Gary Null

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Gary Null on the cover of a book

Gary Null (born in 1945) is an US-American author, businessman, talk radio host and one of the most outspoken critics of pharmacy as well as huge supporter of alternative treatments. He owns the dietary supplement and media company "Gary Null & Associates, Inc." and a health food store, "Gary Null's Uptown Whole Foods Market" in New York City and has a syndicated radio talk show "Natural Living with Gary Null". Most of the treatments he propagates and sells are dubious, e.g. detox treatments, coffee enemas and diets for cancer and for AIDS patients. He is also criticized heavily for being an Anti-vaccinationist and HIV/Aids-denialist.

Doubtful Credentials

Null says he holds a bachelor's degree from Thomas A. Edison State College in New Jersey and a PhD in human nutrition and public health sciences(thesis title: "A Study of Psychological and Physiological Effects of Caffeine on Human Health") from Union Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio. Edison State, while accredited, is a "non-traditional" school with neither campus nor courses and bachelor's degrees are based on career experience, equivalent exams, and courses taken at other schools. Union Institute & University accreditation does not cover awarding of PhDs in the sciences, only in the humanities.

According to the approval documents of the thesis the PhD committee was composed of Peter Fenner, an expert in geological sciences (totally unrelated to Null's topic), Martin Feldman, MD, a "complementary" physician (and "clinical ecologist after Randolph") who worked with Null on his books and as a backup for the radio show, Philip J. Hodes, "Practitioner Holistic, Health Detoxification & Orthomolecular Nutritionist, Consultant" and Elayne Kahn, a psychologist who co-authored a book with Null that was published in 1976. In contrast to Null's work, a regular thesis for a doctoral degree in a scientific discipline requires a genuine contribution to the scientific literature.

Null concludes in the thesis that "chronic caffeine users tend to have diminished adrenal function", which he blamed on "exhaustion" of the glands. "Fortunately," he added, "there are non-drug nutritional programs which have the ability to repair or rebalance weakening adrenal glands toward normal." The program consisted of "diminishing stressors", "implementing strategies to diminish anxiety" and taking doses of five vitamins and three other products.

Null's attorney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Quackwatch, where this criticism was raised, but backed off, after even further questions were raised, just continued to threaten but never actually sued.[1]

Claims

Gary Null promotes HIV/AIDS denialism, that HIV is not the cause of AIDS. He even produces films to promote that absurd belief and sells them on his website.[2] He also spreads the usual disinformation of vaccine denialism and supports Andrew Wakefield, who had faked data to "prove" that vaccination causes autism.[3] Baseless claims about his innocence as well as allegedly "new evidence" is being spread.[4] The "new evidence" was actually submitted in the trial of Wakefield years ago and is neither new nor a proof for Wakefields innocence.[5] He also claimed that the gulf war syndrome was caused by vaccinations, especially by squalene which is used as an adjuvant in vaccines.[6] Various studies dismantled that theory.[7][8]

Null promotes coffee enemas for detoxification, a practice which is proven not to work.[9] He believes in homoeopathy[10], that mammograms are useless[11], that sugar is poison[12] and since he sells dietary supplements that most people suffer from malnutrition, especially vitamin deficiency.

He is a well known Truther, promoting the many conspiracy theories about 9/11.[13]

Vitamin D Poisoning

Gary Null sells vitamin nutritional supplements and got vitamin D poisoning from his own product "Gary Null's Ultimate Power Meal". Null began having severe symptoms in December 2009 after consuming two doses of his meal per day and believes he nearly died from kidney toxicity. He sued the manufacturer of his products, since the meal was produced with 1,000 times as much vitamin D as labelled.[14][15]

Criticism

Null is heavily criticized by various sources.

  • Stephen Barrett from Quackwatch uncovered the curious details about his credentials and criticized the various dubious products on his website.
  • The James Randi Educational Foundation, an organization that aims to promote critical thinking, has accused him of "dealing in nonsense", promoting the notion of eternal youth, and prescribing magnets and "other medieval tools" to prevent aging.
  • He was criticized for his remarks as a keynote speaker at a political rally against so called mandatory H1N1 influenza vaccination at the New York State Capitol in Albany, New York. New York State Health Commissioner Richard Daines said, "Like any number of things he’s wrong about, he’s wrong about that".[16]
  • He is criticized widely for Aids denialism and his bogus claims on vaccinations.[17][18][19]

Versions of this article in other languages

References

  1. ↑ A Critical Look at Gary Null's Activities and Credentials, Stephen Barrett, M.D., Quackwatch
  2. ↑ Aids: A Second Opinion DVD, a Gary Null Production
  3. ↑ Gary Null on Vaccines
  4. ↑ DR. ANDREW WAKEFIELD WAS RIGHT. THERE WAS NO FRAUD. NO HOAX. HERE’S PROOF., Gary Null, January 26, 2011, retrieved 2011-05-23.
  5. ↑ Wakefield's Warriors, Skeptic's Dictionary about the "new evidence" for Wakefields innocence], retrieved 2011-05-21
  6. ↑ How Safe or Effective are Vaccines? Not very., Gary Null
  7. ↑ Gulf War illnesses: questions about the presence of squalene antibodies in veterans can be resolved, United States General Accounting Office 1999
  8. ↑ The Facts on Squalene, FDA 2005
  9. ↑ Gary Null can kiss mein tuchas, Denialism Blog
  10. ↑ http://www.garynull.com/home/category/homeopathic-medicine
  11. ↑ Sherri Tenpenny: The myth of the normal mammogram
  12. ↑ Sweet Suicide, Gary Null
  13. ↑ Evidence Refutes the Official 9/11 Investigation: The Scientific Forensic Facts, Gary Null
  14. ↑ http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2010/04/supplements-guru-sues-over-his-own-product.html
  15. ↑ http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/gary-null-hoist-with-his-own-petard/
  16. ↑ Health workers angry over mandatory swine flu shots, Legislative Gazette, October 6, 2009
  17. ↑ http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2008/04/now_its_officialgary_null_hiv.php
  18. ↑ http://denyingaids.blogspot.com/2009/06/gary-null-is-off-air.html
  19. ↑ http://www.actupny.org/reports/denialist_gary_null.html
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