Saturday Quack – Hydrogen Peroxide as Medicine

Forty-five years ago I was a surgical intern at a hospital in England , working for a general surgeon who had a belief that hydrogen peroxide could cure cancer. He instructed me to prescribe a weak dilution of hydrogen peroxide for any of his patients who were found to have ‘inoperable’ cancer - these were the days before effective chemotherapy. We replaced all the liquids they took by mouth with the hydrogen peroxide solution. After 3 months nearly all the patients had died, still complaining angrily about the effect the ‘treatment’ had on their quality-of-life.

I tell this story to illustrate how ‘research’ was sometimes practiced in those days. Thank goodness we have now learned the value of strict regulation of new treatments until their effectiveness and safety have been proved in well-conducted clinical trials (as has been the case for chemotherapy drugs).

Imagine my alarm at reading that the health authorities in Canada have had to issue a warning about the use of hydrogen peroxide as self-help medicine. Surely there are enough examples of ineffective, and dangerous, cancer treatments (e.g. laetrile) to dissuade people from taking this approach?