Michael Uzick

{{bronze}}[[File:Michael_Uzick.png|thumb|right|165px|'Would you like some ukrain or mistletoe injections for your cancer?']]
{{altmed}}
'''Michael Uzick''' is an American licensed [[naturopathy|naturopath]] (read: quack) who practices in Tucson, [[Arizona]] and is prominent in the naturopathic oncology community.<ref>{{cite news|title=[http://www.naturopathic.org/files/AANP%20July_August%202013%20eNews.pdf Member in the Spotlight: Michael Uzick, ND]|accessdate=8 February 2016|date=August 2013|work=The Newsletter of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians|publisher=American Association of Naturopathic Physicians}}</ref><ref name=gazella2014/><ref>{{cite news|last1=D'Auria|first1=Jonathan|title=[http://www.naturaltucson.com/TUCS/January-2012/Genesis-Natural-Medicine-Center-Your-Doorway-to-Renewed-Health/ Genesis Natural Medicine Center: Your Doorway to Renewed Health]|accessdate=8 February 2016|publisher=Natural Awakenings Tucson|date=January 2012}}</ref> He advocates for "natural" treatments of [[cancer]] and other chronic diseases,<ref name=uzick2005>{{cite journal |last1=Uzick|first1=Michael|title=Naturopathic Approaches|journal=Integrative Cancer Therapies|date=31 August 2005|volume=4|issue=3|pages=253–258}}</ref><ref name=uzick2011>{{cite journal|last1=Uzick|first1=Michael|title=[http://naturalmedicinejournal.com/journal/2011-12/weight-lifting-prevents-lymphedema-after-breast-cancer-surgery Weight Lifting Prevents Lymphedema After Breast Cancer Surgery]|journal=Natural Medicine Journal|date=December 2011|volume=3|issue=12|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref><ref name=uzick2008>{{cite journal|last1=Uzick|first1=Michael|title=[http://ndnr.com/womens-health/flaxseeds-and-lignans/ Flaxseeds and Lignans|journal=Naturopathic Doctor News & Review]|date=20 February 2008|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref><ref name=uzick2009>{{cite journal|last1=Uzick|first1=Michael|title=Early Prostate Cancer|journal=[http://ndnr.com/oncology/nov-09-early-prostate-cancer/ Naturopathic Doctor News & Review]|date=20 November 2009|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref><ref name=uzick2014>{{cite journal|last1=Uzick|first1=Michael|title=[http://www.townsendletter.com/Jan2014/warburg0114.html Warburg Revisited: Maverick Cancer Researcher Questions the Origin of Cancer]|journal=Townsend Letter|date=January 2014|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref><ref name=uzick2001>{{cite journal|last1=Patrick|first1=Lyn|last2=Uzick|first2=Michael|title=[http://www.altmedrev.com/publications/6/3/248.pdf Cardiovascular Disease: C-Reactive Protein and the Inflammatory Disease Paradigm: HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitors, alpha-Tocopherol, Red Yeast Rice, and Olive Oil Polyphenols. A Review of the Literature.]|journal=Alternative Medicine Review|date=2001|volume=6|issue=3|pages=248-271|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref> despite such interventions being contrary to the medical standard of care and widely considered to be [[quackery]]. As part of his naturopathic practice, he was importing and administering an illegal cancer drug called {{wpl|ukrain}} to his patients. He was reported to the Arizona naturopathic medicine board by his then colleague, [[Britt Marie Hermes]],<ref>[https://www.naturopathicdiaries.com/about-britt-marie-hermes/ Britt Marie Hermes] Naturopathic Diaries: Confessions of a naturopathic doctor</ref> which led to him being disciplined by the board with a letter of reprimand.<ref name=uzickNDboard /> This is a great example of the inadequacies of self-regulation by the alternative medicine professions, in that they tend to hand out a "slap on the wrist" for serious acts of misconduct, even for federal crimes.<ref name=hermes>{{cite web|last1=Hermes|first1=Britt|title=[http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2016/01/shocking-confessions-naturopathic-doctor.html The shocking confessions of a naturopathic doctor]|website=KevinMD.com|date=29 January 2016|accessdate=9 February 2016}}</ref> He used to be an [[HIV/AIDS denialism|HIV/AIDS denier]], but given how quacky he is, who knows if he still harbors these crank ideas.{{fact}}

==Career==
[[File:WPA quack poster.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Uzick has built his career becoming what a tremendous many would consider to be a 'cancer quack.']]
Uzick graduated from [[Bastyr University]] in 2000 with a doctorate in naturopathic medicine.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Feig|first1=Stephen A.|last2=Biddle|first2=James|last3=Hynote|first3=Eleanor|last4=Speight|first4=Neal|last5=Bock|first5=Kenneth|last6=Magaziner|first6=Allan|last7=Rich|first7=Joseph E.|title=Summary of the American College for Advancement in Medicine November 2005 Conference on Scientific Integrative Medicine: Advancing Health Horizons|journal=Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine|date=2005|volume=3|issue=3|pages=385–391|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Dr. Michael Uzick, Naturopath|url=https://naturopaths.healthprofs.com/cam/name/Michael_Uzick_NMD,FABNO_Tucson_Arizona_516672|website=Healthprofs.com|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref> He completed naturopathic residency training at [[Cancer Treatment Centers of America]] in Seattle, [[Washington]] and at an alternative medicine clinic in Tijuana, [[Mexico]] called {{wpl|Hoxsey Therapy|Bio-Medical (Hoxsey) clinic,}}<ref name=uzick2009/> known for a long history of cancer quackery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fda.gov/centennial/this_week/38_sept_17_sept_23.html|title=This Week in FDA History|publisher=U.S. Food and Drug Administration|accessdate=8 February 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108082055/http://www.fda.gov/centennial/this_week/38_sept_17_sept_23.html|archivedate=8 November 2006}}</ref><ref name="acs">{{cite web | url = http://documents.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/002420-pdf.pdf | title = Hoxsey Herbal Treatment | publisher = [[American Cancer Society]] | accessdate = 8 February 2016}}</ref> Such training should not be confused with a real medical residency that real physicians undergo at real hospitals and clinics. Uzick's choice of alternative "residency" positions enabled him to become registered as a Fellow of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology and to use the title "FABNO" as part of his credentials,<ref>{{cite web|title=ABNO: Find a FABNO|url=http://www.fabno.org/membership.html|website=American Board of Naturopathic Oncology|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref> which means he is considered a "cancer expert" by his naturopathic peers and appears as such to the public. To any skeptic, however, FABNO should be read as "FAB? NO!"<ref name="gorski1">{{cite web | last1 = Gorski | first1 = David | url = https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/cancer-treatment-centers-of-america-and-naturopathic-oncology/ | title = Cancer Treatment Centers of America and “naturopathic oncology” | publisher = ScienceBasedMedicine.org | date = 21 June 2010 | accessdate = 9 February 2016}}</ref>

Despite his involvement in the HIV/AIDS denial movement (see below), from 2001 to 2005, Uzick was the naturopathic medical director of the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation.<ref name=uzick2009/><ref name=uzick2001/><ref name=uzickbio>{{cite web|title=About the Doctor|url=http://www.doctoruzick.com/bio.htm|website=DoctorUzick.com|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref> Uzick later served as an instructor of naturopathic oncology at {{wpl|Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine|Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine}} from 2008 to 2010.<ref name=kgun>{{cite news|title=Nature Medica|url=http://www.scrippsmedia.com/kgun9/shows/the-morning-blend/video/97847629.html|accessdate=8 February 2016|publisher=KGUN9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=CLSC 881 01 - Oncology|url=http://my.scnm.edu/ICS/Academics/CLSC/CLSC_881/2009_10-CLSC_881-01/|website=My SCNM|publisher=Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=CLSC 881 01 - Oncology|url=http://my.scnm.edu/ICS/Academics/CLSC/CLSC_881/2008_30-CLSC_881-01/|website=My SCNM|publisher=Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref> He served as the vice president of the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians.<ref>{{cite web|title=About OncANP|url=http://www.oncanp.org/about.html|website=Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians|accessdate=8 February 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005233754/http://www.oncanp.org/about.html|archivedate=5 October 2010}}</ref> He is a co-founder of Genesis Natural Medicine Center in Tucson.<ref name=bruder2013>{{cite news|last1=Bruder|first1=Dale|title=Genesis Natural Medicine Center|url=http://www.naturaltucson.com/TUCS/February-2013-1/Genesis-Natural-Medicine-Center/|accessdate=8 February 2016|publisher=Natural Awakenings Tucson|date=February 2013}}</ref>

In 2014, Uzick received the Association of Naturopathic Physician's President's Award,<ref name=gazella2014>{{cite journal|last1=Gazella|first1=Karolyn|title=Integrative Cancer Experts Weigh in on Recent Conference|journal=Natural Medicine Journal|date=March 2014|volume=6|issue=3|url=http://naturalmedicinejournal.com/journal/2014-03/integrative-cancer-experts-weigh-recent-conference|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref> an award given to naturopaths who are the most successful at wooing patients with dangerous and disproven treatments.

==Beliefs on natural medicine==

Michael Uzick claims to be a reformed thinker on the [[HIV denial|denial of the existence of HIV/AIDS]], as he once believed that HIV/AIDS was a conspiracy.<ref name=aids1>{{cite web|last1=Uzick|first1=Michael|title=The cause of AIDS (forum)|url=http://www.indiadivine.org/content/topic/1754792-the-cause-of-aids/|website=IndiaDivine.org|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref> He previously served as the webmaster for {{wpl|Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives|HEAL}} Seattle, a defunct advocacy group which denied that HIV causes AIDS, that AIDS is a fatal disease, and that anti-retroviral drugs are effective for treatment.<ref>{{cite web|title=HEAL Seattle|url=http://www.zipcon.net/heal/|website=HEAL Seattle|accessdate=8 February 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20000830073839/http://www.zipcon.net/heal/|archivedate=30 August 2000}}</ref>

[[File:HEAL_Seattle_HIV_denial.png|thumb|300px|right|Michael Uzick was highly involved in the HIV/AIDS denial movement while in naturopathic school at [[Bastyr University]] in Seattle.]]

Uzick advocates the use of "food as medicine," which is a treatment philosophy that has been criticized by the scientific community as being overly simplistic and giving patients false hope based on very poor evidence.<ref name=gorskifoodmed>{{cite web|last1=Gorski|first1=David|title=Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food? The obsessive worship of “medicinal foods”|url=https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/let-food-be-thy-medicine-and-medicine-be-thy-food-the-fetishism-of-medicinal-foods/|website=ScienceBasedMedicine.org|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref> He has argued that lignans contained in flaxseeds offer substantial anti-cancer benefit to women with increased risk of breast cancer<ref name=uzick2008/> and offer protection for men from developing prostate cancer.<ref name=uzick2009/> Uzick advocates for using a {{wpl|ketogenic diet|ketogenic diet}} to treat {{wpl|Tonic–clonic seizure|grand mal seizures}} in place of proven medications,<ref name=foodasmed>{{cite news|last1=Telis|first1=Gisela|title=Doctors, Patients Turn to Food as Medicine|url=https://www.azpm.org/p/featured-news/2013/7/2/25247-doctors-patients-turn-to-food-as-medicine/|accessdate=8 February 2016|publisher=Arizona Public Media|date=8 July 2013}}</ref> which is not supported by a review of the available evidence.<ref name=Levy2012>Levy RG, Cooper PN, Giri P. [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD001903.pub2/full Ketogenic diet and other dietary treatments for epilepsy.] Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012 Mar 14;3:CD001903. PMID 22419282.</ref>

Uzick advertises the use of [[Iscador]], an extract of mistletoe, in his practice for the treatment of cancer,<ref>{{cite web|title=Mistletoe|url=http://www.doctoruzick.com/mistletoe.htm|website=DoctorUzick.com|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref> and he has advocated for its use at the 2006 annual meeting of the Association of Naturopathic Physicians.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://catalog.vsc.edu/lscfind/WorldcatRecord/84743481/TOC |last1=Barker |first1=Simon |last2=Uzick |first2=Michael  |date=August 2006 |publisher= Millivox  |title=Mistletoe preparation in the treatment of cancer|location=San Francisco}}</ref> He has argued that Iscador shows significant benefit to patients with malignant melanoma.<ref name=uzick2005/> In a 2006 review of the best available evidence, [[Edzard Ernst]] concludes that for the treatment of any cancer mistletoe has no proven benefit and carries significant risk.<ref name=ernstmist>{{cite journal|title=Mistletoe as a treatment for cancer|year=2006|last1=Ernst|first1=E.|journal=BMJ|volume=333|issue=7582|pages=1282–3|pmid=17185706|pmc=1761165}}</ref> Mistletoe extracts cannot be imported into the United States except for the purpose of clinical research.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=National Cancer Institute|work=Mistletoe Extracts (PDQ®)|title=Overview|url=http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/mistletoe/HealthProfessional/page1|date=July 2013|accessdate=October 2015}}</ref> Uzick has never conducted clinical research according to a name search on ClinicalTrials.gov.<ref>https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=uzick&Search=Search</ref>

==Ukrain and a slap on the wrist==
[[File:ukrain_ampoule.jpg|thumb|left|150px|One ampoule of ukrain among the 200,000 or so confiscated by the Austrian police.]]
[[File:Ukrain (chemical compound).svg|thumb|right|The chemical structure of ukrain that was claimed by the former manufacturer.]]
In 2014, Uzick was disciplined by the Arizona Naturopathic Physicians Medical Board with a letter of reprimand for using the drug {{wpl|ukrain}} in his practice, which is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.<ref name=uzickNDboard>{{cite web|title=Dr. Michael Uzick  Disciplinary Actions|url=http://directorynd.az.gov/agency/pages/directorySearchDetail.asp?holderID=102|website=Arizona Naturopathic Physicians Medical Board|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref> According to Arizona law, a letter of reprimand is issued "by the board [to inform] a person who is regulated under this chapter that the person's conduct violates state or federal law but does not require the board to restrict the person's license, certificate or registration because the person's conduct did not result in harm to a patient or to the public."<ref name=letter>{{cite web|title=32-1501. Definitions|url=http://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/32/01501.htm&Title=32&DocType=ARS|website=Arizona State Legislature|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref> It is a federal crime to import drugs into the United States that have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.<ref name=fda>{{cite web|title=[http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DevelopmentApprovalProcess/SmallBusinessAssistance/ucm052787.htm Import and Export of Human Drugs and Biologics]|website=FDA.gov|date=1 September 2015|accessdate=11 February 2016}}</ref> An outstanding question for the members of the Arizona Naturopathic Physicians Board is whether any of Uzick's patients were harmed, either physically, emotionally, or financially. It doesn't seem to be the case that they investigated Uzick thoroughly.

Ukrain is manufactured in [[Austria]] by a quack chemist named Vasyl Novytskyi, who claims that ukrain can treat a wide range of serious disease, including cancer, HIV infection, and hepatitis.<ref name=Ernst>{{cite web | url = http://edzardernst.com/2012/10/a-telling-story-about-alternative-cancer-cures-and-their-purveyors/ | title = A telling story about "alternative" cancer cures and their purveyors | date = 14 October 2012 | accessdate = 8 February 2016 | author = [[Edzard Ernst]]}}</ref> Novytskyi had his entire lot of ukrain confiscated because of poor quality control practices and evidence that he relabeled expired vials of ukrain, which had been sold abroad.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ukrainian chemist lands in court for cancer 'cure'|url=http://www.thelocal.at/20150128/ukrainian-chemist-lands-in-court-for-cancer-cure|accessdate=8 February 2016|publisher=The Local|date=28 Jan 2015}}</ref> This finding means that the ukrain Uzick had used in his practice could have been contaminated and expired. This possibility seems inherently harmful to vulnerable cancer patients whom Uzick treated. In fact, one of his patients  with esophageal cancer made a GoFundMe page to collect donations to pay credit card bills of more than $43,000 for Uzick's "alternative cancer treatment."<ref name=gofundme>{{cite web|title=Cancer Faith Journey|url=https://www.gofundme.com/ach5i0|website=GoFundMe|accessdate=8 February 2016}}</ref> This patient died in 2015.<ref name=elher>{{cite web | url = http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/obituaries/wesley-ehler/article_15338edf-b349-5bef-a1df-749241d38343.html | title = Wesley Ehler | date = 30 September 2015 | accessdate = 8 February 2016 | website = Pantagraph}}</ref> The number of patients that Uzick treated with ukrain and how much he had charged them for the illegal drug remains unknown.

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Uzick, Michael}}
[[Category:Cancer woo]]
[[Category:HIV/AIDS]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]
[[Category:Alternative medicine promoters]]

Categories: Cancer woo, HIV/AIDS, Living people, Pseudoscience promoters, Alternative medicine promoters