The FDA Is Targeting Vitamin C
The agency has banned commercial vitamin C products for injection without reports of adverse effects. The unintended consequence of this federal action may
vastly improve the efficacy of intravenous vitamin C in alternative practice.
IV/C Mercury-Poisoning Case Report Supports Our Contention that the Now Banned Commercial Vitamin C Products Underperform Cathcart-Style (Physician Mixed) Sodium Ascorbate for Intravenous Use
An Opinion
Part 1
by Owen R Fonorow
Vitamin C (as sodium ascorbate) is the safest substance that can be injected into the human body, yet the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declared it public enemy number one. Vitamin C, unlike salt (saline) or sugar (dextrose), when consumed has no known toxic or lethal dose. Vitamin C in the form of sodium ascorbate has been routinely used intravenously around the world since the 1940s. Sodium ascorbate when added to water is bactericidal.1 Thus, vitamin C as sodium ascorbate is even safer than water for injection. Vitamin C has even been used as a placebo in studies of intravenous edetate disodium (EDTA) recently published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).2,3 None of these facts have deterred the “public servants” at the FDA from attacking vitamin C without cause. If there have been complaints or issues, these complaints have not yet been made public. The FDA now classifies vitamin C for injection as an “unapproved drug.” By taking this action, the FDA has effectively removed commercial vitamin C products intended for injection from the market, and at least one major clinical cancer trial of intravenous vitamin C has been suspended.4
Yet all may not be lost. The Vitamin C Foundation, a 501(c) (3) non profit organization, retained famed FDA attorney Jonathan Emord. In the opinion of Emord and Associates, “ Vitamin C for intravenous administration is still readily available to patients acting through compounding pharmacies, provided the patients obtain treatment through their physician.” Emord explains that the FDA, a federal agency, cannot regulate the practice of medicine.
Legally, physicians have at least two options: Physicians can write a prescription for a compounding pharmacy, or licensed physicians are free to mix their own sodium ascorbate for intravenous administration. The late Robert F. Cathcart III, MD, mixed his own solutions and recommended this approach to other physicians.5
The evidence we present here makes a strong case that not all vitamin C infusions are created equal. We review experimental evidence and present an important anecdotal case report which illustrates that intravenous sodium ascorbate ( IV/C) produced according to Cathcart’s specifications is superior to those solutions sold commercially. Our opinion has been formed for reasons of chemistry; vitamin C is volatile and quickly breaks down into dehydroascorbic acid and other factors in water. We now believe that Carthcart’s IV/Cs are perhaps twice as potent as the now outlawed commercial IV/C solutions. Although solutions for IV from a compounding pharmacy may be better than the commercial vials, they too are forced to suffer from a “quirk” in the US Pharmacopeia (USP). Cathcart noted that the USP requires the mixture to begin as ascorbic acid, and then buffered. Cathcart’s method starts with sodium ascorbate, a non acidic (already buffered) form of vitamin C.
Fredrick Klenner, MD, Yesterday and the FDA Today
The safety and efficacy of intravenous vitamin C as sodium ascorbate has been proved over a long history of intravenous use. Frederick Klenner, MD, pioneered the use of intravenous vitamin C in his practice.6 He was also the first to publish a report on its use and effectiveness for treating otherwise intractable polio patients at a 1949 meeting of the American Medical Assocation (AMA).7
Here is the abstract of his remarks as recorded in JAMA:
Dr. F. R. Klenner, Reidsville, N.C.: It might be interesting to learn how poliomyelitis was treated in Reidsville, N.C., during the 1948 epidemic. In the past seven years, virus infections have been treated and cured in a period of seventy-two hours by the employment of massive frequent injections of ascorbic acid, or vitamin C. I believe that if vitamin C in these massive doses — 6,000 to 20,000 mg in a twenty-four hour period — is given to these patients with poliomyelitis none will be paralyzed and there will be no further maiming or epidemics of poliomyelitis.8
All his polio patients recovered without the debilitating after effects that are common among polio survivors.
Vitamin C expert and author Thomas E. Levy, MD, JD, has cataloged more than 1200 studies on the effectiveness of intravenous vitamin C in the treatment, even cure of infectious disease, especially viral infections. Dr. Levy has done a remarkable job of reviewing and clearly presenting all this evidence in his recent book Curing the Incurable: Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases and Toxins.9 Many of these peer-reviewed clinical studies are not readily available and require access to a good medical library because they are too old to be cataloged in today’s modern Pubmed/Medline online databases maintained by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Surprisingly, on October 9, 2009, the FDA warned Proctor & Gamble that it was acting illegally. P&G has vitamin C on the labels of over-the-counter (OTC) children’s cold medications.10 Then on Dec 28, 2010, the FDA sent a warning letter to McGuff Pharmaceuticals implying that the sale of McGuff’s vitamin C for injection amounted to the sale of an “unapproved drug.”11 McGuff has since discontinued the mass production of vitamin C vials for injection, and the FDA action has caused the suspension of several trials evaluating the efficacy of IV/C.
The Vitamin C Foundation’s mission is publish accurate scientific information about vitamin C. We try to faithfully follow in the footsteps of Linus Pauling. We know that, in stark contrast to the OTC and prescription drugs regulated by the FDA, there have been no reported deaths from any vitamin, mineral, amino acid or herb, maybe ever, but surely this has been true for at least a decade. The Orthomolecular News Service latest report found zero deaths from any dietary supplement in 2009.12 The foundation’s members believe that most human ailments are amenable to vitamin C treatment, and that a wide assortment of human ailments would not exist in the first place if human livers were capable of a transformation common in other species: turning glucose into vitamin C.13 A recent case report of a man in a coma about to lose his life after almost succumbing to the swine flu has been documented on the New Zealand version of 60 Minutes.14 This case reminds us that intravenous vitamin C has miraculous effects against viral infections at the proper dosage and frequency.
Given the long track record of safety and efficacy, one wonders: why has the FDA suddenly taken aim at vitamin C? IV/C cannot be compared to dangerous anti-AIDS drugs, which really can be held up as examples of what a “new drug” is, and why they should be subjected to rigorous testing before approval. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that this agency must have been a flooded with consumer complaints.15 Unfortunately the FDA Medwatch database is not available online. We have called the FDA, and the bureaucrats aren’t talking. They told us that they don’t know if there have been any complaints. It is possible that something may have happened at a clinical trial that prompted this action by the FDA. At the time of this writing (February 2011), the authors have not been made aware of a single consumer complaint or any reported adverse reactions.
We think it is fair to ask, who are these FDA bureaucrats really working for? Why would the US government bother to expend its resources and try and make vitamin C more expensive and harder to obtain for IV?16 How is this action, even if strictly legal, a good use of scarce public resources, much less promoting the public health and welfare? Is it really worth interrupting important clinical trials of IV/C for cancer?
Apparently, halting the cancer trials is the most obvious hidden agenda behind the FDA’s sudden interest in going after vitamin C. Physicians all over the country are already using intravenous vitamin C as a chemotherapeutic cancer agent. These clinics are having good results, and they are getting local and even some national press coverage. This renewed interest in vitamin C for cancer has been fueled by Mark Levine’s work at the National Institutes of Health.17 As Linus Pauling foretold, vitamin C is a life-giving nutrient that is essential in very tiny amounts. However, something miraculous happens when larger “orthomolecular” dosages are given. Orthomolecular “vitamin” C has the potential to bankrupt the pharmaceutical industry – the very industry that the FDA is supposed to be regulating, not protecting. The so-called cancer industry is particularly protective of its high profit margins.18
Analysis: FDA Warns Proctor & Gamble That It Is Illegal to List Vitamin C on Its OTC Cold Medication Labels
The authors were caught by surprise when the FDA issued its warning letter to Proctor & Gamble about vitamin C in its cold medications for children. A reasonable person might hope that our public servants would be genuinely concerned about sick children and their frantic parents. You don’t have to be a vitamin C expert to know that kids need more vitamin C when they are sick and parents should be advised that all children with colds and the flu should take more vitamin C (and vitamin D3).19 Rather than advocating vitamin C for sick children, the FDA bureaucrats were doing the opposite. They were essentially telling cold medication companies not to use vitamin C in their OTC cold medications. Why? A dedicated public servant at the FDA had apparently noticed that vitamin C when combined with OTC ingredients was “unapproved.”
Why would the US government take this action, and who are the people in the FDA behind it? What danger was this agency protecting us from? In February 2010, we filed our first Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA) with the FDA under the auspices of the Vitamin C Foundation. We sought information about the basis for the Proctor & Gamble warning letter. We specifically asked about a supposed “panel of experts” that figured prominently in the FDA letter. Surely members of this panel were behind this action. Approximately 6 months later, in July 2010, I (Owen) was contacted by an FDA attorney and told that the FDA panel mentioned in the letter had convened in the 1970s. He then asked me whether we really wanted the FDA to dig into the information about that panel, etc.20 He then told me during the same conversation that the FDA has a large number of FOIA requests, and that all requests are handled first-in, first-out. The FDA was currently processing FOIA requests from 2007 or 2008.
Meanwhile, a class action suit had been started in Ohio against Proctor & Gamble based on the FDA warning letter – and the case had already been decided in an Ohio court.21 Proctor & Gamble prevailed, long before we had any response whatsoever from the FDA about our FIOA request. According to an interpretation of the ruling by the legal firm Shook, Hardy and Bacon, the Ohio decision is significant because it demonstrates the limitations of FDA warning letters in the courts.
Determining whether the plaintiffs had stated a claim upon which relief could be granted, the court emphasized that nothing in the warning letter or the complaint suggested that ”the addition of vitamin C renders the other ingredients in the products literally ineffective as ‘pain reliever/fever reducer, cough suppressant, nasal decongestant, and antihistamine.”
Analysis: FDA Warning Letter to Mcguff Notes That Vitamin C Is Not an ‘Approved Drug’ Throws the Status of IV/C into Question.
The December 28, 2010, FDA letter to McGuff Pharmaceuticals made the following assertions in the section Unapproved New Drug and Misbranding Violation:
In addition to violating CGMPs, you manufacture and market unapproved new drugs in violation of sections 505(a) and 502(f)(1) [21 U.S.C. §§ 355(a) and 352(f)(1)] of the Act. Based on the information your firm submitted to FDA’s Drug Registration and Listing System and the information collected during the inspection of your facility, you manufacture the following prescription drugs, including, but not limited to:
-
Ascor L 500, Ascorbic Acid Injection, USP, 500 mg/mL in 50 mL vial (McGuff Pharmaceuticals)
-
Ascorbic Acid Injection, USP, 500 mg/mL in a 50 mL vial (
(b)(6)
)
-
Ascor L NC, Ascorbic Acid Injection, USP, Non-Corn Source (500 mg/mL in 50 mL vial) (McGuff Pharmaceuticals)
Magnesium Chloride Injection, 200 mg/mL, in 50 mL Multi-Dose vial (McGuff Pharmaceuticals)
-
Magnesium Chloride Injection, 200 mg/mL, in 50 mL Multi-Dose vial (
(b)(6)
)
-
Vitamin B-Complex 100 Injection, 30 mL Multi-Dose vial (McGuff Pharmaceuticals)
These products are drugs within the meaning of section 201(g) of the Act, [21 U.S.C. § 321(g)] because they are intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of diseases. Further, they are “new drugs” within the meaning of section 201(p) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 321(p)] because they are not generally recognized as safe and effective for their labeled uses. Under sections 301(d) and 505(a) of the Act [21 U.S.C. §§ 331(d) and 355(a)] a new drug may not be introduced into or delivered for introduction into interstate commerce unless an application approved by FDA under either section 505(b) or (j) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 355(b) or (j)] is in effect for the drug. Based on our information, you do not have any FDA-approved applications on file for these drug products. The marketing of these products, or other applicable products, without an approved application constitutes a violation of these provisions of the Act.
The Vitamin C Foundation then retained FDA attorney Jonathan Emord and associates to evaluate the FDA action, and we have posted their analysis on our web site.22 Mr. Emord believes that the FDA is technically going “by the book” and there seems to be no current legal recourse. However, according to Mr. Emord, vitamin C is still readily available to cancer and other patients:
In sum, under the pharmacy compounding guidelines and laws, vitamin C for intravenous administration is still readily available to patients acting through compounding pharmacies, provided the patients obtain treatment through their physicians.
Mr. Emord’s firm doubts that the FDA would be successful if it tried to stop compounding pharmacies from producing vitamin C for injections. From our understanding of the Emord analysis, we conclude that future action to make IV vitamin C more economically viable and generally available from commercial suppliers will reside in the political arena. We will assist health freedom groups working to expose the inane culprits in the FDA behind this action, those working to understand what new regulations the FDA is enforcing so that there can be the required public comment, and those working to enact new law designed to make IV/C legal and allow the commercial manufacturing of vitamin C for injection to resume. If you feel the urge to help in the regard, we believe that the lack of reported adverse reactions for IV/C is a point that should be hammered on at every opportunity when you contact the FDA. Please monitor our web site VitaminCFoundation.org for more information on these efforts and feel free to join our online forum.
Case Analysis: IV/C’s Success Treating Mercury-Poisoning Illustrates a Dramatic Difference Between Commercial and Cathcart-style Intravenous Ascorbate
Are all intravenous vitamin C infusions created equal and do they have equal effects, or are some demonstrably better than others?
“The difference between the 2 different types of Intravenous Vitamin C is so dramatic to me that its obvious that Cathcart’s formula is vastly superior.” – Michael, the brother of mercury-poisoned woman
There are solid reasons to suspect that commercial vitamin C, now off the market, may have had only 50% of the vitamin C potency of the IV bags made from sodium ascorbate crystals such as those prepared in the Cathcart medical practice.23 Physicians and IV/C users can no longer purchase the commercial solutions and are being forced to purchase small batches from a pharmacy or mix their own stock vitamin C (sodium ascorbate) solutions. The foundation would like to assure physicians that utilizing Cathcart’s method is not only a good way, but almost certainly the best way to prepare vitamin C for infusions.
The authors also agree with Dr. Cathcart that the pH of the commercial solutions may be too low (acidic) and thus potentially harmful to veins during heavy use. Too low, Cathcart said, because of a “quirk” in the USP that requires the commercial stock solutions to start with ascorbic acid (not sodium ascorbate) and then buffer the solution with sodium carbonate. According to Thomas E. Levy, MD, JD, “The commercial IV/C bottles are buffered to end up from 5.5 to 7.0 in pH. When you mix up sodium ascorbate according to Cathcart’s instruction, it reliably comes in at a pH of 7.0 to 7.4.”24
Dr. Cathcart often made the statement that he experienced few problems with his IVs, despite the high number of infusions administered during his many years in practice. He was surprised by all the calls he received from other doctors who were experiencing problems with their IVs. While many of the problem were caused by the use of ascorbic acid intravenously (instead of sodium ascorbate), this error did not explain everything. The large number of queries from other doctors induced Cathcart to write a short paper titled “Preparation of Sodium Ascorbatefor IV and IM Use.” We have updated and posted his document at the foundation website.25 Additionally, the Vitamin C Foundation has posted a video recording of Dr. Cathcart’s lecture on the preparation and use of intravenous vitamin C on youtube.com.26 The salient points from these documents are that: (A) Cathcart’s nurses produced their own IV stock solutions using sodium ascorbate, which they then refrigerated.27 (B) The nurses did not mix vitamin C in the water right away. It was left at the bottom of the stock solution as a sludge and stored this way in the refrigerator. (C) The solutions are not mixed until just before they are added to the I/Vs. Made this way the solutions remained clear and do not turn yellow. (D) Cathcart added 1 gram of edetate disodium (EDTA) to the 500 cc stock solution. The EDTA acts as a preservative as recommended by author and biochemist Sherry Lewin, PhD.
Vitamin C: Its Chemistry in Solution
Dr. Lewin was a British scientist and vitamin C expert who authored a book often referred to by Dr. Cathcart entitled VITAMIN C: Its Molecular Biology and Medical Potential.28 Lewin said that one of the reasons she decided to write the book was because of vitamin C’s instability: its tendency to break down quickly in solution. Dr. Lewin wanted to provide researchers with reliable information from her own laboratory that would allow them to utilize the most potent form of vitamin C in their research. Lewin found that vitamin C degrades faster in water when light and air are present, but that EDTA can help preserve the vitamin in solution. The theory is that EDTA chelates (grabs) stray copper and irons in the water which might otherwise react with the vitamin C. Her book contains the asymptotic chart of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in solution as measured in her laboratory (Fig 1.3).
Dr. Lewin’s measurements are that vitamin C as ascorbic acid dissolved in water degrades asymptotically by approximately 50% in only four hours. After about 10 hours, the vitamin remains around the 30% potency level for some time. Sodium ascorbate does not degrade this fast. This rapid breakdown in water is probably that main reason Cathcart’s protocol of not dissolving vitamin C until just prior to IV infusion is more potent than the commercial solutions. The only way for the active vitamin C in commercial solutions not to have degraded below 30% of their listed dosages is for there to be preservatives present that we at the Vitamin C Foundation do not yet fully understand.
Case : IV/C and Mercury Poisoning Report from the Vitamin C Foundation Forum
We know that commercial forms of vitamin C for intravenous use that were marketed have had good results. The recent Adam Smith swine-flu case in New Zealand clearly illustrates the power of commercial vitamin C drips. However, the following experience of the sister of one member of the Vitamin C Foundation vividly illustrates the little known superiority of the Cathcart approach. In the following case, a woman underwent weeks of continuous intravenous vitamin C infusions. These drips provided relief. After her veins had become damaged beyond repair and she could no longer tolerate commercial IV/C, her brother began researching the internet and found Dr. Cathcart’s instructions. After they began using IV/C sodium ascorbate prepared using his method, the woman’s alleviation of symptoms improved dramatically.29
This case illustrates the obvious benefit of any form of intravenous vitamin C for mercury poisoning. However, there is clearly an important difference between Cathcart’s method and commercial solutions for injection with respect to efficacy and perhaps safety in continuous usage.
The following excerpts are from our forum and have been edited for brevity.30
Sep 14, 2009
My name is Michael. My sister had mercury poisoning from a silver amalgam that leached into her gum line. She went to Hal Huggins and has made a tremendous recovery. However, she still has some pain when she wakes up in the morning do to residual mercury being detoxed during her sleep. When she takes the lypospheric vitamin c upon waking she is fine within an hour.
However, do you know of any time released vitamin c that will stay in yours system overnight..or at least a much longer time…so that she doesn’t have to wake up in pain every morning? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Once again..thank you for the website..I’m sure you have touched thousands of lives and many never get the chance to say thank you. Thank you for your time.
Sep 21, 2009
The intravenous vitamin c works wonders for my sister with mercury poisoning..however..it is expensive and she needs it 2-3 times a week to feel optimal all the time..the pill form and even the lypo give her gastrointestinal issues along with the sodium ascorbate.
The question is..will the 50 gram vitamin c injections work as well as 50 grams intravenously?
This would save a tremendous amount of time and money..I’m just trying to ponder a way that won’t upset her stomach that will work effectively..and because she has so much mercury in her body..the pill form and lypospheric just doesn’t get enough vitamin c in her body to completely take away her symptoms..
Jan 03, 2010
I have great news..We had a Picc line placed and with about 10 intravenous drips of 75 grams each..my sister is remarkably better! And has stayed better!
However, I have noticed a dramatic difference between the absorbic acid sold by commercial distributors such as [..deleted..] for intravenous use and the sodium ascorbate that Cathcart made up himself. We have used the Sodium ascorbate (made up according to Cathcart’s formula) and noticed much better recovery especially when it comes to the brain related issues.
I noticed the commercial absorbic acid is much more viscous then the formula that was made using Cathcart’s protocol .Catchcart’s turns bright yellow and the absorbic acid sold by [..deleted..] is not.
Could it be possible that Cathcart and Klenners formula is dramatically superior in regards to healing the brain because it crosses the blood brain barrier better???
I would really appreciate your expertise on this subject as I was not able to find much information about the differences between the two types of vitamin c for intravenous use on the internet.
Now curious, we asked for more details.
Jan 4, 2010
She is on the Huggins protocol for mercury detox. However we did this for months with little noticeable help. She used alpha lipoic acid but had to stop it because of an allergy to it. I know that sounds weird to me too. His supplements are on this page below. When the mercury was removed from her mouth a 60% reduction in symptoms happened practically overnight..but then for months nothing really made a difference …even all the vitamin protocol from Huggins..until we started the intravenous C treatments. Then the difference was amazing and very fast.
We asked for more background.
Jan 4, 2010
My sisters condition was mercury poisoning from an amalgam in her mouth that leached into her gum line. Just to give you an idea of how sick she was…she had severe pain in her arms and legs..heart pain..losing her eyesight..horrific depression..lower back pain..from a 1 to a 10 her pain levels were a 10 for at least 5 hours a day. Nothing would end this pain and suffering except when she took lyposheric vitamin c it would knock the pain down about 40%. She was months from death at the age of 31. We went to Dr. Huggins to have the amalgam tattooing removed. Gave her 10 treatments of 75 grams intravenous vitamin c. Her symptoms are close to non existent now. I can not thank you enough from the bottom of my heart for your website as it has so much invaluable information.
A Picc line was placed because her veins were so scherlosed from having iv’s before for months. (before we ever had the mercury removed) and because of her peripheral neuropathy made starting iv’s very painful. The picc line allows someone to get iv treatment without having to start a new iv each time.
However, the we have discovered that the commercial absorbic acid by iv is very sclerlosing to the veins. Sodium ascorbate..Cathcarts formula does not sclerose the veins. Once the veins are sclerosed they are gone forever. Doctors don’t know this and constantly destroy veins. We went to a special infusion nurse to learn this.
One last thing. I have not found anything on the internet about how to treat chronic poisoning such as poisoning from mercury with IV/C. We have found through trial and error it is best to cycle the treatments. Say one 75 gram drip every 3 days for 4 treatments. Then 2 weeks off. This allows the body to cleanses out the toxins that have built up from the prior treatments. If you don’t give the body this break it will crash. The herxheimer effect is very obvious. As soon as the patient becomes exhausted and tired..its time to give them a break for at least a week.
Have you found any information about how to correctly treat chronic poisoning with vitamin C intravenously? If so please email the links.
Jan 24, 2010
The difference between the 2 different types of Intravenous Vitamin C is so dramatic to me that its obvious that Cathcarts formula is vastly superior.
I’m here to answer any questions you have…your welcome to speak with my sister or myself…at any time..its the least I can do considering what you have contributed with your website.
I also have seen the most amazing difference in my brother with Cathcarts formula..and I mean amazing Owen.
I have given him about 10 drips at 100grams each of absorbic acid from the commercial outfit. There was about a 60% improvement in symptoms. His issues were all brain related unlike my sisters. He has taken many different pharmaceutical drugs that left him having trouble with many different things. He had problems with human interaction.. feeling feelings of fear, anxiety, severe sensitivity to bright light and loud noise. (I know this all happened after use of benzodiazepines that cause a paradoxical effect..meaning they cause you to have these symptoms after you have taken them.. I know these problems were all caused by brain toxins as before he took these drugs that made him ill and kept him ill…he loved to be the center of attention and was extremely quick witted…not to mention he didn’t have the sensitivity to light and sound.
So I gave him 100 grams of Cathcarts formula and in hour of the drip he became extremely sensitive to light and sound and couldn’t take even the slightest noise or even watch a movie. (All his symptoms came back..but worse than ever) This is obvious herxheimer response to me that is caused by Cathcarts formula penetrating the blood brain barrier and chelating out brain toxins. This never happened at all on the commercial formula!
The next day he woke up like a new man…laughing, joking, sharp as a tack. My sister and I have seen more improvement in him with 2 drips of cathcart’s formula than 10 of commercial stuff! It is shocking to say the least.
Its obvious to me there is a dramatic difference between to two formulas that is not well documented. He never had any of those symptoms when on the absorbic acid drips from [..deleted..].
Jan 07, 2010
Actually..before we knew the mercury in her mouth was the issue..because of her severe problems..we sent her to an intergrated medicine doctor that normally charges $330,000 for a 12 week treatment. Ironically most of what he does is intravenously vitamin c. Of course …most people that fly in on their private jets are happy to pay the money to cure their cancer or other illness. Well, he hooked my sister up to 30-50 grams of intravenous c and other b vitamins for 3 months..every 2 days..for 8 hours a day! This destroyed her veins..because he was using the absorbic acid from the commercial supplier..not Cathcart’s formula..Cathcart claimed his formula is very gentle on the veins..and he NEVER had any problems with sclerosed veins. Long story short..that kept my sister alive for 3 months..but when she went back to Los Angeles where she lived..she crashed horribly and all the pain and suffering came back. that’s when I was furious and decided to find out what the hell was going on with her on my own. I noticed during treatment at this doctor she went to that during the Intravenous C treatments her gums would get swollen but only around her bridge..that led me to believe that the bridge might have been an issue..which led me to dr. Huggins..which led me to learning about vitamin c..
After Huggins team removed the dental mercury..and other toxic metals..she was almost immediately 60% better..but trying to chelate the rest out with his protocol was just too painful..so i insisted on more intravenous c treatments..which worked quickly and remarkably well. However, her veins were now destroyed and she couldn’t get any more intravenous vitamin c. So I found ivcinfustions.com and we drove up to see these specialists in infusion treatment..and they said my sister’s veins were shot and to get a picc line..so now we have a picc line..and she is getting her vitamin c again..keep in mind that because her veins were shot..we couldn’t get any ivc in for about a month..and she stayed stable..because the 10 ivc treatments she had after Huggins…brought her to a new level of health..but i wanted to make sure all of the poison was gone because she wasn’t 100% ..so we got the picc line and now if you see her you would never know she was ill. She looks like the picture of health.
So she does not need 2-3 treatments a week now..to keep her healthy..she is stable without them..but we just want to knock out the rest of the toxicity in her body that is left over to be sure..
If only the doctor that was giving her 2-3 treatments a week knew about Cathcarts formula..her veins would never have been destroyed permanently by the commercially available ascorbic acid.
One more thing..her mind is getting much sharper…and I know that is true because Cathcart’s formula gets past the blood brain barrier much much much better. This makes me think that all the other brain related toxin issues such as Alzheimers, parkinsons, autism…could be dramatically affected..but only by Cathcart’s formula..not the commercially available ascorbic acid.
Information on IV/C Dosages
We asked Dr. Levy for his advice on recommending specific IV/C dosages. This was his kind response:
Dosage is always empirical, as in give more if the clinical response, especially in infections or poisonings, is not adequate.
One gram per kilogram of body weight would be a very good general guide, which would be about 20 to 25 grams for a 50-pound child and 100 grams for a 220 pound-adult. However, just giving most adults 50 grams at a time for most conditions works out well. Rate of infusion can range anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours, depending upon comfort of the IV, the amount being administered, and the condition being treated (toxins, more rapid, infections, cancer, etc., less rapid). The more rapid infusions will often be associated with hypoglycemia, which can usually be easily addressed with a little fruit juice or even a candy bar. But it is best if the added glucose/sugar can be avoided.
50, 75, or 100 grams of stock solution can each go in 500 cc sterile water.
I would always go with 100 grams for most cancer patients, as long as it was well tolerated.
Since you can give the stock solution IV push, there should be no arbitrary limit to how much you can add. However, it’s a bit difficult volume-wise to put much more than 100 grams in a 500 cc bottle, unless you take significant water out. And remember, this is for pure sodium ascorbate infusions. Many other vitamins and minerals need much more attention to detail with regard to concentration. Really, unless you are treating a very small toddler or infant, you should be giving 25, 50, 75, or 100 grams of sodium ascorbate in a bottle. Otherwise, giving IVC based on 1 gram per kilogram of body weight should be specific enough.
Powder is better than vitamin C crystals when making lots of solution. I do think the Millipore filtration is important, and the magnetic stirrer is very important when doing this on a regular basis.
Conclusion
While not technically a crime, our government has taken unjustified action which has resulted in the suspension of cancer trials of megadose IV/C. These trials are unlikely to recover, a boon for the cancer industry. If there is a silver lining, it is that now and for the foreseeable future, physicians will be required to obtain their vitamin C solutions for injection in small quantities from pharmacies, or make it themselves. This creates an economic incentive for physicians doing a high volume of IV/C to adopt Dr. Cathcart’s method of preparation. Owen predicts that physicians using Cathcart-style IV’s will observe significantly increased positive responses from their sodium ascorbate infusions.
It is understandable why a physician, especially those new to intravenous vitamin C, would prefer commercial IV/C products and not want the hassle associated with producing their own stock solutions. With this option gone, it should be noted that ordering all vitamin C drips from a compounding pharmacy may well have privacy issues. Do we really want to give Big Brother a way to track IV/C use from the paper trail of these prescriptions? Patients may very well demand that physicians mix their own stock solutions, especially after they begin to understand that there could be a substantial improvement in their potency and safety as well as privacy.31
The mercury poisoning case is instructive on many levels. Not only was IV/C very effective for mercury detoxification, but the relief of the woman’s symptoms allowed her brother to evaluate the effectiveness of different forms of vitamin C. We hope that the reasons we have come to believe that Cathcart’s method is far superior became readily apparent. The Cathcart method is supported by Dr. Lewin’s work and book, as well as Cathcart’s own extensive experience. Our forum poster Michael is willing to discuss details of his sister’s case with others and we can put physicians in touch with him. For now, we are protecting his privacy.
We have been surprised, and we have reason to believe that even the FDA has been surprised by the number of people who are doing their own IV/Cs at home using the commercial products.32 AIDS patients constitute a particularly large group of IV/C users. They have been vociferous about their opposition to this government intrusion into their lives and self health-care.
The FDA should be working for us. If the scientific knowledge about vitamin C was not being suppressed with the help of the FDA, then the more widespread use of IV/C would negatively affect the financial status of the medical profession. Many hospital systems and perhaps most pharmaceutical companies might even go bankrupt. If one accepts this argument, then one must conclude that the reason this massive federal agency is going after vitamin C is because the FDA is acting like the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing. Government agencies, nice in theory, rarely work as their founder’s intended in practice. Instead of acting as public servants protecting the public interest, there are people inside this agency who are apparently controlled by forces which seek to protect the industries the FDA is supposed to be regulating. These FDA bureaucrats are not only wasting their time and our money, their action going after vitamin C is harming the public interest. If people in this agency are not actively protecting Big Pharma and the cancer industry, then what other possible reason could their be for going after vitamin C in such a petty and technical manner, especially without evidence on any consumer complaints or harm?
Please visit vitaminCfoundation.org/ivc for links to more information for physicians about Cathcart’s method of preparation and sources of sodium ascorbate.
Notes
1. For this reason, the late Dr. Robert F. Cathcart, III, M.D. said in his lecture on video that he did not even find it necessary to use a microbial filter when preparing his drips. His experience was with over 20,000 patients.
2. Chelation Therapy for Ischemic Heart Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Knudtson, et al. JAMA, Jan 23/30, 2002 – Vol. 287, No. 4. Pp 481-486
3. The FDA has also banned commercial magnesium as an unapproved drug, which is also used in placebos.
4. H ttp://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01125449?intr=%22Ascorbic+Acid%22&rank=6
5. Dr. Cathcarts instructions are available on line at vitamincfoundation.org/civprep.pdf and on youtube
6. Although Dr. Klenner used the term “ascorbic acid” is his pioneering papers, Dr. Cathcart verified that Klenner was indeed buffering the acid and thus administering what was essentially sodium ascorbate.
7. “The Treatment of Poliomyelitis and Other Virus Diseases with Vitamin C”, published in the July 1949 issue of the Journal of Southern Medicine and Surgery. Subject of Klenners talk to the AMA session of that year on Polio.
8. H ttp://kandylini.wordpress.com/2008/05/28/flashback-the-origin-of-the-42-year-stonewall-of-vitamin-c/
9. Curing the Incurable: Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases and toxins, Thomas E. Levy, Livonbooks, 2002.
10. H ttp://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2009/ucm188361.htm Proctor and Gamble Letter
11. H ttp://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/ucm238251.htm Dec 28,2010 McGuff Letter
12. H ttp://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v07n01.shtml Zero Deaths From Vitamins
13. For some idea of what these ailments are, one simply compares diseases common to humans, high order primates and guinea pigs with the rest of the animal kingdom which can make their own vitamin C.
14. H ttp://www.3news.co.nz/Living-Proof/tabid/371/articleID/171328/Default.aspx?ArticleID=171328 Adam Smith NZ 60 Minutes Video link
15. We have found now record of consumer complaints. So we filed Freedom of Information Act request to find out more, but have been told it routinely takes several years to receive the FDA’s answer to a FOIA request.
16. As Dr. Thomas Levy points out, now doctors are forced to order their vials from compounding pharmacists, which will make it much more expensive than if companies like McGuff could mass produce thousands of vials.
17. Pharmacologic ascorbic acid concentrations selectively kill cancer cells: Action as a pro-drug to deliver hydrogen peroxide to tissues
18. The Cancer Industry: The Classic Expose on the Cancer Establishment, Updated Edition, Ralph Moss, Equinox Press; Rev Sub edition (January 25, 1996), ISBN-13: 978-1881025092. 450 p.
19. At that time almost all the over-the-counter (OTC) medications had been removed from the market by the FDA for faulty manufacturing.
20. Anyone reading the FDA letter would assume that the panel was recently convened and the end result was the warning letter.
21. http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Regulation/Court-finds-combo-drug-ads-not-misleading
22. H ttp://vitamincfoundation.org/emordmemo.pdf
23. Dr. Levy highly recommends sodium ascorbate powder (private correspondence).
24. Private correspondence with Dr. Levy
25. Which we have updated and posted at vitamincfoundation.org/civprep.pdf.
26. Cathcart III RF. Cathcart’s instructions on the preparation of vitamin C for I.V. use [online video]. YouTube. Cathcart IVCprep lecture.
27. IV vitamin C should be sodium ascorbate (the pH of his preparations is generally higher than commercial)
28. Lewin S. Vitamin C: Its Molecular Biology and Medical Potential. Academic Press; 1976.
29. Due to the vein damage, they began using a picc line, giving the Cathcart-style ascorbate through her arteries.
30. Success with vitamin C for mercury poisoning [online forum thread]. Vitamin C Foundation. h ttp://www.vitamincfoundation.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=7563.
31. And yes, unfortunately, the report of $350,000 charged by the integrated doctor has been doubled checked and accurate
32. Barnett J. It’s OK to question AIDS [online video.] YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/user/resistanceisfruitful#p/u/0/mgRoR1-qw8Y
Copyright ©2011 by the Vitamin C Foundation
Permission granted to distribute as long as distributed intact and with this attribution.
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