Mercier Atomic Energy Applicator
From Kook Science
| Mercier Atomic Energy Applicator | |
|---|---|
| Medical Claims | Diseases cured by "correcting the chemistry" of the patient through the "transfer of energy from weak ionizing particles to protein molecules in the blood." |
| Creator(s) | A. F. Mercier |
The Mercier Atomic Energy Applicator (or Mercier Radioactive Device), named for the inventor, A. F. Mercier, is a radiological therapeutic device consisting of a wooden base with a lead-foil covered cylinder fitted inside, containing a small quantity of an unspecified radioactive substance, into which a sample of the patient's blood is to be placed for a period of twenty-four hours to be exposed to the radiations in preparation for re-injection, a process (the "Mercier Blood Treatment")[1] that would "readjust the structure of the living molecule," causing disease to be cured by "correcting the chemistry."[2] The radioactive substance, key to the proposed efficacy of the device, was reportedly given to Mercier by "some little men in space ships;"[3] the devices seized by the FDA contained quantities of radium barium chloride, thorium oxide, and lanthanum oxide.[4]
The applicator was manufactured by Mercier, and used principally in New Mexico and Arizona, notably by Dr. A. H. Lee (of Scottsdale) and Bernice Kussell, founder of the Valley of the Sun School for Handicapped Children in Phoenix, and co-founder with Mercier of a hospital in Las Vegas.[1] These operations were ended following interventions by the FDA and local health authorities.[5]
Press Coverage
- Paskind, Martin (21 May 1962), "Does Irradiation Create? Mercier Defends Treatment As Means to Build Protein", Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, NM): A1, A6, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119158315/does-irradiation-create-mercier/
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Health Jefe Warns Hospital Founders", Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, New Mexico): 35, 1961-07-25, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/211695046/
- ↑ "Radioactive 'Health' Devices Seized Here", Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Arizona): 16, 1960-01-14, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/116707870/
- ↑ Holmes III, Robert Wendell (2010), Substance of the Sun: The Cultural History of Radium Medicines in America, University of Texas, Austin, p. 266, https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/ETD-UT-2010-08-1603/HOLMES-DISSERTATION.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
- ↑ "6208. Mercier's Radioactive device", Notices of Judgment Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (5501-5520): Drugs and Devices, Washington, D.C.: FDA, 1959, p. 143, https://books.google.com/books?id=lm8EAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA143
- ↑ "Enforcement Actions Involving Therapeutic Devices (1961-11-01 to 1963-08-30)", Fake Medical Devices: an FDA Report, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 1963, p. 1, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951d03253833x;view=1up;seq=36