An unlicensed "natural health doctor" in a tony neighbourhood of Vancouver has been caught on tape making a claim to a skin cancer patient that her cancer could be cured with herbal pills for up to $2,000 a month.
Dr. Grace Tseng told a patient carrying a hidden camera for CTV News that her skin cancer could be helped by eating fish instead of chicken, and that pills based on her own herbal mix are the secret to a cure that has so far eluded medical doctors.
"If you believe, anything can happen," Tseng told a patient hoping for a cancer cure.
The claims by Tseng are the kind that could give terminal patients false hope, said Dr. Harvey Lui, the head of the University of B.C.'s Department of Dermatology and Skin Science.
"It's not that simple," he said. Instead, patients believing that diet changes and herbal pills would make a difference might not seek evidence-based treatment that is covered for free by medicare, said Dr. Lui.
"I get very concerned that someone might not get the appropriate treatment and then down the road may end up with a larger tumour or a tumour more difficult to treat," Dr. Lui said.
Three years ago Tseng's office at the Beyond Clinic in Kerrisdale was visited by the family of seven-year-old Sean Leung, who was having a bleeding nose and problems with his bowels and liver.
They were desperately looking for a solution after the only advice from medical doctors was that he would outgrow the condition.
"My wife told me that it was expensive," said Sunny Leung, Sean's father. "I said, it doesn't matter, it's our son."
Sean's aunt Cindy said she believed that Tseng was a doctor, but said she became suspicious of Tseng when the practitioner made a startling claim.
"She said she can help your overall health, she has medication, she has technology and equipment," said Cindy Leung. "She said she could cure cancer."
The Leung family pulled Sean from treatment. When they were contacted by CTV News, they explained their story -- and we wanted to see the doctor's so-called cure for ourselves.
We went undercover with the help of Barbara Marks, who has fibromyalgia and basal cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer. Both are diseases for which there is treatment, but no known cure.
For Marks, the prospect of being healed would be amazing.
"It would be worth everything," she told CTV News. "It would change my whole life."
Marks went in with a CTV News producer. When they arrived for the appointment, Tseng and her staff showed many pictures of patients whose symptoms she claimed disappeared after treatment.
"Breast cancer, lung cancer, brain cancer," she says, pointing to pictures. "What did you do?" the producer asked. "Herbal treatment," she replied. "Were they cured?" the producer asked. "Yes," she replied.
She explained that the key to her treatment was in the form of the herbal medicine that was her own secret recipe.
"Concentrated herbal medicine has many immune system boosts," Tseng said, adding that she could cure Marks' conditions as well.
Tseng first tested Marks with a device where she pressed a needle against the flesh of Marks' ear. The idea, she says, is that the skin of the ear reflects the interior of the body.
"The digestion is not good," Tseng concludes.
She tells Marks to stop eating chicken, and start eating fish.
"There are hormones in the chicken that makes the skin problems grow," she said. "Eat fish. Only fish. No chicken, no other kinds of meat."
Then Marks and the producer sit down at the table to learn the cost of herbal treatment.
According to Tseng, there are four levels of cancer, described as a range of "+" to "++++". Treatment for "+" is $550 a month, while the highest level of treatment is "++++" at $2000 a month.
Her assistant recommends trying ++ cancer treatment, which costs $750 a month.
If it doesn't improve right away, they should improve the treatment and get a more expensive pill, the assistant says. +++ treatment would cost $1500 a month.
If there is no improvement, the best option for the patient is to increase the dose to "++++", which costs $2000 a month, the assistant said.
Dr Lui of UBC's Dermatology Department said he was unaware of any treatment that used herbal pills for skin cancer, and had never heard of a link between chicken, fish, and skin cancer.
"It won't go away by wishing it away," he said. "It has to be dealt with properly."
The only "holistic" treatment that has any effect on skin cancer is avoiding the UV rays in the sun, Dr. Lui said. Most people face surgery to remove tumours from the skin.
Sean Leung still has a few symptoms but his family is now taking him to a licensed Naturopath.
The Leung family believe there were only two options: that Tseng's cures worked or they didn't.
"If you can cure cancer, you should let the world know," said Cindy Leung. "Why are you keeping this to yourself? Something doesn't make sense."
For a list of regulated health professionals, visit the B.C. Health Ministry website
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jon Woodward and Mi-Jung Lee
Watch CTV News at Six for a live report from CTV's Mi-Jung Lee
