Ads by Google Ads by Google

Concerns over plans for alternative cancer therapy clinic in Samoa

Medical authorities are concerned at plans to set up an alternative cancer therapy clinic in Samoa aimed to attract more New Zealand patients.

The Mexico-based clinic Hope 4 Cancer has had the go-ahead to set up as a joint venture with the Samoan government.

The clinic says it offers hope to terminal cancer patients however Cancer Society medical director Chris Jackson doesn't recommend the clinic to cancer patients.

"Heading off for unproven, untested, unregulated, unsupervised therapies, with no track record at all, is really setting yourself up for a lot of heartache and pain," he told 1 News.

"You can be deprived of tens of thousands of dollars for absolutely nothing."

One New Zealand family paid $100,000 for their loved one to go to Hope 4 Cancer in Mexico but died soon after returning from the treatment, along with many friends she made at the clinic.

"Many of these therapies they sound very attractive at face value but when you look into them, with even the slightest degree of scrutiny, you can see its smoke and mirrors," says Jackson.

Read More 

at TVNZ