Burzynski Patient Sophie M.’s Story

Sophie M. was 5-years old. Her parents took her to the doctor when her eye started blinking uncontrollably. Then she became unsteady and harder to understand. On August 23, following an MRI, the doctors at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County told her family that she had an inoperable brain stem tumor and said that she had months to live. (Sophie’s story was captured in the Orange County Register on 21 September 2000.)

Almost immediately, [the M. family] and members of the community began racing against time to raise money for a costly experimental treatment.

Before the [M family] left for Houston, where Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski administers the almost $15,000­ per ­month gene therapy he says has saved hundreds of lives, 28 aunts and uncles gathered at the home of [Sophie’s father’s] brother­-in-­law to brainstorm fundraisers.

This was not Sophie’s large family’s first encounter with Burzynski. As reported in the 21 September 2000 Orange County Register:

“[Sophie’s father] says he is angry that insurance won’t pay for what he regards as his daughter’s last, best hope. After all, cousin Roman [M.] of Garden Grove, who first told [Sophie’s dad] about Burzynski, said the treatment reduced his 2-year-old daughter’s brain tumor by 85 percent.”

The daughter, Tori M., frequently asserts that she was cured of a brain stem glioma as an infant. Her family is among the most vocal of Burzynski’s supporters, however, there is reason to doubt her family’s conclusions.

If Burzynski says he has saved hundreds of lives, they do not appear on the Burzynski Patient Group, which has fewer patients on it than this website and has had 33 more years to gather names. His therapy is as much gene therapy as is drinking an Orange Whip.

As is so often the case, the entire family mobilized to pay the Burzynski bill, and this apparently large family had wide and deep connections in the community, as the list of contributors who immediately jumped on board to raise money for Burzynski’s worthless treatment illustrates: the family’s parish, the Chamber of Commerce, the local Family Support Center, and so on. The director of the FSC hit the nail on the head when she discussed what was going on:

Center Director Ann Nguyen said she understood the difficult choice the family faced when they decided to pursue an expensive, unproven treatment they could not yet afford. “It’s hard to be in the center of this and say what is right and what is wrong,” she said.

Agreed. One of the tragedies of the whole sordid career of Stanislaw Burzynski is that in times of desperation, it becomes more difficult to discern what is the appropriate course of action. However, with time and distance, as is clearly evidenced on this site in spades, patterns emerge that call for harsh judgement on the whole Burzynski enterprise.

By the time the story hits the local paper, the family is already in Houston for the 3-week training course that all ANP patients undergo:

Still, the family faces an enormous financial hurdle. For this first round of treatment, they owe Burzynski $12,000.

It is, of course, not covered by insurance. Nonetheless, the coverage in the local paper yielded a flood of money from the community, as reported a week later:

The parents of Sophie [M.] say response has been overwhelming to a Register story last week on their attempt to pay for an experimental treatment for their daughter’s brain­stem tumor. Checks totaling $15,000 have been sent from all parts of Orange County.

Quack cancer cures don’t just victimize families, but entire communities. They also keep patients out of legitimate clinical trials, unnecessarily and unthinkably delaying the development of effective treatments.

In November there is more fundraising by the Chamber of Commerce. On March 1 we get an update in the Orange Country Register. The same author reports on a day at a local elementary school where they children are planting a tree for Sophie.

On Saturday students, teachers, parents, city officials and family members gathered to plant a star pine tree in honor of Sophie [M], a Stanton 5-­year ­old currently undergoing experimental treatment for an inoperable brain tumor.

Though she has already outlived physicians’ expectations, Sophie is still very sick, and wasn’t able to watch as the tall tree with fluffy needles was lowered into the ground by four volunteers from Shade Tree Plantings, an Irvine­ based foundation that plants trees for charity.

[…]

Students at Carver said they learned about Sophie in their classes, and knew the significance of Saturday’s planting.

“We’re doing this so the family has money,” said fourth grader Shyla [W], gesturing toward the bake sale she was helping run.

The statement that Sophie has “outlived physicians’ expectations” is inaccurate and gives Burzynski’s treatment more credit than it deserves. In the first article, the reporter said that:

At best, she had 10 months to live.

Two weeks later, when Sophie’s death is announced and the enduring impact of Sophie’s struggle was documented, we are told:

Before she passed away Wednesday after a seven-month battle with an inoperable brain tumor, she united the city of Stanton by spurring an outpouring of support and hope. (emphasis added)

Sadly, this type of upbeat inflation of cancer patients’ prognosis and progress is typical in the media. And it’s hard to announce or even accept that someone is dying. See the spectacularly inaccurate case of Amelia S., for instance, where what appeared in the press and what was actually happening differed greatly.

Poor Sophie M. passed away on 14 March 2001, well within the time of her initial prognosis.

As of this writing, Burzynski and a number of his staff members are up in front of the Texas Medical Board on a fairly impressive array of charges. Let’s hope that the TMB can end this ongoing, endless abomination.