Other LanguagesSeattle – Oct. 5, 2001 - An Olympia man who used the Internet to promote an alternative cancer treatment with a purported 95 percent success rate has been sued by Attorney General Christine Gregoire for allegedly engaging in deceptive practices.
In a complaint filed in Thurston County Superior Court, attorneys with Gregoire’s High Tech Unit accused David L. Walker and his company, DLW Consulting, Inc., of numerous violations of the state’s Consumer Protection Act, including:
- Making unsubstantiated health claims;
- Misrepresenting the success rate of his treatment;
- Making an unsubstantiated testimonial to the treatment’s effectiveness;
- Offering medical advice and treatment without having the necessary qualifications; and
- Marketing an unapproved new drug.
Walker’s treatment, which he has promoted on the Internet and in presentations across the country, is called "CWAT-Treatment: BioResonance Therapy." Walker claims that all but 15 of the 745 cancer patients who have undergone the treatment have survived.
A preliminary investigation into his claims, however, revealed that fewer than 100 people have undergone the treatment and the survival rate is much lower than Walker claims.
Walker took down his website about two weeks ago, possibly in response to the impending state action.
"This fraud took advantage of vulnerable people desperately seeking a cure for a killer disease," said Gregoire. "Instead of finding a cure, they wasted their money -- and their hopes -- on an unproven treatment of little or no medical value."
According to the complaint, Walker’s treatment -- for which consumers paid between $2,436 and $5,220 -- uses a combination of an herbal mix known as "Indian Mud" ingested orally, coffee enemas, a variety of dietary supplements and the use of an electrical device called a "bio-resonance oscillator" or "molecular enhancer" that patients are instructed to use each day.
According to the complaint, Walker cannot cite "any controlled tests, analyses, research, studies, or other scientific evidence to prove his claims." Nor, attorneys say, has the combination of products comprising the CWAT-Treatment "been evaluated or approved by the FDA as safe or effective … in the treatment of cancer or otherwise."
The lawsuit asks that the court order Walker to stop promoting his treatment immediately, and that he pay an unspecified amount of civil penalties and restitution.
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