Digital Dwellings - Community E-Forum

For the last two months or so, through the wonders of Marshall Mcluhan's Global Village, I've been a net-citizen of a digital community called USJ Web Forum. USJ stands for United Subang Jaya, a town somewhere in Peninsular West Malaysia. The town seems like a progressive town, with its own vBulletin web forum; but more importantly are the very progressive inhabitants who share information via the web forum. I have lived 6 months in Malaysia while on a sabbatical and have made some very endearing friends from the national university. Most of these posters on the web forum are as articulate, professional and informed individuals as my varsity colleagues, and seems to represent the upper middle class of Malaysian society.

Like all web forums, posters assume a digital persona. I met a few of them. Two that I will quote from are nick-named "orchipalar" and "alexhay". Orchipalar is Canadian-educated. I will quote from Alexhay first:

I been approach by one of the Natural Health Farm ppl while I was at Tesco Puchong..He did some test and told me that my liver got problem and he recommend that I take a detoxcification medicine that will cost around RM300+ and he told me that now there is promotion going on and it only cost RM298. I saw the price list, there are two column. DP and CP. CP price at RM328 (if I am not mistaken) and DP is RM298. And this is for 6 months only. And he shows all the testimonial from other people.

Common sense will know that CP = Customer Price and DP = Distributor Price.

Basically Natural Health Farm is a direct selling company...

That's real scientific, "liver got problem" ... and of course "detoxicification" is the cure since they just happen to sell James Osato's Bio-Normalizer!!!! No professional doctors would sell a product directly to a patient - they loose their license (then again "Prof. Dr." Jessie Chung is not licensed and is above the law).

Osato's Bio-Normalizer is basically a fibre-based "purger", no different than Metamucil (which is sold over the counter - at a fraction of the cost - in North America as a psyllium-based fibre supplement for irregularity and as a health supplement for those that needs more fibre in their diet). The product basically does no harm if used sparingly, but does not much good either, other than lightens and shrinks the bump over your derriere call the "wallet".

Some fibre-based "purger" contains small amounts of bentonite ... a water-activated clay (used in construction as a waterproofing material) that expands and binds the loose "impurities" in the digestve system.

I have asked Alexhay what exactly was his "liver problem" ... since medical science is very precise. If Alexhay did have a "liver problem", he could be suffering from any one of these: Alagille Syndrome, Alcoholic Liver Disease, Alpha-1-antitrypsin Deficiency, Autoimmune Hepatitis, Budd-Chiari Syndrome, Biliary Atresia, Byler Disease, Cancer of the Liver, Caroli Disease, Cirrhosis, Crigler-Najjar Syndrome, Dubin-Johnson Syndrome, Fatty Liver, Galactosemia, Gilbert Syndrome, Glycogen Storage Disease I, Hemangioma, Hemochromatosis, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis D, Hepatitis E, Hepatitis G, Porphyria Cutanea Tarda, Primary Biliary Cirrhosis, Protoporphyria, Erythrohepatic, Rotor Syndrome, Sclerosing Cholangitis, or Wilson Disease.

Notice that a few of these diseases are called "syndromes", since allopaths have very little knowledge of them and hence there are no known cures. All allopaths, despite their scientific education, have managed to do - in most cases - is catalogue the signs and symptoms and have some management therapies available until a cure is found. This represents the magnitude of the level of complexity the physiology of the human body. So, if Natural Health Farm has found a cure for any one of these diseases, we should all buy shares in the company as that would be amazing news.

I am NOT a MD, but I did speak with a colleague at one of my alma mater who now conducts research at the university hospital, Columbia-Presbyterian, who in turn directed me to a webpage. I am not playing MD, nor did I purchase a doctorate in the last seven days.

My other question to Alexhay was if "Prof. Dr." Jessie Chung administer the "test" herself (which consists of what?), or a dentist did that "test"? Or was it one of the even less medically qualified MLM-salesperson-nutritional therapists. (What's so nutritional about a therapist? Perhaps they meant a "nutrition therapist" you think?). Was it a urine sample, a blood sample (which can only be taken by a nurse or a medical technicians in North America), or a biopsy (which only an allopathic or osteopathic doctor or surgeon can perform)?

This is quite classic ... from dubious medical professionals come dubious claims for cures. This smells so much like quackery that I can even get a whiff on this side of the Pacific. God bless Malaysia should this woman get loose on the public with even more cures!!!

Luckily Alexhay was wise enough (or educated enough, presumably he did not buy his education via the mail) to distrust the "test", but unfortunately Alexhay's mother was also approached to purchase some products.




On the same web forum, Orchipalar reported about how bold some of these quacks have been, including offering surgical procedures:

Err...dear qBUSTER...in desperation...patients suffering from chronic n acute illnesses or their close relatives...would believe n pay anything n anyone to find a cure... Ahem...few weeks ago recently...a relative of a Dato(person with a prominent title in Malaysia)...suffered ill effects from cosmetic surgery n treatment done by a couple whom were operating from a home n claiming to be 'experts' in that specific field...Err...within a very short period of time upon the expose or 'tip off' to the relevant department of the health ministry...the couple's operation was 'busted'...surgical apparatus n 'unlicensed' drugs were seized...n the couple was also arrested...Err...TV3 had reported the exclusive live media coverage of the bust...Err...wonders whether you had thought of the option to go to the press about your findings...?

and

Err...some times back...wifey brought home some samples of little packets...which she was told...she could stick it under her feet while she sleeps...n 'toxins' would be extracted out from her body...

Err...qBUSTER...have checked with wifey...she said it was bought from another large MLM company by the name of Causeway...n there are other MLMs that market them as well...but don't know if jessie has it under his list of all cures or not...

After I started this blog, it seems to me that Malaysia is inundated with quacks such as these. Generally most educated consumers are aware. Quacks seem to prey on those that are desparate or ignorant.