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New York Times, October 4, 2004, Page 1
Scientologist's Treatments Lure Firefighters By
or the past year, more than 140 New York City firefighters, some
ailing from their work in the ruins of the World Trade Center,
have walked into a seventh-floor medical clinic just two blocks
from the former disaster site. Once inside, some have abandoned
the medical care and emotional counseling provided to them by
their own department's doctors, and all have taken up a treatment
regimen devised by L. Ron Hubbard, the former science fiction
writer and founder of the Church of Scientology.
The firefighters take saunas, engage in physical workouts and
swallow pills — all of which together constitute what for years
has been known, amid considerable dispute, as Mr. Hubbard's
detoxification program, one meant to wash the body of poisons or
toxins. The firefighters are not charged for their trips to the
clinic, called Downtown Medical.
Of the more than 140 firefighters who have undergone the program,
some have told colleagues of its virtues. Others have said they
were simply following the regimen in order to enjoy free saunas.
But one retired firefighter is a paid member of the clinic's
advisory board, and the city's main fire union has pledged its
"full support" to the clinic as it seeks government grants and
other forms of financing.
"The statements I have heard from firefighters who have completed
the program are truly remarkable," Stephen J. Cassidy, the
president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, wrote in a
letter that is posted on the clinic's Web site. The letter adds,
"The work you are doing in this regard is unique in the city, and
is very welcome."
But the existence of the clinic has upset city Fire Department
officials, who, among other concerns, are alarmed that the
medical treatment prescribed by its doctors is being discarded by
some firefighters who enroll at Downtown Medical. They say the
clinic's detoxification program requires firefighters to stop
using inhalers meant to help with their breathing and any
medications they may be taking, like antidepressants or blood
pressure pills.
The department officials, including its physicians, said they had
no way of vouching for the program's practices. The exact makeup
of the pills taken as part of the program, for instance, is not
widely known, although they are believed to contain niacin. One
clinic board member wrote a report published in a firefighting
magazine that firefighters produced blue beads of sweat during
the program. One city firefighter said that the man next to him
in the sauna once appeared to sweat a quarter-size black
substance — evidence, he said, that toxins were being drained out
of his body.
"While we are aware some members of the department have availed
themselves of the program, we in no way endorse it," said Deputy
Commissioner Francis X. Gribbon. Dr. David Prezant, deputy chief
medical officer for the department, added, "It's risky for
anybody to stop any type of medication without guidance and a
plan from their own treating physician."
Officials with the clinic, while acknowledging some of them are
Scientologists, said the clinic is not formally affiliated with
the Church of Scientology. An official at the church's office in
Los Angeles said they were aware of the clinic, but described it
as as a "secular" enterprise employing Mr. Hubbard's methods.
The official in Los Angeles, Linda Simmons Hight, said many
Scientologists had donated to the clinic, but "as far as it being
part of the church, it isn't." Joseph Higgins, a retired
firefighter who is now a paid member of the clinic's advisory
board, said Tom Cruise, the actor, had paid for "quite a bit" of
the treatments for rescue workers, estimated by Mr. Higgins at
$5,000 to $6,000 apiece.
People inside and outside the department said they regarded the
use of the clinic to be yet more evidence of the degree of the
distress experienced by members of the force, which lost 343 men
on Sept. 11.
"People are desperate to feel better," said one lieutenant in the
department. "As far as I can tell, they'll try anything, even off
the beaten track." Another officer, who said he planned to sign
up for the regimen in hopes of clearing up lung congestion, said:
"Right now, I'm at the point I would try a voodoo doctor."
Clinic officials, after briefly addressing issues involving the
clinic, said they would not comment further about the program.
But Mr. Higgins, the former firefighter, said, "It's actually a
pretty awesome program."
The use of the New York clinic is not the first instance of
firefighters' being persuaded to use Mr. Hubbard's methods.
In 1987, after a fire in a transformer room at the Louisiana
State University School of Medicine, in Shreveport, dozens of
firefighters became alarmed that they had been exposed to high
levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCB's.
After repeated complaints of headaches, dizziness and rashes, the
city of Shreveport contracted with a private outfit that
advocated Mr. Hubbard's detoxification methods. But after the
city's insurance carriers questioned the legitimacy of the
treatments and their escalating cost, the city hired an
independent medical doctor to investigate the regimen.
In a blistering 1988 report, Dr. Ronald E. Gots, a toxicology
expert from Bethesda, Md., called the regimen "quackery," and
noted that "no recognized body of toxicologists, no department of
occupational medicine, nor any governmental agencies endorse or
recommend such treatment." The report ended Shreveprt's dealings
with the program.
In an interview yesterday, Dr. Gots said of the program, "It's an
unproven, scientifically bereft notion."
Keith Miller, a Downtown Medical board member, said yesterday in
regard to Dr. Gots's 1988 Shreveport report that Dr. Gots was not
a reputable source.
In the days after the Sept. 11 attack, Scientologists were among
the representatives of many religions and religious groups moving
among the rescue workers and the traumatized residents. They were
even allowed to remain along with the American Red Cross after
many other groups had been ordered to leave.
The Church of Scientology was founded in the 1950's by Mr.
Hubbard, a science fiction writer who died in 1986. Its
adherents, who number in the millions and include many Hollywood
celebrities, believe that Scientology's self-help techniques and
counseling sessions, known as auditing, can help people live more
productive and satisfying lives. But the cost of the auditing
sessions, which can run into thousands of dollars an hour, have
drawn criticism, as have the church's aggressive tactics toward
its critics.
The Internal Revenue Service granted the church tax-exempt status
in 1993.
Officials at the Manhattan clinic said that shortly after the
terrorist attack, an official with the firefighters' union
contacted the Foundation for Advancements in Science and
Education, a group that promotes the detoxification program
developed by Mr. Hubbard, to request the regimen for New York
firefighters.
In September 2002, the Downtown Medical clinic opened on the
seventh floor of 139 Fulton Street, in a building full of
homeopathic clinics. The building's lobby directory, however,
does not list a clinic in that name.
In addition to Mr. Higgins, a well-known fire academy drill
instructor who estimates he has trained over half the city's
firefighters, another department figure, Israel Miranda, the
president of the union that represents emergency medical workers,
is also on the clinic's board. Mr. Miranda is also an instructor
at the emergency medical workers' academy.
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