Cancer Profiteers

In May 2009, award-winning journalist, Rob Rose, broke the story of Barry Tannenbaum and his Ponzi scheme. Rose later detailed the busting of the scheme in his 2013 book, The Grand Scam.

The Grand Scam, a brilliant and well-researched book, is a double-edged sword. The book is a great guide on how to spot a con. But, it now appears, it also inspires others intending to operate fool-proof scams targeting the desperate and vulnerable.

Tannenbaum, the mastermind of the scam as exposed by Rose, preyed on the desperate demand for HIV/AIDS drugs to lure prospective victims. He claimed that his company, Frankel Chemicals, had exclusive rights to the market for Active-Pharmaceutical Ingredients used in the making of generic antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.

When Tannenbaum started the scheme circa 2005, the activist group, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) was winning the long fight for access to ARVs. Tannenbaum leveraged TAC's win to market his scheme as lucrative, solid and of great potential.

His claim was on the grounds that he had bagged exclusive contracts with API patent holders and leading local generic pharmaceutical companies. And that the market was just begging to be reaped.

Today we want to talk about cancer, another scourge of the world on the heels of HIV/AIDS. Cancer, like HIV/AIDS, is a target for scammers hoping to exploit desperate patients, their relatives and gullible investors.

In 2015, cancer was the second leading cause of death globally - responsible for 8.8m deaths in that year. This is according to the latest statistics by WHO published in February 2017. WHO also projected a 70% rise in new cancer cases in the next 20 years. Other cancer studies have revealed even gloomier numbers than WHO’s.

Statistics aside, cancer and its impacts have touched the whole world. The majority of us know someone who has cancer, is affected by cancer or dead of cancer.

For every scourge, there's a profiteer, and cancer is no different. As scientists work hard to find the next innovative and effective treatments and cure, some crafty business people are busy peddling expensive ‘snake oils’.

Consider Barry Tannenbaum and American Bernie Madoff schemes, but with a twist. The cancer predators target millions of desperate and vulnerable cancer patients (willing to try everything to beat the odds), and investors, some of whom would just like to be part of anything that could address the pandemic.

The Cho Group Ltd, a Hong Kong registered corporation with its various subsidiaries, with muted close ties to Beijing, is one such predator.

The company sells an expensive genetically-engineered substance called Photosoft, which it claims can cure cancer.

The company roped in medical doctors and influencers to give weight to its claims of a miracle cure for cancer. A 25ml vial of Photosoft would be ingested (orally). The engineered substance is claimed to have the capability to trace and embed itself onto the cancer cells. Twenty-four hours after consumption, the patient’s body directly above the tumour would be spotted with ‘special’ lights generated from what the company calls the ‘Next Generation Photodynamic Therapy’ machine. After numerous expensive dosages of the substance and the light, the cancer cells are claimed to have been destroyed. It is neither magical nor miracle, but a scam.

uSpiked (in collaboration with journalists working in four continents) has believable circumstantial evidence that Photosoft and related therapy is but a big scam. Photosoft, as claimed in its patent documents and as is currently administered, cannot cure any type of cancer. And that is a warning we can all now bank on.

We have begun work to prove that Photosoft and its related therapy is a grand rip-off of patients and naive investors. Our growing list of Photosoft victims who have come forward consists of cancer patients and investors.

We are calling on anyone who is or has been associated with Photosoft and NGPDT to contact us.

Cancer patients and relatives

Please contact us if you have used Photosoft and NGPDT or have had it marketed to you. We would like to hear your experience and thoughts about this and other 'snake oil' cancer treatments. By adding your voice, you will not be a victim anymore.

Investors

Are you a corporate or individual who put funds into this scheme after being convinced it was the new cancer-buster? By now you know or might know that your investment is gone. If you were promised a refund for your silence, the promise is only good until the next unsuspecting investor buys in. You should also wonder how you rank on the to-be-refunded list.

Cancer patients and investors are both victims of the Photosoft and NGPDT scheme. No matter the part of the world you are, contact us and we will link you to the nearest collaborating journalist.

We cannot offer you refunds or magical cure. All we can do is amplify your voices to save others from falling prey to such predators.

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