by Moira Smith
Contents
The Study of 196 Natural Products
The Dr Darryl See Show
"The truth is out there"
What Darryl did next
Acknowledgments and references
More comment
Update 2003
What is Ambrotose?
Network-marketing company Mannatech arrived in Australia promoting its glyconutritional supplements containing "Ambrotose Complex" around the beginning of 1999. Much of the company’s publicity was aimed at people with fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and at doctors who practise complementary medicine. Mannatech’s claims for Ambrotose were particularly compelling, due to the apparent existence of an independent, Government-funded scientific research study, published in a medical journal, proving its effectiveness.
This study was said to have been funded by the USA National Institutes of Health, and conducted at the prestigious University of California Irvine Medical School (UCI). The author, Associate Clinical Professor Dr Darryl See, was already known as an immunologist with an interest in CFS.
The results were published in a paper entitled "An in vitro screening study of 196 natural products for toxicity and efficacy" in the Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association (JANA) in February 1999. See claimed that out of a large range of popular supplements and herbal remedies, only aloe, garlic and "three multiple-ingredient products containing glyconutrients" (Mannatech products containing the Ambrotose formula) had been shown by his lab tests to be safe and effective [1]. The paper also appeared to back up his assertions that glycoproteins are "absolutely critical for the proper functioning of the immune system", and can be used to treat diseases featuring either underactive or overactive immune function [2].
The JANA paper and See’s credentials bestowed an aura of scientific respectability that was exploited to the full in Mannatech’s promotions. Then, only six months after its publication, Mannatech dropped Dr See like a hot potato ... and threatened to sue for fraud. Distributors were warned not to mention him or his research.
What happened? And what is Dr See doing now?
Mannatech was launched in Australia in November 1998. The company had effectively reached the peak of its expansion in the USA and needed new territory if growth was to continue. Australia would be "a gold mine for the Mannatech entrepreneur" who got in early, Mannatech’s President promised. "If you're from Australia or have friends or relatives living there, there could not be a better time to start building a Mannatech business in the land downunder" [3].
Mannatech enjoys a peculiar advantage in Australia. In Canada and the USA, its products can only be presented as dietary supplements to promote health. In Australia, however, the supplements have been approved as "over the counter drugs" by the government's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). This enables distributors to make numerous claims about their medicinal effects - including the reduction of blood lactate levels [4], which may strike an especial chord with Australian CFS/FM doctors and sufferers who have been following the work of Scroop and Burnett in Adelaide.
Following the publication of his research study, the "Dr Darryl See Tour" of major Australian cities in March 1999 was the basis of a large-scale recruitment drive for new distributors and customers. Promotion of the lecture tour and the products relied heavily on the "6 year/$2m Study by USA National Institutes of Health", and See’s position as Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California Irvine Medical School. Tapes and booklets on sale in association with the tour included material on glyconutritionals by See, alongside such inspirational gems as "17 ways to Generate Leads and Get New Customers" and "Find Success and Happiness in your Life and Business."
I obtained a free ticket to the public part of the Canberra presentation from a local Mannatech associate who had contacted me. Darryl See told us that the six greatest medical discoveries - including penicillin, insulin, and vaccination - were all natural products, and now nutraceuticals belonged on this list too. But not everything natural was good for you, he warned. His study of 196 natural products had shown that nearly half the natural remedies we use today are toxic, many interact with drugs and some are completely ineffective. There is a lot of fraud in the world of natural products, he said, reassuring us that he is a "sceptical scientist" who hates fraud.
According to Dr See, we are currently in the midst of a global health crisis second only in seriousness to the Bubonic Plague! Chronic diseases are skyrocketing, cancer and degenerative diseases are on the rise, and it is a "documented fact" that our immune function has dropped over the last 17 years. Glyconutrients are essential to protect "you and your loved ones" from developing cancer, diabetes, AIDS, MS, Alzheimers and other diseases, all caused by immune dysfunction, free radicals and radiation damage to DNA.
In relation to CFS, his study had shown that glyconutrients increase the numbers of Natural Killer cells by 400% in CFS sufferers, but without increasing the active T cells that cause us to feel ill. He claimed glyconutrients also "moderate" apoptosis (cell suicide) - beneficially increasing it where cells are damaged, but slowing it down in people with CFS, in whom rates are already too high. In healthy people, however, apoptosis is unaffected, because the body "just takes what it needs".
Unfortunately, said See, the western diet no longer contains adequate amounts of these naturally occurring plant sugars. The clear message of his presentation was that everyone, sick or well, and no matter what medical condition they may suffer from, should be taking Ambrotose every day.
In case anyone in the audience should be wondering why See was promoting Ambrotose in Australia instead of teaching at the University of California Irvine Medical School, he told us he had been on the road for seven months because his message of "health and healing" was "too important not to spread". Mannatech's official explanation was that See was "taking a hiatus to write, educate and publish the results of his research". However, it would later emerge that he had resigned from his University post in September the previous year, before the results of his study were published.
In August 1999, the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times carried stories that See’s work was under investigation at UCI [5]. They said he had been asked to resign following internal audits into the conduct of some of his previous research - there had been allegations of conflict of interest, and he had broken research rules. Now the publication of the JANA study had alerted the Medical School to the fact that See was still representing himself as a faculty member there, and they also had questions about the study itself. They had never heard of it - as the Orange County Register of August 6 put it, "The university has no record of the grant or the research".
Apparently acting on instructions, See had written to the editors of the JANA on August 3, 1999 to set matters straight. He admitted that he was not affiliated with UCI when he submitted the article to the journal, that his wife "distributed, resold and/or recommended in her practice products from several of the companies with products in the study", and that he himself "was a paid consultant to one of the companies with products evaluated in the study at the time of the manuscript preparation".
In other words, he was working for Mannatech and his wife was a Mannatech distributor. According to one newspaper report, he had already received over $100,000 for his services, including speaking at Mannatech sales meetings from May 1998 onwards. No wonder his former supervisor, Dr Jeremiah Tilles, told the Orange County Register that See had been difficult to get hold of, and seemed to spend a lot of time away from the University "making speeches or giving presentations someplace".
These revelations were clearly deeply damaging. The so-called "National Institutes of Health study of 196 natural products", which had been the jewel in Mannatech’s crown, was now shown to be neither independent, nor Government funded - if indeed it had ever been done at all. Mannatech’s prestigious spokesman was not only no longer Clinical Professor of Medicine of UCI, but had apparently left under a cloud. The company went into damage control.
A press release was issued in which Mannatech President, Samuel Caster, said: "We have disassociated ourselves completely and unequivocally from Dr. See." He claimed that Mannatech had "made every effort to verify Dr. See's claims," but the researcher "misled the company", and they were considering legal action [6]. (A lawsuit alleging "fraudulent representations" was later filed.) Meanwhile a notice was posted on the Mannatech website warning distributors not to mention See’s research in their sales pitch:
Statement Concerning Studies of Dr. Darryl See Recent questions have raised serious concerns about peripheral issues surrounding certain research studies performed by Dr. Darryl See. Until these questions are resolved, we are asking all Mannatech Associates to refrain from using the studies of Dr. See in conduct of their business.
See gave his own version of events in a response to the allegations posted on his personal webpage [7]. He explained why UCI had no record of the research project: the results written up in the JANA article were actually from "a compilation of studies" done over a six-year period. He sincerely believed he was justified in claiming the work had been conducted with a government grant, because funds from a grant he shared with another researcher were used to "partially fund" these studies; and he denied being on the Mannatech payroll until after he had finished the research .
Contrary to the stories in the newspapers, he said, his resignation from UCI had been voluntary: "I did not resign because I was threatened with termination or disciplinary action. I resigned because of my desire to pursue my interest in researching natural products and their potential benefits." He claimed he had been "willfully and maliciously misquoted" in the press, and concluded:
At most, inconsequential errors, common to all human beings that I know, including myself, were used to create a "story" where none really existed. As Agent Mulder says, "The Truth is out there", and I am happy to share it with you now that the facts are in.
This explanation does not appear to have resolved Mannatech’s concerns. His name no longer appears on Mannatech’s official website - nor on its new GlycoScience.com website " ... dedicated to providing a balanced view of the available scientific information as it relates to Mannatech products".
At the time See and Mannatech parted company, he had recently established Jeunesse Inc., the "Orange County Institute of Longevity Medicine", in Huntington Beach California. In November 1999 he and another doctor opened the EPD Cancer Clinic, also at Huntington Beach, specialising in cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome and "severe degenerative disorders".
From the information on the EPD Cancer Clinic website [as at May 2000], it seems the physicians there do not actually treat cancer. "Working in a complementary fashion with your oncologist, we use scientifically validated methods to give your body what it needs to fight cancer". These methods apparently include music therapy, massage, and nutraceutical consulting.
In addition, See has moved up from network marketing and associated himself with a newly floated "dot.com" enterprise poised to exploit the growing phenomenon of internet shopping. He is now helping to sell nutraceuticals online at www.CancerOption.com [later renamed to BioImmune.com - a site which offers supplements such as HeartOption and ImmuneRich]. The press release announcing his appointment described him in glowing terms very reminiscent of the write-ups he used to get in Mannatech promotional literature [8] .
At CancerOption.com, you can chat live with Dr See every Tuesday between 4 and 5 pm EST in the "Ask the Cancer Specialist'' chat room, and buy supplements such as ImmuneOption - a "proprietary blend of herbs and nutraceuticals" which is "designed to work synergistically to enhance immune system functions, decrease oxidative damage and promote liver and body detoxification".
CancerOption.com currently offers proprietary protocols targeting specific cancers with guidelines and products for complementary and alternative therapies. Each specific protocol includes recommended diet, nutritional supplements, lifestyle maintenance and a post-remission regimen. The overall portal provides common features that make CancerOption.com a functional and user-friendly experience including a newsletter, clinical pearls, links to other health-related web sites and a moderated forum to exchange research and provide support. [9]
When I went there at the end of March 2000 I found it anything but a user-friendly experience. The home page hung my browser numerous times before I could get it to load. Once there I found it consists of largely recycled content - the medical articles are See’s old research papers from UCI, and the cancer information is standard material reproduced under licence from the National Cancer Institute. It was difficult to differentiate between the "specific protocols" for each type of cancer. In each case the recommendations (detoxification, free radicals, dietary changes, and - of course - supplements from the company’s own "Option" product line) looked the same.
Of course, it is early days, and much is expected of the company as an investment opportunity. CancerOption.com was HotStockNews.Com’s "stock of the month" two months running (Sept-Oct 99). There is a lot of money to be made buying and selling shares in internet based companies - and from selling supplements to the incurably ill and people fearful of getting cancer. Advertisements in CancerOption.com’s Clinic Directory from other establishments like See’s EPD clinic will add to the income stream. And investors are promised that Darryl See will shortly "enhance the credibility of the complementary protocol therapies available at the CancerOption.com portal" by conducting more "clinical studies". [See update]
Originally posted August 1999 as "Mannatech claims under investigation
"
Revised version Nov 99 "AMBROTOSE STUDY WAS A FRAUD Mannatech sues discredited
researcher"
Published in Chameleon magazine Summer 1999-2000 as "Ambrotose Study was a
Fraud"
This version March 2000
MLM Watch's Index to Information about Mannatech and Ambrotose.
Article about Mannatech from the National Council against Health Fraud - information about the firm's questionable practices and promoters.
'Shonky' sugar pill created by religious group: Canadian Eugene Fox, who sends out a MannaPrayer email to followers of the group, claims on his website that Ambrotose helped his bowel disease and his wife's arthritis. "The Lord places a high value on our physical health.... "The Lord built Mannatech around an amazing discovery given through prayer to the chief scientist, Dr. Bill McAnalley. It’s the plant-derived glyconutrient complex (brand name, Ambrotose)" says Eugene Fox. Mr Fox said Mannatech was established when founders Sam and Linda Caster knelt with family members in a Texas living room and "gave themselves to the Lord in a fresh commitment".
For general information about multilevel marketing and its pitfalls, see:
MLM Watch - A Sceptical Guide to Multilevel
Marketing - includes specific information about Mannatech
MLM Survivors' Homepage - with
personal experiences of
those who got sucked in hoping to make a fortune ...
False Profits
The 10 Big Lies of Multi-Level
Marketing by Robert L. Fitzpatrick
National Council Against Health
Fraud Position Paper on Multilevel
Marketing of Health Products
How to Spot Health
Fraud - from the FDA ("One product does it all, Personal testimonies,
"Natural", etc ... Ambrotose scores very highly against these criteria).
What's Wrong With Multi-Level Marketing?
- why the numbers just don't add up.
The Mirage
of Multilevel Marketing by Stephen Barrett, M.D at Quackwatch
CancerOption.com didn't last long, apparently. More recently at his "Institute of Longevity Medicine" in California Dr See did "independent studies" proving the effectiveness of a supplement based on colostrum called "Transfer Factor", which by coincidence seems to do all the magical things to boost the immune system that Ambrotose did ... It is distributed by another network-marketing company called 4life. See: Independent Study Says 4Life Transfer Factor Boosts Immune System at "Unprecedented" Levels : Do You Know Anyone Who Has Cancer, Fibromyalgia, Lupus, Chronic Sinus Infections, Allergies, Ear Infections, Or Just Suffers From The Flu, Or Common Colds? Take A Look At The Independent Studies That Were Just Completed. ... Dr. See said, "Nothing has ever come close to TF [Transfer Factor] Plus in efficacy...I think everyone in the world should be on this product." This is the sort of thing he used to say about Mannatech products, when he listed them alongside the world's greatest medical discoveries such as penicillin and vaccination.
More:
Dr Darryl See's CV from
Pro-Networkers.com. Includes a
defense of Dr See by Mike Akins - "The reporter that was involved in
the initial accusation has been known for years as an anti-nutritional advocate
as well as anti-network marketing."
Summary of the Orange County Immune Institute's work from The Cancer Cure Foundation
"Ambrotose® complex is a blend of glyconutritionals, i.e. naturally occurring saccharides (or sugars) designed for use as a dietary supplement." - information from www.glycoscience.com
Elsewhere, Ambrotose product info states that the ingredients are: Arabinogalactan (Larix deciduae) (gum); Manapol™ aloe vera gel extract (inner leaf gel); gum ghatti and gum tragacanth; brown rice flour; silicone dioxide; and magnesium stearate.
The following is an extract from a 1999 post to the Healthfraud Discussion List by Thomas J Wheeler, Associate Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, which he kindly sent me to quote on this page. He discusses the claims made for Mannatech products:
The key ingredient of the [Mannatech] product line is Ambrotose, "a patent-pending blend of specific plant-based complex carbohydrates that contain sugars necessary for the proper glycosylation of cellular proteins." At least some of these appear to be derived from aloe vera extract.
Promotional material stresses that these can provide 8 sugars necessary in glycoproteins: glucose, galactose, mannose, fucose, xylose, N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylgalactosamine, N-acetylneuraminic acid. However, we can synthesize all of these from glucose.
Thus, it makes a leap in concluding that because these sugars are needed by our cells, we would benefit by eating them. ("Who might benefit...?...All six billion people on Earth might benefit from this discovery.")
There is some evidence that some of these might be usable, at least in small amounts, in glycoprotein synthesis; however, it is not clear that this would be of any advantage. A recent review (Martin et al. (1998) "Availability of specific sugars for glycoconjugate biosynthesis: A need for further investigations in man." Biochimie 80, 75-86) discussed some of these sugars, and noted that further investigation was needed in this area.
There is also evidence that beyond small amounts of some of the sugars which might be utilized, the excess would simply be metabolized to other things. So even if getting some of these sugars in the diet is of use, the question remains of whether they are already being obtained in the diet, such that taking a supplement would provide any benefit.
In addition, there are possible harmful effects from taking large amounts of certain sugars in the diet rather than making them. I suspect that this is not a major concern, since we normally eat some complex carbohydrates from various plants, unless the product delivers unusually large amounts of one or more of the sugars. The burden should be on the manufacturer to show that this is safe, but under the DSHEA [the USA's Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act 1994] it doesn't have to.
The [promotional] literature has an exaggerated view of role of cell-surface glycoproteins, e.g., "Without proper glycosylation, cells cannot carry out their normal metabolic functions, especially energy production." I don't know why cellular energy production would be affected by alterations in the glycoproteins, unless there were some gross changes in cell structure.
Similarly, a diagram on the web site implies that cells use glycoprotein to communicate things like "feed me". But cells take what they need from the blood; it is the blood levels of the nutrients which are regulated.
The web site states that although we can synthesize all of the sugars, "Many elements such as toxins, stress, drugs, viruses, and other invaders can interfere in the conversion process and may leave the body without all the necessary carbohydrates to form proper cell-to-cell words." I do not know why this should be true, other than generalized interference with metabolism. The burden should be on the manufacturer to demonstrate the occurrence of abnormal protein glycosylation in each of these conditions. (I could not find any references to scientific papers on the web site.) *
(Reproduced by kind permission of the author.)
[Dr Wheeler was referring to an old Mannatech webpage - the promotional literature he is discussing is still quoted here by a Mannatech distributor. Meanwhile, "The Nutrition Science site" www.glycoscience.com does cite some research papers, and reproduces articles from GlycoScience&Nutrition Journal - Webmaster.]
Want to make your own? Australian Dr David Bird's Glyconutrient Jam and Glyconutrient Powder Recipe: Getting all essential sugars without spending heaps on expensive supplements.
1. "An in vitro screening study of 196 natural products for toxicity and efficacy", Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association, Vol. 2, No.1. Abstract
2. "Breakthrough Discoveries in Immune System Disorders with Dr Darryl See" - transcript of a series of tapes discussing the use of glyconutrients to strengthen the immune system.
3. "Australia 98 The First Step Towards Global Expansion" [http://usa-nutritional.com/manna/Australia.html]
4. Information from a computer printout of the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s own documentation dated 23/11/98. Claims that the TGA has authorised include: Ambrotose gives "relief of muscular aches and pains"; "relief of the symptoms of allergies" (also colds, hayfever, cold sores etc); can be used for the treatment of indigestion, and to "help maintain a healthy digestive function"; gives "temporary relief" of osteoarthritic and rheumatic pain, can help relieve "nervous tension, stress and mild anxiety", "aids, assists or helps in the maintenance or improvement of general well-being", promotes healing, and is "beneficial during convalescence" ; "best used in times of physical exertion", "helps provide stamina and endurance" "can increase the oxygen intake capacity"and "reduce blood lactate levels".
5. Articles by Liz Kowalczyk in the Orange County Register, 6 and 10 August 1999 and
Karen Alexander in the Los Angeles Times, 5 and 6 August 1999;
also articles by David Evans on the MLM
Watch ("A Skeptical Guide to Multilevel Marketing") website
- for example "Mannatech Sues Author of Study Promoting Its Products for
Fraud". For more, see the MLM Watch Index to Information
about Mannatech.
6. "Mannatech Says Physician Misled Company Regarding Study" (August 20, 1999) - news release from the old Mannatech website http://www.mannatech-inc.com/NWSRelease.asp?NewsReleaseID=42 (now gone)
7. Darryl M. See PhD, Response "To patients, friends, supporters and other interested parties" September 17, 1999, http://www.electriciti.com/edison/response.html on his website (now gone) at http://www.electriciti.com/edison/drsee.html
8. CancerOption.com Inc Press Release (SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.) Nov. 17, 1999: CancerOption.com Appoints Dr. Darryl See, M.D. to the Company's Scientific Advisory Board; EPD Cancer Clinic Joins the CancerOption.com Clinic Directory http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/991117/az_cancero_1.html">http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/991117/az_cancero_1.html (now gone)
"Over the past six years, Dr. See has been awarded numerous research grants and contracts totaling in excess of $1.6 million from major pharmaceutical companies as well as the National Institute of Health and the Department of Defense. His experience as a research immunologist with nutraceuticals is extremely beneficial to the CancerOption.com mission considering the growing acceptance of nutritional supplements by the general public.''
also CancerOption.com Inc Press Release (SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.) Jan. 3, 2000: CancerOption.com Appoints Dr. Darryl See, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer and Director to the Company's Board of Directors; CancerOption.com Becomes the First Internet Health Care Portal to Offer the "Ask the Cancer Specialist" Feature, Hosted by Dr. Darryl See http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/000103/az_cancero_1.html">http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/000103/az_cancero_1.html (now gone)
and CancerOption.com Inc Press Release (SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.) March 2, 2000: Join the "Ask the Cancer Specialist" Chat Today at CancerOption.com Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Darryl See, M.D., will Host this Live Forum http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/000302/az_cancero_1.html
9. HotStockNews.Com profile www.hotstocknews.com/caop-oct.html
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