The source of this article is the Arizona Daily Star: http://tinyurl.com/b9ylu

Magnetic treatment clinic draws controversy
By Carla McClain
ARIZONA DAILY STAR


A new and controversial Tucson clinic that promises hope for people
suffering from incurable and often untreatable medical problems has
triggered widespread skepticism throughout the local medical community and
may face the scrutiny of federal health authorities.

Among the devastating ailments that the clinic - known as the Advanced
Magnetic Research Institute - claims success in treating are brain and
spinal cord injury, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, heart and liver
failure, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, autism and
even the ravages of a stroke.

Open just two weeks, the AMRI clinic uses an experimental device to deliver
powerful electromagnetic currents that operators say can heal, repair or
regenerate the damaged body part, to cure or at least improve symptoms of
these disorders.

The physician supervising the Tucson AMRI said he took the position after
trying the therapy himself - on a damaged thigh muscle that hobbled him -
and found it successful at restoring his mobility.

"I know it works, and I know it's safe," said Dr. Joseph McCready, citing
an analysis of results at similar clinics around the country showing a 70
percent success rate - either curing or significantly easing injury or
disease.

But the clinics' unproven claims, and the high cost of the therapy, have
caught the attention of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"This device is not approved or cleared by the FDA," said Julie Zawisza,
with the agency's Office of Compliance.

"That means it cannot be marketed or promoted or advertised as if it has
clinical utility. And that is the case even if the device is under clinical
study."

FDA regulations also prohibit charging fees to make a profit from such a
device. Operators can charge only enough to recover the cost of providing
the therapy, Zawisza said.

A for-profit enterprise, AMRI charges $45 an hour for its 10,000-pound
electromagnetic field device, the "magnetic molecular energizer." With
recommendations of at least 100 to 200 hours of treatment, that means
thousands of dollars per patient - not covered by insurance.

"The exorbitant amounts being charged for this do raise a red flag at the
FDA, as do what appear to be claims of relief for these diseases," Zawisza
said.

Although the use of magnets for healing is considered an unproven and
experimental alternative therapy, it certainly is nothing new, with reports
dating back 3,000 years.

Ancient Greeks and Egyptians reported improved well-being when they lay on
magnetized rocks - lodestones - after strenuous work. Today, several pro
athletes, including tennis star Lindsay Davenport, say magnets have helped
relieve pain and heal injuries.

Most people who try it use small static magnets, placed on the ailing area.
Although reports of relief are numerous, actual scientific studies are few
and have conflicting results.

"Scientific research so far does not firmly support a conclusion that
magnets of any type can relieve pain," states the National Institutes of
Health on the subject. And no studies have shown any effectiveness against
chronic disease.

That includes the more powerful electromagnetic technology used at AMRI,
which generates magnetic fields via electric currents. That type of magnet
therapy is approved and used for one medical purpose only - to heal
resistant bone fractures, according to the NIH.

That's why, despite its claims of success with a myriad of difficult
medical conditions, all patients undergoing this therapy at the local
clinic must sign a consent form stating that they understand it's under
research and may not provide a cure.

"This is still considered experimental, so every treatment we do will be
submitted to the FDA," said McCready, a respected longtime Tucson
ophthalmologist who came out of retirement to be chief clinical
investigator for the local AMRI.

The Tucson clinic is the newest of seven such offices opened in North
America in the last six years - six in the United States, and the founding
clinic in Canada. All are run by doctors. Most charge $50 to $60 per hour.

Collectively, the AMRI clinics have treated some 1,300 patients - including
about 35 in Tucson - for all kinds of conditions, and are reporting 75
percent showed "some degree of improvement," 12 percent had "minimal
improvement," and 13 percent showed "no change."

However, in February, the FDA sent a warning letter to the AMRI clinic in
Hanover, Pa., about "objectionable conditions" and "serious violations"
found in an FDA inspection.

Specifically, investigators cited the clinic for failing to present
alternative treatments to patients, and any risks in therapy. The clinic
also failed to perform patient medical tests required before therapy, and
found several patients who were never seen by a physician, as required.

If such deficiencies, and the lack of scientific trial, eventually doom FDA
approval of AMRI therapy, McCready said that will not affect the demand for
it, noting some clinics are booked more than a year in advance.

Despite its popularity, local doctors are highly skeptical.

Just the gamut of disorders the clinic claims to assist makes "you lose
trust," said Dr. Kutaiba Tabbaa, director of the University of Arizona Pain
Clinic.

"This must be Jesus inside that machine," he said.

Even doctors who embrace alternative treatments along with mainstream
medicine remain wary. McCready approached Dr. Andrew Weil, internationally
known founder of the integrative medicine movement, based at UA, to
consider referring patients to AMRI. He declined.

"We are familiar with what is called pulsed electromagnetic field therapy,
and we've seen only marginal results with it," said Dr. Brian Becker, head
of science and ethics at Weil's integrative medicine program.

"They say it's safe and non- invasive, but no one knows what physical
effects might result from hundreds of hours of exposure to this energy.
We'll know in 20 years. To be completely safe, something has to be
completely inert, and this is not."

But such concerns did not discourage Tucsonan David Reilly, 61, from trying
the clinic last week, a day after he heard of it.

For six years, he's struggled with a deteriorating and severely painful
knee joint, requiring narcotics to control the pain. Two years ago, he was
told he needed a total knee replacement - an option he rejected.

But after his first four hours under the AMRI electromagnet Wednesday -
which involves simply lying on a bed, watching TV, reading or sleeping - he
called the treatment "100 percent successful."

"By morning, I was so excited, I rode my bicycle, I climbed a ladder -
these are things I couldn't do without a great deal of difficulty," Reilly
said. "The swelling is way down; the mobility is way up. I know I'm going
to be able to forgo the narcotics now, and that's exciting."

Reilly can afford to continue therapy for at least 200 hours, at which
point he expects the damaged cartilage will be repaired.

"All I can say is people who close their eyes to this, who pooh-pooh it,
well, that's unfortunate," he said.

If Reilly completes his 200 hours, he's looking at a $9,000 bill. McCready
does not apologize. He said it cost $500,000 to open the clinic, which has
four magnetic molecular energizers, costing $100,000 each.

"What is the money if you can significantly improve nerve damage from
diabetes, or disability from cerebral palsy or Parkinson's? Or if you can
avoid a complication from surgery?" he asked. "Money is not a deterrent to
a lot of people who have these problems."

? Contact reporter Carla McClain at 806-7754 or at [log in to unmask]

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