case, writing either of them will only throw up the defences, if it does anything at all.

Use the web form on the Institutional Review Board here. The IRB is the oversight committee for all human trials conducted by any researcher affiliated with Albany.

[Edit] Can someone cross-post this at Tony's and WWP for me? Disqus is not working for me right now, and I don't want a bunch of well-meaning people muddying the waters and making themselves look like noobs.
 
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Udarnik

Gold Meritorious Patron
Can someone get David Love on this?

Also, Pooks, may need your help to cooborate that Narconon just made shit up in the previous "study" they were touting based on data you provided from the New London Narconon.
 
Thanks Udarnik, very good point. I posted this on Tony's blog. (I don't know how to post on WWP.)

- Free


This will be absolutely useless.


Carpenter and his study coordinator Crystal Grant ([email protected]) already have funding and approval for this study. The cgrant6 email is NOT for any "Albany Grants" oversight or anything like that, it is the work email of Crystal Grant, who is Carpenter's research coordinator - effectively his employee. Writing to her under the impression that she is some sort of grant oversight official will only make you look stupid and give them an excuse to discount your concerns. In any case, writing either of them will only throw up the defences, if it does anything at all.

Use the web form on the Institutional Review Board here. The IRB is the oversight committee for all human trials conducted by any researcher affiliated with Albany.

[Edit] Can someone cross-post this at Tony's and WWP for me? Disqus is not working for me right now, and I don't want a bunch of well-meaning people muddying the waters and making themselves look like noobs.
 

Wants2Talk

Silver Meritorious Patron
The more exposure Scientology gets the more it gets exposed. Hubbard's hubris cannot tolerate peer review - after all he has no peers. There is know science in Scientology.
 
I just posted this complaint to the IRB website:

I am very concerned about this study - http://www.albany.edu/ihe/gulf.htm

The study is being performed on Gulf War vets, exposing them to the Scientology/Narconon “purification rundown” which includes high doses of niacin and long stints in the sauna. This can be dangerous and have long-term medical consequences, and there is no scientific evidence that it will work. Our vets do not deserve to be guinea pigs for this dangerous experiment.

I suspect that there may have been falsehoods presented in the description to IRB, since that is how Narconon operates.

Co-investigator with Dr. David Carpenter is Kathleen Kerr, who is/was Narconon Director in Canada.

The Severna Park Health and Wellness Center, where the study will take place, is/was a Narconon facility. http://www.ocala.com/article/201001...will-benefit-detoxification-project#gsc.tab=0

http://www.drug-detox-rehab.org/sta...yland_drug_detox_rehab_info~Severna+Park.html

Narconon is a dangerous front group for Scientology and well known for its fraudulent methods. This study being run by Narconon staff at a Narconon facility puts the participants at serious risk. They generally don’t even have medical staff on site during their purification rundown. This study may be different, but it seems like a Narconon project so I don’t see why they would have a doctor onsite to monitor, since they never have in the past.

1. Just today, on investigative reporter Tony Ortega’s blog at http://tonyortega.org/2014/02/02/sc...ada-sued-over-the-usual-litany-of-deceptions/, there is a report of a lawsuit filed against Narconon in Nevada by the family of 19-year-old Jack Ryan, a Narconon client. The family states that Jack was “expected to sit in a sauna for several hours a day as part of Scientology’s “Purification Rundown,” which includes doses of Niacin up to 5,000 mg a day. Jack spent 24 to 26 days in the sauna. “Jack experienced severe dehydration, headaches, and persistent diarrhea during the sauna program. The Niacin made his skin feel as if he had a bad, lasting sunburn. He observed many of his fellow students likewise becoming ill during the sauna program. Each time Jack complained to the staff supervisor on duty about his severe headaches and feeling ill, he was told to get back in the ‘Box’ and, ‘What turns it on, turns it off’. The complaint alleges that Jack continues to have health problems related to his time in the Purification Rundown.”

2. Narconon has been shut down in Quebec (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montr...hab-centre-ordered-closed-in-quebec-1.1226881). “The head of a regional health agency in Quebec said he had no choice but to shut down a Scientology-based rehab centre in Trois-Rivières. In recent months, he said at least four clients were taken to hospital because of methods used at the centre. The Narconon Trois-Rivières is one of dozens of similar centres in the U.S. and around the world where the detox treatment is inspired by the teachings of Scientology. Mauricie regional health agency director Marc Latour said Narconon Trois-Rivières advertised an 80 per cent success rate and charged $25,000 for its program. Latour said the centre was dangerous for patients and violated many of the criteria regulating Quebec's rehab centres. He said there was no medical supervision and no scientific basis to the treatment. Latour said patients went cold turkey, then underwent lengthy sauna detox sessions designed to sweat out drugs and took an unhealthy amount of vitamins.

3. Narconon has been put on 6-months warning notice by the Netherlands because of concerns about patient safety, and could face closure if they fail to make improvements. (http://infinitecomplacency.blogspot.com/2013/06/dutch-put-narconon-on-warning.html)

4. Narconon is under several lawsuits in the U.S. for patient deaths and insurance fraud. Besides the Nevada lawsuit I mentioned above, there are several others. This may not be directly related to the purification rundown (it seems that staff take drugs and provide them to the clients) but it is a signal that it is a dangerous group.

· Narconon Georgia gave up its license last September, avoiding prosecution on credit card and insurance fraud charges said to be in the millions of dollars. (http://tonyortega.org/2013/09/25/na...t-down-in-georgia-has-court-loss-in-oklahoma/).

· Narconon Oklahoma lost its certification last August (http://www.mcalesternews.com/breakingnews/x1981930665/Narconon-Arrowhead-loses-state-certification) after three young people died in a year. 20-year old Stacy Murphy died in July 2012, and her parents sued Narconon. (http://www.newson6.com/story/190850...-drug-rehab-facility-her-family-wants-answers). Two months before Murphy was found dead, Hillary Holten, 21, was found dead in her bed April 2012, and Gabriel Graves, 32, was found dead in his bed at the facility in October 2011. Also under investigation is the 2009 death of Kaysie Dianne Werninck, 28. Werninck died at a local hospital while she was a client of Narconon Arrowhead’s rehab program. Lucas Catton, former Oklahoma Narconon Arrowhead director, got out of Scientology and wrote an expose (http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news...on-under-fire-from-two-former-executives?lite)

· Narconon Michigan:

On May 19, 2012, 22-year-old Amber Bullins died at Tranquility Detox, a Scientology-based drug rehab facility in Battle Creek, Michigan. http://tonyortega.org/2013/07/31/de...n-drug-rehab-sparks-widespread-investigation/

On January 15, 2011, while being held in the “withdrawal unit” of Narconon Freedom Center in Albion, Michigan, Richard Teague, while exhibiting symptoms of severe benzodiazepine withdrawal, set himself on fire with the use of a cigarette lighter and a spray cologne bottle. With flames engulfing him, he ran outside and extinguished the fire by plunging into the snow. His attorney stated that [Teague] received serious, permanent and grievous injuries as a result of burns suffered while in the care of Narconon Freedom Center…[he] was in a delusional, paranoid state when he was severely and permanently burned on January 15, 2011…Narconon Freedom Center and A Forever Recovery rely exclusively on the written “technology” (writings) of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology, to address the drug and alcohol rehabilitation needs of students enrolled in Narconon programs, even though Hubbard had no training or education in drug and alcohol rehabilitation.” http://tonyortega.org/2013/10/18/sc...nce-in-the-disturbing-case-of-richard-teague/

5. Narconon claims a 70-76% success rate, but their legal affairs officer says they have no evidence of it. She wrote to staff, “Do not say that we have 70% success (we do not have scientific evidence of it).” http://tonyortega.org/2013/04/01/le...cientific-basis-for-advertised-success-rates/



Use the web form on the Institutional Review Board here. The IRB is the oversight committee for all human trials conducted by any researcher affiliated with Albany.
 

Udarnik

Gold Meritorious Patron
The US Army IRB that oversees this study has a website here.

Relevant address is here:

[h=3]Human Research Protection Office[/h][h=4]Chief, Human Subjects Protection Review[/h]
  • U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command
    ATTN: MCMR-RPH
    504 Scott Street
    Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5012
  • Phone: (301) 619-7550
  • Fax: (301) 619-7803 (DSN 343)
  • Email: [email protected]
 

Udarnik

Gold Meritorious Patron
To answer a question I posed above, there is a local MD in MD to oversee the study:

Study Physician: Maria Romero, MD, 133 Defense Highway, Suite 111, Annapolis, MD

She is a Scilon:

http://www.truthaboutscientology.com/stats/by-name/m/maria-romero.html

The Co-Principal investigator is also a Scilon:

http://www.truthaboutscientology.com/stats/by-name/k/kathleen-kerr.html

Why Romero is not named as a Co-PI, I have no idea.

Does anyone know if Gayle Morse of Sage College is a Scilon? It's a Podunk college, her inclusion as a third Co-PI seems fishy.
 
Thanks Udarnik. I sent an email to that address also.

- Free

The US Army IRB that oversees this study has a website here.

Relevant address is here:

[h=3]Human Research Protection Office[/h][h=4]Chief, Human Subjects Protection Review[/h]
  • U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command
    ATTN: MCMR-RPH
    504 Scott Street
    Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5012
  • Phone: (301) 619-7550
  • Fax: (301) 619-7803 (DSN 343)
  • Email: [email protected]
 
My guess is the local MD is a consultant, won't be onsite monitoring the vets.

To answer a question I posed above, there is a local MD in MD to oversee the study:

Study Physician: Maria Romero, MD, 133 Defense Highway, Suite 111, Annapolis, MD

She is a Scilon:

http://www.truthaboutscientology.com/stats/by-name/m/maria-romero.html

The Co-Principal investigator is also a Scilon:

http://www.truthaboutscientology.com/stats/by-name/k/kathleen-kerr.html

Why Romero is not named as a Co-PI, I have no idea.

Does anyone know if Gayle Morse of Sage College is a Scilon? It's a Podunk college, her inclusion as a third Co-PI seems fishy.
 

La La Lou Lou

Crusader
It sounds a lot like orthomolecuar psychiatry ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthomolecular_psychiatry ), which has mainly been discredited. One problem is that is unrepressed huge amounts of "case" which would just sit there and not ever be handled.

Helena

Yes there has been some research into niacin before and of course the ''All about Radiation'' book written by someone else that Hubbard stuck his name on.

This study found some nasty side effects including bleeding and increase of diabetes...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130311101827.htm

also on Orthomolecular stuff...http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ortho.html
 

Mick Wenlock

Admin Emeritus (retired)
No, she is listed as the study physician here.



A study physician is the on-site rep. She lives in MD. There is no way an IRB would allow patient to be seen without an MD on staff.

that is very interesting - one of the PIs is religiously bound to believe that the detoxification works and who would, in addition face expulsion if she finds that it does not work.

are all the PI's scientologists?
 
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