MICOM

MICOM, AN ìALTERNATIVE MEDICINEî NATURAL MINERAL WATER ALLEGED CANCER ìTHERAPY,î HAS CARDIOTOXIC CONCENTRATIONS OF POTASSIUM, WHICH CAN BE LETHAL. Victor Herbert. Mt Sinai-NYU Health System & Bronx VA Med Ctr, 130 W. Kingsbridge Rd, Bronx, NY 10468.

There are 3 kinds of alternative medicine: genuine, experimental, and fraudulent (Herbert & Barrett. In: Shils et al.,eds. Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease. Williams & Wilkins, 1999, pp.1793-1812). MICOM, a mineral spring water, is represented by distributor Somamed Internacional as a cancer therapy, and labeled as a food supplement, avoiding FDA oversight. (The 1994 DSHEA Act forbids FDA from preventing marketing of any product labeled ìfood supplement.î) Nurse Joyce Brown, proprietor of Natureís Friend food supplements in Kelso, WA, gave cancer patient Steward an IV drip from a 500ml plastic IV bag of MICOM. He died as the drip ran in. Autopsy reported ìAcute congestive heart failure & renal failure following infusion of 02mygaIII (MICOM). Manner of death: Homicide.î As an expert witness in State of Washington v Joyce Brown (Superior Court of Washington, Cowlitz County), I testified that the MICOM drip gradually slowed and finally stopped his heart when he had gotten 340 of the 500 mL of MICOM, because it contained a cardiotoxically high concentration of potassium (6700 mcg/mL, determined in an FDA laboratory). On 2/13/02, Brown was found guilty of manslaughter. Nobody should take MICOM. There is nothing in the peer-reviewed literature demonstrating any efficacy, and, as reported here, it is unequivocally unsafe. C: EB2002MICOM

The above abstract was presented by Dr. Herbert as Abstract #LB 313, in the ASNS section #503 (ìASNS Human and Clinical Nutritionî), of the ìLate Breaking Abstractsî Poster Sessions, on posterboard #LB 313 in Hall A of Morial Convention Center from 8AM to 5PM on Wed., April 24, 2002, at Experimental Biology 2002, Orlando, FL 4/22-4/24/02. This abstract was published in the EB 2002 Late-Breaking Abstracts issue, page 61 and will be published in the Abstracts issue of FASEB J.

Relevant posters accompanying abstract #9517:

Poster #1: The abstract (corrected to read ì6700î instead of ì3300î).

Poster #2: The Longview (Washington) Daily News story of 2/12/02.

Poster #3: First page (page A1) of Longview Daily News story of 2/14/02.

Poster #4: Second page (page A4) of above story.

Poster #5: Dr. Herbertís letter of 2/20/02, to Agent Ottaviano , FDA Office of Criminal Investigations.

Poster #6: Joyce Brownís June 28, 2000 promotion of MICOM IV.

Poster # 7: FDA Forensic Chemistry Center Analysis of MICOM IV

Poster #8: Quackwatch page on MICOM.