Orchestrated Deception, Prostate Cancer Hoax P.6

When the art of medicine is contaminated

Both PSA-based screening and robotic prostatectomy not only fail to save significant numbers of lives but cause untold harm because neither have been scientifically proven to be safe and effective. Unmoved, and indifferent to the evidence, most urologists remain wedded to their prostate cancer narrative and continue to exploit the unsophisticated and those made vulnerable for profit.

The first brazen lies about prostate cancer surgery.

Exploiting the misconception that prostate cancer can be cut out Dr. H.H. Young published “The Early Diagnosis and Radical Cure of Carcinoma of the Prostate” in 1905.

The unbridled deception about prostate cancer began with the title of his paper. Not only was there zero evidence for early diagnosis of prostate cancer but, there was zero evidence of radical cure.
Furthermore, his claim that “the four cases in which the radical operation was done demonstrated its simplicity, effectiveness and the remarkably satisfactory functional results furnished”, was another barefaced lie. His first two patients died and the other two were left with life-long debilitating urinary complications. Impotence wasn’t discussed.
There were no robust informed consents or Institutional Review Boards to vet new “treatments” in the early 1900s.
Not everyone bought-in to this new radical “treatment” because of its many associated complications and because the prolonged natural history of most prostate cancers led only to a semblance of cure.
Believers in radical prostate cancer surgery continued their trial and error human experimentation with various approaches to the prostate from perineal to suprapubic techniques trying to make the radical prostatectomy less deadly.
Others experimented with techniques to control bleeding as well as nerve-sparing gimmicks to “preserve” erections.

PSA testing – the rocket fuel for prostate cancer deception.

The PSA (prostate specific antigen) was discovered by Richard Ablin PhD in 1970.
Although quickly hijacked by the prostate cancer industry and marketed as a “life-saving” test for prostate cancer it was actually NOT specific for prostate cancer and a danger to your health. In time however, the highly unreliable PSA became the cornerstone for a fraudulent and dangerous PSA-based prostate cancer screening program.

The PSA (prostate specific antigen) has a 78 percent false-positive rate and its levels of 0-4 ng/ml as being normal are arbitrary and false.
The cruel needle biopsy samples randomly only 0.1 percent of the prostate.
Both pathology and radiology scoring assessments for prostate cancer are complex and lack reliability or reproducibility.
The Gleason 6 was labelled as a cancer although it NEVER behaved as a cancer (see Klotz’s work).
Only the 15 percent or so of HIGH-GRADE prostate cancers are potentially lethal causing some 30,000 deaths in the U.S. annually. This figure has been UNCHANGED by PSA testing and treatment.

Enter the robotic prostate cancer surgery hoax.

When the robotic device came into play in the 1980s it underwent its first low-level clinical studies for gallbladder removal in Mexico. Although the robotic device failed to provide benefits for this surgery it was given an FDA approval anyway.
Taking advantage of this questionable FDA approval of the device for gallbladder surgery, urologists used the FDA’s 510(K) process to rubber-stamp an approval for use of the tool in prostate cancer surgery. This automatic approval was granted by the FDA despite huge differences between gallbladder and prostate cancer surgery.
Amazingly, the FDA’s 510(K) process doesn’t require supporting clinical trial data while the competing PMA or premarket approval process does. Not surprisingly, medical device companies and their lobbyists knew exactly how to exploit a corrupt system.
Not only did conventional or open radical prostate surgery become mainstream purely on the basis of physician mob mentality that it “should work” and without any objective evidence for safety or effectiveness but, the toxic robotic prostatectomy became mainstream in exactly the same way.
Despite a lack of objective evidence for safety and benefits some 100,000 men are railroaded towards robotic surgery each year in the U.S.

Prostate cancer surgery and endless complications.

In addition to failing to save significant numbers of lives the surgery is associated with more potential complications than probably any other cancer surgery.

From deaths within 30 days of surgery to suicidal depression, deep vein thrombosis and many other complications.
Robotic-specific complications include insufflation-embolism, trocar and positioning injuries, eye injuries and countless other issues.
Every possible sexual problem imaginable (damaged or lack of erection, lack of emission, lack of ejaculate and or, ejaculating urine, pain on orgasm, infertility and lack of libido); penile problems (shortened penis, penile pain, numbness, curvature, wasting and a general loss of manhood); testicular pain and bladder troubles (urinary leakage, bladder neck scarring, bladder stones, infections) have been recorded.
Additionally:
* 11-48 percent have residual cancer or a positive margin.
* 29-88 percent have erection troubles.
* 66 percent still leak urine at 6 months.
* Many men will have corrective surgery for complications.
* Many men get implants for limp and leaking problems.
* Many men need corrective surgery for implant failures.
* Many men need counseling before and after surgery.

The warnings about prostate cancer screening and treatments.

Shamefully, the many dangers about prostate cancer surgery were called out NOT by urology leaders and their organizations but, by the legal fraternity, Government oversight agencies, a few physicians and scientists.

There are numerous lawsuits linked to surgeons and hospitals regarding robotic prostatectomy and its complications.
The FDA’s MAUDE (Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience) site has recorded many issues regarding robotic prostatectomy despite only about eight percent of actual adverse events being listed there because of the website’s complexity.
The USPSTF (United States Preventive Services Task Force) has expressed deep reservations about the PSA-based screening program and the treatment of screen-detected cancers because “the benefits do not outweigh the harms”. Their most recent update was watered down by urologists and their lobbyists.
https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/prostate-cancer-screening
Even the robotic device-maker is fully aware of the dangers of their tool for prostate cancer surgery since its list of disclaimers grows with every website revision.

Several authors have all recorded in glaring detail not only the many dangers associated with prostate cancer screening and the surgical treatment of prostate cancer but, questioned its effectiveness as well as the impact of financial conflicts-of-interest surrounding the prostate cancer industry.

Anthony Horan M.D., a urologist and in his most recent publication, “The Rise and Fall of the Prostate Cancer Scam”, underscored that: The PSA was NOT cancer-specific or accurate – in fact, only as good as a coin-toss.

In 1979 Johns Hopkins determined that most prostate cancers were sluggish with cell doubling times of 475 days +/-56 days so that it takes about 40 years for a prostate cancer growth to reach half an inch after mutation.
Pathology and Gleason grading was unreliable and that Swedish pathologists disagreed with Gleason grades (and scores) about 60 percent of the time.
Radical surgery whether done by robot or man has NOT improved overall mortality.
Life extension has NOT been demonstrated for either radical surgery or radiation. As well, the “treatments” left most patients severely debilitated.
Due to publication bias complications are under-reported.
https://www.dranthonyhoranmd.com/

Richard Ablin PhD and Ron Piana published, “The Great Prostate Hoax. How Big Medicine Hijacked The PSA Test And Caused A Public Health Disaster”. Along with 320 references they reviewed the actual FDA transcripts and concluded that greed, fraud, a misguided FDA approval and a lack of regulatory oversight allowed a worthless PSA to be used for prostate cancer “screening” and injure countless men. Furthermore, they concluded that;
The PSA is associated with a 78 percent false positive rate.
PSA-based screening is a gigantic hoax.
Big medicine hijacked the PSA test and caused a public health disaster.
The American regulatory apparatus bows to industry instead of being a solid gatekeeper for American healthcare.
About 30,000,000 PSA tests are run in the U.S. each year wasting billions of precious healthcare dollars.
The FDA approved robotic surgical system was based upon 113 gallbladder procedures and simply rubber-stamped for use in prostate cancer surgery.

Dr. Larry Klotz, another urologist, underscored the facts that:
The Gleason grade 3 LACKED the hallmarks of cancer.
The Gleason 3+3=6 “cancer” is a pseudo or bogus cancer
Men with INSIGNIFICANT microfoci disease were being treated inappropriately with radical surgery.
Reducing the risk of prostate cancer diagnosis was a clear benefit.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4708232/

Otis Brawley M.D. (formerly of the American Cancer Society) underscored the fact that:
The harms (of PSA-based screening) are well-proven, whereas the evidence of benefit is weak. https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/1166177/prostate-cancer-screening-what-we-know-don-t-know-believe

Urologists themselves have shown that neither the PSA nor surgery saves lives. Despite using self-serving definitions of success and including men with the bogus Gleason 6 “disease” as well as those treated arbitrarily with testosterone suppression their non-objective studies failed to show significant life extension and only a semblance of cure.

PSA-based screening FAILS to save significant numbers of lives.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0810696
Prostate cancer surgery FAILS to save significant numbers of lives.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1113162
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1807801

NO treatment and “treatment” have similar 10 year survival rates – despite debilitating prostate cancer surgery.

The annual U.S death rate from prostate cancer is about 30,000, due only to the 15 percent or so of high-grade cancers and, unchanged despite PSA testing and “treatment”.
The 10 year survival is estimated at about 98 per cent.
The 15 year survival for prostate cancer is estimated to be about 96 percent REGARDLESS of the type of treatment.NO treatment has a similar 10-year survival to someone who did have treatment.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/09/14/almost-all-men-with-early-prostate-cancer-survive-10-years-regardless-of-treatment/

What else in the prostate cancer arena cannot be trusted?

Statistics. The inclusion of the Gleason 6 (G6) pseudo-cancer within prostate cancer statistics simply inflates the incidence of prostate cancer. In fact, the marketing of the all-inclusive prostate cancer label with sensationalizing statistics such as the second leading cause of death after lung cancer and the second most common cancer in men after skin cancer results in about 30 million PSA tests per year and over one million prostate biopsies – with costly complications. While an estimated three million men live with prostate cancer, some 30,000 men in the U.S. die annually but only from high-grade prostate cancer. A figure that has been unchanged by PSA-based screening and robotic prostatectomy.
Prostate Cancer Awareness, September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and Do Blue are marketed by the predatory prostate cancer industry, urologists, so-called health experts and health advocates to fool men about “prostate health” and prostate cancer. Using the discredited PSA, prostate exam and ultrasound-guided biopsy the profiteering prostate cancer industry employs a nasty program of scare-tactics and lies to bully countless men made vulnerable towards testing and “treatments”. So-called healthcare that not only exposes them to risk and health robbery but fails to save significant numbers of lives.
Informed consent and shared decision-making are a sham since men are fooled into discussions about testing and treatments when there is no objective evidence for saving lives.
“Standard practice”, “established practice”, “standard of care”, “gold standard”, “minimally-invasive”, “cut-to-cure” “responds best to surgery” and other propaganda have only become legitimized through the foggy processes of physician assumptions, herd mentality, consensus medicine and institutional authority.
“Clinical studies”. Most if not all studies are tainted by corporate sponsorship so doctors are indebted to spinning company propaganda.
“FDA approved”. Clearly hollow as both the PSA test and robotic prostatectomy were FDA approved without objective evidence for safety or benefits.
Prostate cancer guidelines. This self-serving designation is misleading and makes a mockery of medical guidelines as surgeons have only ever ASSUMED that their radical surgical treatment philosophy was valid and in no need of objective testing for safety or effectiveness.
Prostate cancer forums and support groups. These potentially toxic wells of “information” are commonly accessed by misinformed players and entities hiding behind pen names and spinning falsehoods to exploit misconceptions, biases and preconceived notions – commonly for financial gain.
Insurance coverage. Whether or not a test or treatment is covered by insurance or not is meaningless and doesn’t confer validity for safety or effectiveness. For example, PSA testing and robotic prostate surgery are covered by insurance but fail to save significant numbers of lives and are a danger to health. In contrast, the prostate MRI (not the “fusion” study) is reliable for detecting high-grade prostate cancer (although its ability to save lives is unknown) but commonly, is not covered by insurance – since it’s costly.
Death certificates can’t be trusted to reflect accurately the cause of death.
Some 250,000 people die from MEDICAL ERRORS in the U.S. each year.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/22/medical-errors-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-america.html

Prostate cancer and the dark art of orchestrated deception.

Urologists and their prostate cancer industry teammates have been patently aware for many years that not only were their PSA-based screening and robotic prostatectomy ideologies highly unsafe and ineffective but the Gleason 6 “cancer” FAILED to behave as a cancer and did not need detection or treatment.

Shamefully common however, orchestrated deception is an amoral process whereby a toxic brew of manipulated information, arrogance and fraud is designed to control a narrative, fool a targeted group of naive and vulnerable subjects and distort the truth for power and money. Often, this self-serving process unfolds with tricky, deep-pocketed lobbyists that corrupt scientists (their institutions and publications), congressmen, senators and the American regulatory apparatus. Rotten to the core, this prescription satisfies corporate greed, serves to get “laws” passed sanctifying continued scamming and exploitation and chokes off any challenges for the truth with endless propaganda.

Regrettably, the brazen intellectual dishonesty and scientific fraud concerning prostate cancer will be exposed and halted only when physicians reclaim their integrity and develop safe and effective testing and treatment methods for the small percentage of cancers that are potentially deadly. Sadly, curing this public health disaster that is nothing short of licensed medical malpractice faces an uphill battle since modern healthcare is more often about the science of money than about the science of medicine.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2701720

Recent articles.

You will recall from the articles “Unreliable PSA-based Screening Prostate Cancer Hoax Part 1”, “Unreliable Biopsy & Imaging Reports Prostate Cancer Hoax P.2”, the “Prostate MRI study, Prostate Cancer Hoax P.3”, the “Treatment Deception. Prostate Cancer Hoax. Part 4” and, the “Robotic Deception, Prostate Cancer Hoax. P.5” that there are very significant concerns about PSA-based screening, ultrasound-guided prostate biopsies, “fusion” MRIs for being able to detect only the 15 percent or so of potentially deadly prostate cancers and, the absence of scientific support for any of the prostate cancer treatment options.
https://urologyweb.com/unreliable-psa-based-screening-prostate-cancer-hoax-part-1/
https://urologyweb.com/unreliable-biopsy-imaging-reports-prostate-cancer-hoax-p2/
https://urologyweb.com/the-prostate-mri-study-prostate-cancer-hoax-part-3/
https://urologyweb.com/treatment-deception-prostate-cancer-hoax-part-4/
https://urologyweb.com/robotic-deception-prostate-cancer-hoax-p-5/

Read more.
Ablin, R., and Piana R., “The Great Prostate Hoax”.
Barrett, S., and Jarvis, W., “The Health Robbers”.
Eban, K., “Bottle Of Lies”.
Klotz, L., “Active Surveillance for Localized Prostate Cancer”.
Horan, A., “The Rise and Fall of the Prostate Cancer Scam”.
Mikovits, J., and Heckenlively, K., “Plague of Corruption”.
https://medium.com/@bvorstman/prostate-cancer-treatment-deception-and-lies-30e23f17b749
https://medium.com/@bvorstman/unreliable-psa-based-screening-prostate-cancer-hoax-part-1-ea75d5faf703
https://medium.com/@bvorstman/unreliable-biopsy-imaging-reports-prostate-cancer-hoax-p2-c460edb1df69
https://medium.com/@bvorstman/the-prostate-mri-study-prostate-cancer-hoax-part-3-59ca92814202
https://medium.com/@bvorstman/treatment-deception-prostate-cancer-hoax-p-4-a6ebf0936139
https://medium.com/@bvorstman/robotic-deception-prostate-cancer-hoax-p-5-4edd78312ce
Bert Vorstman BSc, MD, MS, FAAP, FRACS, FACS
HEALTHdrum.com – as-needed self pay healthcare