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Back in the year 2000, Ms. Couric told the
American public that colon cancer is more than 90% curable — but only if
you get tested in time. Since then, the number of colonoscopy
screenings went up from under 1 million to over 14 million. Actually,
the 90% cure rate claim is a lie.
According to the American Cancer Society as recently as
in 2008, "There are no prospective randomized controlled trials of
screening colonoscopy for the reduction in incidence of or mortality
from colorectal cancer." The National Cancer Institute is equally
unambiguous: ―…it
is not yet known for certain whether colonoscopy can help reduce the
number of deaths from colorectal cancer." That is why I
approached
Ms. Couric with this letter:
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May
19, 2008
Ms. Katie Couric
Anchor, Managing Editor
CBS Evening News
524 West 57th St.
New York, NY 10019
Tel. (212) 975-3247
Dear Ms. Couric,
I am the author of the enclosed book entitled
Fiber Menace, and its matching web site FiberMenace.com. Along
with other articles related to colorectal health, this site
features an essay entitled “Colonoscopy: Is it worth it?” This
essay outlines the considerable risks related to colonoscopies,
their relative worthlessness, and provides a balanced and
weighted approach regarding colon cancer screening and risk
avoidance.
Once you have had an opportunity to review my
book and site, you‘ll have a much better perspective on why you
are receiving this letter, and why I am asking you for help. My
request is very simple: please use your considerable influence
to become an agent of change. Some very unscrupulous people have
been using your grief, prominence, and position to promote
colonoscopies and fiber for their own good, not for the good of
you, your family, or your audience.
At present, you are the only person in the
United States who can facilitate abrupt change and bring to an
end this ruthless exploitation of unsuspecting Americans. Just
like you, all these millions of people who are submitting
themselves to unnecessary colonoscopies are someone else‘s
mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, or sons and daughters.
Lets work together to stop this disaster. I
realize how embarrassing it may be for your to reverse your
position and to admit that you have been used, but it would be
even more embarrassing if people without your best interest in
mind used this information against you, against the
NCCRA, and against your current and past employers.
I look forward to meeting you in New York at
your earliest convenience. You may contact me at [my cell phone
number] to arrange a meeting to discuss this matter further. I
have eight years of extensive experience in live radio and some
experience in television, and am an effective spokesperson for
causes I choose to promote. With your kind help and
participation, we can save countless lives, and prevent more
cases of colon cancer and more tragedies than any other
approach.
Please help me, help yourself, help your fellow
Americans, please, please, please!.. Thank you in advance for
considering my request.
Sincerely yours,
Konstantin Monastyrsky
[USPS
Proof of Delivery] |
As I already said in my investigative report, neither Ms. Couric
nor her producers have responded to this letter, so
I contacted Ms.
Couric again on June 14, 2008 via her
personal blog, which, obviously, she or a member of her
staff read. No response either.
As of December 1st, 2011, my two-parts post — only 1500
characters per post are accepted per post — is still there, they
didn't even bother to delete it. Complete and utter contempt…
Remarkably, while promoting screening colonoscopies,
Ms. Couric has failed to disclose her connection to GE
Healthcare, a division of General Electric, and a sister company
of the NBC Corporation, also owned by GE. This $17 billion
company is one of the world‘s largest manufacturers of CT
scanners used for virtual colonoscopy (around $3,5 million
each), and a direct beneficiary of Ms. Couric‘s public activism.
It's worth repeating that a single virtual colonoscopy
(abdominal CT scan) exposes patients to the radiation level
experienced by the survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, and
increases the lifetime chances of contracting any other cancer
by 20%, or to 1 chance in 5. These odds are 400% to 800% higher
than the lifetime risk of colorectal cancer (from 1 in 20 to 40)
for up to 97.5% of all Americans.
Despite the obvious absurdity of preventing a lesser
cancer by getting a patient killed by another form of cancer, virtual
colonoscopies are now recommended every 5 years, even though, according
to the National Cancer Institute "Whether virtual colonoscopy can reduce
the number of deaths from colorectal cancer is not yet known."
Not surprisingly, and despite the annual cost of
screening colonoscopy upwards of $30 billion, the incidence of
colorectal cancer increased by 22% from the time Ms. Couric had her
first televised colonoscopy in year 2000, while the colon cancer
mortality rate remained practically unchanged.
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