Found this little article on that magnetic gizmo and it's retired dentist inventor...applies to TKRN and JRSE
click10.com
The Investigators: Woman Says Doctor Duped Her And Sick Son
POSTED: 1:37 p.m. EST February 5, 2003
UPDATED: 1:49 p.m. EST February 5, 2003
MIAMI -- The Channel 10 Investigators have uncovered something startling -- a South Florida woman desperate to help her disabled child says she was duped by doctor who claimed his invention was her son's last hope, how simple physics and a sales pitch, may have delivered false hope to families in need.
The man in question is Dr. Jerry Jacobson -- a retired dentist from New York now living in South Florida. Jacobson, who, critics say, fancies himself as the new Einstien invented a device he named after himself -- The Jacobson Resonator. He once claimed the device could cure everything from chronic headaches to cancer and AIDS. His resonator collected a following of some of the biggest names in sports. Now, some former patients wonder if the device did more harm than good.
What do former boxing champ Mohammed Ali, Hall of Fame bowler Don Carter and pro golfer Doug Tewell have in common with 10-year old Michael Sayih from Coral Springs, who was born with cerebral palsy? They've all used this contraption, called the Jacobson Resonator, in hopes of treating, perhaps even curing what ails them. Because of the cerebral palsy, Michael cannot walk and has trouble talking. His mother, Patty, hoped and prayed that putting her son in the machine, would regenerate the cells of his brain.
"I was told it was FDA safe -- deemed, declared safe by the FDA. So there was no side effects. It might not help him, but it could not hurt him," Patty Sayih said.
Sayih said she was told the Jacobson Resonator emitted low level magnetic fields designed to align the molecules of the brain. In an interview prepared for stockholders in 1998 and taped by Patty Sayih, when, as a believer she worked for Jacobson, he talked about his creation and theory.
"And you get all these molecules vibrating to the song of life together simultaneously so they're working in harmony together, dancing together," Jacobson had said.
Why would Sayih believe in dancing molecules? Because of the prestige of the institutions she was told were involved with the resonator. For example, NASA. According to Jacobson's old website, NASA contractors were involved in the development of the resonator.
"I met the director of prototyping for NASA. It made it real," Sayih said.
NASA told us one of it's subcontractors may have worked on the device, but the space center never endorsed it. There were also studies conducted by major universities. At Cornell University Medical College, Professor of Endicrinology and Biochemistry Dr. Brij Saxena studied the resonator. In that same stockholder's video he is touting its marvels.
"Here comes the future of therapy by magnetic resonance," Saxena had said.
But when we contacted Cornell, we were told Dr. Saxena would be unavailable for comment. At the University of Oklahoma, faculty also studied the resonator. But, when we called the Vice President for Clinical Research, he told us the university didn't endorse the device. It's the same story at Mississippi State University where officials confirmed, the only investigations they've conducted with the resonator involved rats and horses. In fact, all these institutions were adamant that their studies had nothing to do with humans. So why were human beings, like 10-year-old Michael Sayih being put in this device? Patty eventually asked herself that question as well and questioned Dr. Jacobson about the resonator after her son had a seizure.
"He did not want to talk about it. In fact, he was very belligerent about it calling me illogical, hysterical, that his device was my son's only hope. I just wanted to know why my son had a seizure and why the device was put on my son's head instead of the knees," Patty Sayih said.
That's right. The Jacobson Resonator was put on her son's head. And while Patty can't prove it caused Michael's seizure, according to a press release put out by Jacobson in August 2000, the FDA had only determined that the device posed no significant risk for treatment of the knee -- not the human head. Why would Jacobson tell families his resonator was FDA approved and safe when in fact, we've learned the FDA had never authorized human studies? We caught up with him at his home in Jupiter. And we tried asking him about his invention and claims of cures.
Jilda: Hi there. Dr. Jacobson?
Jacobson: Who are you?
Jilda: I'm Jilda Unruh with Channel 10.
Jacobson: I'm sorry there's no comment.
Jilda: Have you actually cured anything with the resonator?
Jacobson: There is no comment.
Jilda: No comment?
Jacobson: I'm sorry.
Jilda: Have you cured AIDS?
Jacobson: Bye.
Jilda: Cancer? (The door shuts)
Although Jacobson didn't want to talk to us on camera, in that 1998 interview videotaped by Patty Sayih, Jacobson explained his reasoning for using the resonator on children like Michael when parents begged him for help.
" It's cutting edge. It's frontier science, but if you're willing to try it, I'm willing to try it for the good and betterment of all mankind," he had said.
The retired dentist has even fashioned himself as a sort of "second" Albert Einstein. In fact, an Einstein-like character, which used to appear on the company's website, had this to say:
Website Einstein: Dr. Jacobson's discovery completes the task I started. The Jacobson Resonators are the most sophisticated magnetic devices in the world.
"From extracting a molar to splitting the atom. I mean, you know, it's an attention getter," said Enrique Torres, the chief investigator in the Department of Health's unlicensed activities division.
Jilda: Is this quackery?
Torres: If it's real, terrific. More power. If it's not, and there's some sort of patient fraud or patient harm, then definitely it would be something that I would do something about.
Right now, the Department of Health does not have an open case on Jacobson. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been closely monitoring the company. After learning that Jacobson's website was claiming the resonator could: alleviate arthritic conditions, migraines and chronic pain, and could treat epilepsy, multiple schlerosis, Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's, the FDA slapped the company with this warning letter in January 2001 citing "serious violations" of FDA regulations. The FDA letter said the study Jacobson was conducting on human patients had "significant deficiencies". And, while the FDA now says the company has taken corrective action, claims still can't be made that the resonator is safe or effective and it cannot be marketed in the United States.
For Patty Sayih of Coral Springs, whose son has cerebral palsy, that information rocked her world. After all, her son had started treatments in 1998 and had even become the poster boy for Jacobson's resonance.
" I was shocked. I couldn't imagine why somebody would experiment on children knowing the device was not safe," Patty Sayih said.
Beverly Avery was also stunned. She'd agreed to treatments on her mother who suffers from Alzheimer's, and her mother-in-law who suffered a stroke. Like Patty, beverly became an employee.
Jilda: What made you believe that this would work?
Beverly Avery: I believed that it was real. I saw all of the studies that they had done. I was desperate to find help for my mother and mother-in-law. I guess I was ready to believe.
Not only did Avery believe in the resonator's possibilities but she, Patty, and others also bought stock in the company. Among them, Don Carter, the legendary bowler, who told us, he's convinced the resonator cured his chronic headaches. A spokesman for Doug Tewell, the pro golfer, told us Tewell believes the resonator helped heal pain in his elbow.
"It's nice to hit it pain free," Tewell has said.
Mohammad Ali, however is not a resonator fan. A spokesman for the champ told us he used it once and had no benefit. And then there's Green Bay Packer's star quarterback, Brett Farve who is the company spokesman for Jacobson's Resonated water called "Real Pro." It's touted as a high-performance sports drink that will revolutionize the beverage industry. Mr. Farve's spokesman did not return our calls for comment.
Jilda: When all is said and done and you look back on everything, how do you sum it up? What was this? What is this?
Sayih: To take money from people's pockets, and the sick part of it is, to use children to do it.
"We should have been calling Cornell before we started the treatment, not months later. But we were desperate. When you love someone so much, you want to help them," Avery said.
Both Patty Sayih and Beverly Avery were let go by the company in 1999 because of downsizing. When they worked for Jacobson, the treatment for their loved ones was free. When their employment ended, so did the treatments. Sayih later sued Jacobson Resonance for unpaid wages, but the court dismissed her claim.
According to Sayih's attorney, Jacobson's countersuit against her for libel is still pending. Although Jacobson didn't want to talk on camera, earlier he'd told us by phone, that he's no longer conducting clinical trials in the U.S but is studying and marketing his device overseas. Meanwhile, cerebral palsy continues to be a lifelong struggle for Michael.
Copyright 2003 by Click10.com. |
