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Iridologist's neglect led to 'avoidable' death

A Te Horo iridologist breached the code of human rights and failed, as a healthcare provider, to give a Feilding grandmother proper care, the Human Rights Comission has said (Dominion Post, 27 August).

Yvonne Maine, who was reportedly afraid of hospitals and avoided going to the doctor, had been treated by Ruth Nelson for various ailments over several years. In 2008 she revealed to Nelson a scalp lesion which had been diagnosed by a GP as a harmless cyst nearly 40 years earlier. Nelson was repulsed - it was "rotting and oozing pus" and had "eaten half [her] head off", she told the Health and Disability Commissioner (Dominion Post, 4 September, 2012). She admitted recognising that the lesion "looked cancerous" and that it was beyond her ability to treat, but she continued to do so anyway. Nelson is not a registered natural health practitioner and has no qualifications.

The treatments included washing out the lesion with colloidal silver and picking out dead skin with tweezers. Eventually the pair were spending several hours together every day, and Mrs Maine rented a house close to the clinic.

After initial signs of improvement, the lesion doubled in size, smelt unpleasant and frequently bled. Mrs Maine became weak and was in severe pain. Family and friends urged her to see a doctor but she didn't want to tell Nelson she had given up on her treatments.

Nelson told her it wasn't cancer, she probably wouldn't be treated by doctors, and that she would "get a bug or swine flu" if she went to hospital. By the time she sought conventional treatment 18 months later, the lesion had grown to 15cm by 20cm and had eaten through her scalp, exposing her brain. She had major surgery in 2009 but died the following year.

Plastic surgeon Swee Tan said it was horrifying to see such a large cancer essentially neglected in this day and age.

New Zealand Medical Association chairman Paul Ockelford said Mrs Maine's death was "tragic and avoidable", and highlighted the issue of whether natural therapists should be regulated. At present, anyone could say they were a naturopath.

Fluoride to return

The Hamilton City Council is likely to respect a recent referendum and resume adding fluoride to the city's water supply (Waikato Times, 14 October).

The council voted to cease fluoridation in June (see Skeptic 108)(, a move which earned it this year's Bent Spoon Award from the NZ Skeptics (see p 13).

This was in spite of widespread public support for the practice, as shown by the results of a referendum in 2006 and confirmed in the recent referendum held in conjunction with the local body elections. The pro-fluoridation vote in both cases was around 70 percent.

A concerted anti-fluoride billboard and mailout campaign appeared to have little effect, unless it was counter-productive. Said one commenter on the Waikato Times website: "For me it wasn't big DHB advertising that swung me to vote pro Fluoride, it was the anti-fluoride brigade's actions: Insisting that the Uni chemistry department keep science out of the debate, the personal attacks, and the stated refusal to accept public opinion if the referendum didn't go their way."

Neon on the mend

Neon Roberts, the English boy kidnapped by his New Zealand-born mother, who wanted alternative therapy for his brain tumour (Skeptic 107), is recovering well after finally completing his radiotherapy (NZ Herald, 10 August).

His long blond hair is gone, he has lost weight and he gets more tired than he used to, but the beaming smile and glint of hope in his eyes say that he is doing well, the Herald reports. Neon's last scan was cancer-free and his family say his bravery is an "inspiration" as he continues chemotherapy.

A documentary on the affair screened in the UK (The Mirror, 11 August) gave insights into the alternative therapies Neon's mother wanted him treated with, including hyperbaric oxygen (see p 14). She also bought special netting to hang on his bed to "shield him from radio waves" and prescribed a list of alternative remedies including bicarbonate of soda, milk thistle, ozonated oil, goat's milk protein hot chocolates, four "Eskimo oils" and probiotics.

Oxygen bar just the thing for hangover

Speaking of hyperbaric oxygen, it may be of some use for some conditions, although it's very expensive. You can however now strive for a similar effect on the cheap by spending $20 for 20 minutes breathing 95 percent oxygen through green nasal tubes in an Auckland bar (NZ Herald, 3 August).

Spaqua, billed as New Zealand's first oxygen bar, was the brainchild of Emma Leslie and Evan Seber, who "staggered across an oxygen bar in Las Vegas", and decided to bring the concept here.

Billed as a great hangover cure, or a general pick-me-up for those suffering fatigue, jetlag or the onset of a cold, the session involves breathing enriched oxygen which has been passed through wintergreen and lime aromatic solutions. Cans of 'Alcohol Killer' drinks are also available in case oxygen alone is not sufficient.

Spaqua's promotional material claims this increases energy, endurance and stamina while enhancing pain relief and "performance", and reducing stress.

"First of all, none of that is true," says Dr Kyle Perrin, a senior lecturer at Otago University who researches oxygen therapy for medical use. "Secondly, it is potentially quite harmful."

Excess oxygen was dangerous for people with serious lung disease, or who have suffered heart attacks, he said. "Your body is attuned to breathing room air and that is as much oxygen as we need."

West Coaster 'freaked out' by UFO

A man from Rutherglen on the West Coast says he saw a car-shaped object on a road south of Greymouth suddenly lift into the sky in a blinding light, at about 8.45pm (Greymouth Star, 7 August).

"I was changing a CD as I was driving and when I looked up I saw what looked like a car without its lights on, stopped in the middle of the road outside Shantytown," Matthew Robert said.

"I slammed on my brakes and my eyes were still trying to focus, when suddenly the thing just lit up and shot into the sky. When I came to my senses I noticed that there were three other cars that had stopped on the other side of the road as well. It's weird that no one else has come forward because those people obviously would have seen the same thing I did."

Weird indeed. Mr Robert said he had been looking at the sky via his Night Sky smartphone app at home a few minutes previously. "Suddenly, what looked like a satellite started going crazy and moving all over the sky and I was trying to follow it with my phone."

Palm surgery fixes fortunes

Lines on the palm have traditionally been viewed as determining a person's fate but no longer, thanks to some enterprising Japanese plastic surgeons (NZ Herald, 16 July).

A Dr Matsouka, who has performed 20 of the operations, says he uses an electric scalpel to burn a shaky incision on the palm, leaving a semi-permanent scar which extends one or more of the lines to be found there. The 10 or 15-minute job costs NZ$1820.

Most of the patients are in their 30s. Men generally want their money line or success line extended, while women are more interested in the love-marriage line. Some women don't even have a marriage line and believe that because of this, they won't find love.

Dr Matsuoka says he gave one woman a wedding line and soon after she wrote to him saying she had married; two other patients won the lottery after he extended their fortune lines.

Despite these stories, he says he isn't sure how effective the surgery really is and believes there may be a placebo effect.

"If people think they'll be lucky, sometimes they become lucky. And it's not like the palm lines are really written in stone - they're basically wrinkles."