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TO MAYO CLINIC

200 First Street SW


Rochester, Minnesota 55905
507-284-2511

Eric L. Matteson, M.D.


Division of Rheumatology
& Internal Medicine
December 8, 2008

John J. Pippin, M.D.


Senior Medical and Research Advisor
Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine
5100 Wisconsin Avenue NW Suite 400
Washington DC

Dear Dr. Pippin:

I have an interest in medical history and the eponymic naming of diseases and conditions and so was
interested in some of the particulars regarding the naming of the so-called "Heimlich maneuver." As I
looked up Dr. Heimlich, I found your website, which lists Dr. Heimlich as being a board member. I note
that your organization has a particular emphasis on preventing the exploitation of animals in medical
research for a variety of reasons including ones which are moral and ethical. As I explored
Dr. Heimlich's background, I came across a couple of things of concern in that regard. One concern has
to do with what is termed "malariotherapy" for the treatment of different diseases including AIDS. I
noted that there are experiments being done in an African country, but I was not able to find out
anything more about this, other than Dr. Heimlich stated that he is moving forward with new
experiments in an unnamed country. I looked on the NIH website of registered clinical trials, and I was
unable to find any such trial. I also saw a mention of malariotherapy administered to Lyme disease
patients as well.

These references are very concerning to me from a standpoint of ethics in human subjects' research, and
I am hoping that you will be able to shed some light on this for me.

Sincerely yours,

ELM/bmh
December 17, 2008

Eric L. Matteson, M.D.


Chair, Division of Rheumatology
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
200 First Street SW
Rochester, MN 55905

Dear Dr. Matteson:

Thanks for your letter dated December 8, 2008 (attached), regarding Dr. Henry Heimlich
and his research. You wrote about PCRM: “I note that your organization has a particular
emphasis on preventing the exploitation of animals in medical research for a variety of
reasons including ones which are moral and ethical.” This is correct, and PCRM is
equally committed to this mission as it regards the human animal. We have a long record
of advocacy and clinical research addressing ethical and medical issues.

I’ve forwarded your letter to Neal Barnard, M.D., PCRM’s president, and we have
discussed your concerns. Neal has known Dr. Heimlich for many years, and he is
confident that any research Dr. Heimlich has undertaken is ethically sound. However, we
are not familiar with the specifics of the research efforts you mention in your letter.

May I suggest you contact the Heimlich Institute in Cincinnati to inquire regarding the
research protocols that have you concerned? The website url is
http://www.heimlichinstitute.org/default.php, and the telephone number is (513) 559-
2100. If this does not resolve your concern, please feel free to contact me again.

Best wishes to you for the holiday season.

Regards,

John J. Pippin, M.D., F.A.C.C.


Senior Medical and Research Adviser
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Matteson, M.D.|
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 5:36 PM
To: jjpippin
Subject: FW: Response from Dr. Pippin (PCRM)

Dear Dr. Pippin

Thank you very much for writing. I consulted the Heimlich Institute website, and indeed did not
see any reference to malariotherapy.

You state you are unaware of the specifics of the research efforts I mentioned. I am not certain if
this means you don't know about them at all, or you don't know the protocols. For this reason, I
send to you links to several reports I found which are concerning, and as you are particularly
concerned with ethics in medicine, I hope that you will be able to look into and respond to them.
Some of the content includes such statements as "Heimlich's efforts to cure AIDS, Lyme disease,
and cancer by giving patients malaria -- called malariotherapy -- have been condemned by the
World Health Organization as charlatanism, yet Heimlich has persisted, advertising
malariotherapy on his website and conducting experiments on people in China. He has sought to
establish malariotherapy clinics in South Africa." (from the Francis article).

Deadly Medicine? by Steve Volk, Philadelphia Weekly, September 15, 2004:


http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/view.php?id=8048

Is Dr. Heimlich Really a Savior? by Brian Ross, ABC 20/20, June 8, 2007
http://vimeo.com/2389378?pg=embed&sec=2389378 (I note that Dr Barnard, to whom you sent a
copy of my letter, was interviewed also).

Heimlich's Maneuver by Thomas Francis, Cleveland Scene, August 11, 2004:


http://tinyurl.com/4z9bj2

Thank you again for your time and attention to this matter. The favor of a reply is requested.

Sincerely yours,

Eric Matteson, MD

From: jjpippin
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 5:54 PM
To: Matteson, Eric L., M.D.
Subject: RE: Response from Dr. Pippin (PCRM)
I have received your reply and references. I will look at these and also forward to Dr.
Barnard with the results of my review. We certainly understand concerns related to
possible issues of human research ethics and scientific merit. You will of course receive a
reply.
Thanks again for bringing this to our attention. I wonder if you called the Heimlich Institute
(513-559-2100) for information, and I encourage you to do so if you have not. Back to
you soon.

John J. Pippin, M.D., F.A.C.C.


Senior Medical and Research Adviser
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Matteson, M.D.J
Sent: Friday, December 26, 2008 12:24 PM
To: jjpippin
Subject: FW: Malariotherapy for HIV

Dear Dr. Pippin

I hadn't heard back from you, but was curious about a couple more things I have found after
taking your suggestion about making further inquires of the Heimlich Institute. One is this website
of the Heimlich Institute:
http://web.archive.org/web/20031014232253/www.heimlichinstitute.org/malariotherapy.html

One of the articles there is a speech by Dr. Heimlich in 2002 referring to preparatory trials, as well
as a study done (apparently by Dr Heimlich or coworkers) on malariotherapy for HIV in China to
which I found further reference at http://www.lightparty.com/Health/MalarioTherapy.html There is
reference to a study of malariotherapy done in the Congo, (not Dr Heimlich's study) but as far as I
know, the study was never published.

I've not been able to find any information about where either of these trials were registered, or
how they were conducted, or what the final results were. Do you have any other information
about them?

Thank you very much for your time and attention.

Eric Matteson, MD

NO REPLY

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