Medical
Claims

Diane Richardson (moderate critic) and Claire Swazey (Scientologist) debunk the common allegation that Scientology is a fraud because of medical promises made.

referen@bway.net (Diane Richardson)

Message-ID: <3aacc4fa.2544240@news1.bway.net>

On Mon, 12 Mar 2001 01:23:54 GMT, "M. C. DiPietra"  <mdipietra@earthlink.net> wrote:

[snip]

>Nowhere do I see, where those claims are being made, disclaimers about it being a matter of faith; instead I see a lot of pseudoscience, trotted out as decor to make scientology appear scientific.

The disclaimer is quite clear in the contract people must sign before
taking scientology courses and/or auditing.

Here's the disclaimer appearing at the front of "Clear Body, Clear Mind," the Purification Rundown book:

"This book is part of the works of L. Ron Hubbard, who developed Scientology applied religious philosophy. It is presented to the reader as a record of observations and research into the nature of the human mind and spirit, and not as a statement of claims made by the author. The benefits and goals of Scientology can be attained only by the dedicated efforts of the reader.

"The Purification program cannot be construed as a recommendation of medical treatment or medication and it is not professed as a physical handling for bodies nor is any claim made to that effect. There are no medical recommendations or claims for the Purification program or for any of the vitamin or mineral regimens described in this book.

"No individual should undertake the Purification program or any of its regimens without first consulting and obtaining the informed approval of a licensed medical practitioner. The author makes no warranties or representation as to the effectiveness of the Purification program."

If people can read such an obvious admission that what follows is bunk and still believe they're undertaking a "medical cure," they deserve what they get. Sorry, I know that sounds harsh, but just how far do you think society should go to protect people from their own stupidity?

If you want to outlaw this sort of thing, you're also going to have to outlaw fundamentalist Christian faith healing services along with Roman Catholic novenas to St. Jude. If you see that as a valid role of government -- protecting people from their own superstitious beliefs -- be my guest. Just don't expect a majority of U.S. citizens to agree with you, including most medical professionals.

>Saying it is an applied religious philosophy instead of a self-help system and calling it a "fixed donation" instead of a "price" does not make scientology, whether it "works" or not, a religion.

Of course not. What makes it a religion (at least under U.S. law) is its claim to address spiritual matters.

Diane Richardson
referen@bway.net

"Fluffygirl" <cswazey@home.com>

Sun, 11 Mar 2001 20:13:12

Message-ID: <3aac4c73.0@news2.lightlink.com>

"M. C. DiPietra" <mdipietra@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:B6D18F4C.31A17%mdipietra@earthlink.net...

> Selling someone a system or procedure and telling them it can be used to raise the dead, cure arthritis, and make you able to throw away your glasses forever,

That is against Scn policy to do that.You are overlooking this.

>and not being able to duplicate alleged results in a clinical setting seems to smell a lot like medical fraud,

Of course it does. That's why it's against our religion.

> although IANAL.

> Nowhere do I see, where those claims are being made, disclaimers about it being a matter of faith; instead I see a lot of pseudoscience, trotted out as decor to make scientology appear scientific.

Please be advised that it is against Scn policy and Scn tech- therefore it's against the Scn religion- to tell people that they can get cured by taking these courses. I'm not saying it's never happened, I'm saying that when it has, it's been directly contra to the dictates of those claimants own religion.

You are overlooking that, whether deliberately or not, I don't know. I know it would make it far more convenient for you to believe that this is part and parcel of the Scn religion, but it is not. What happened to Raul Lopez was, for example, against the Scn religion.

These are promises "reges" have NO business making and not just by the non-Scientologist ideas,either. They flat-out aren't supposed to be doing that.

And it is *not* snake oil to believe that the spirit affects the body and vice versa and that what occurs in auditing *may* affect that person physically. It *is* snake oil AND AGAINST SCN POLICY to guarantee that it would affect the person physically and how and when and where because that cannot be guaranteed and also it's against Scn policy to suggest or order the person to not receive real medical care. I have had , over the course of my life, medicines and two surgeries administered to me as a Scientologist and I've had Scn staff tell me to get various symptoms checked out at a doctor's. I've seen a Scientology staffer order a "pc" to get his teeth fixed at a dentist's and not to come back for any more auditing sessions until they were. I know this happened, because it was my pc that this happened to.

Much has been written about times where that did NOT happen, such as with Raul Lopez and such as with Tory's medications, too and I am not questioning the fact that those things occurred.I also don't advocate or condone them. These things were contra to Scientology policy. And they were wrong for other reasons besides that, obviously.

I submit to you that you do not really know the Scn religion. You judge by abuses. It is well and good that you look at such abuses that took place but it is NOT well and good that you decide from your frame of reference as a not fully informed non Scientologist that these are actually part and parcel of the Scn religion.

We are free to minister to the spirit in hopes that the body will be affected but only after medical treatment was obtained or if there's nothing else medical science can do except things of an experimental nature. That is not the same as the picture you paint.

There is NOTHING wrong with trying to prevent someone from dying by talking to them in the form of a "bring back to life assist" when medical options have been sought, granted and exhausted or when such are unavailable and for anyone to think that there was something wrong with that would indicate a fixed idea of Brobdingnagian proportions.

C