Public property

In September 2011, the Dominion Post ran a front page story with the headline "Bastion of Science turns to alternative medicine". They had discovered from my blog that I had been taking intravenous vitamin C and rang me in the UK to ask for a comment, saying that they would run the story whatever I said. I told them that I had no indication as to whether or not the treatment was effective. I turned down requests for radio and TV interviews that resulted from publication of that story.

Since then the DomPost has twice contacted me seeking information about the status of my health and my IVC treatment. I told them I had no more information about the IVC effectiveness. On Wednesday this week I was sent a copy of an article published by a New Zealand organisation promoting IVC therapy, in which I was quoted as being in support of the therapy from which I had gained benefit. This assertion, coupled with my knowledge of individuals who had taken up IVC simply because I was trying it, prompted me to action.

I contacted the DomPost on Wednesday evening, informing them that I had finished my IVC experiment and that there was no evidence to suggest any benefit in my case. They sent a photographer Thursday and ran the story the next morning. This was excruciating, having my personal difficulties in the public domain, but I felt I had no choice but to cooperate fully so as to stop the spread of misleading information. The story, written by their health reporter Kate Newton, was fair and accurate.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6286215/Vitamin-therapy-fails-to-deliver

I agreed to give a live interview to National Radio on Friday morning so that I could get the message to the whole country, but refused all TV interview requests.

http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/kiwisummer/ksm-20120120-0923-sir_paul_callaghan_-_vitamin_therapy_for_cancer-048.mp3

The story got high profile national coverage, and I have no doubt that it has stopped in its tracks, any future attempt to justify this treatment using my name. It also resulted in a deluge of crank emails to me, phone calls offering the salvation of God and in one case, an offer of advice on reincarnation. The Dompost web article attracted several comments, mostly scornful of me - "straw-grasping exercise by a dying man", "of course the IVC didn't work-he'd taken chemotherapy which wrecks the body", "He should never have said he was trying Vitamin C in the first place, then he would not have to deal with all the misuse of the information he foolishly chose to make public", "as bizarre as his recurring fantasy that he is an economist", and various other theories from people who don't know me and who choose to project their unhappiness.

Sunday Star Times columnist, Michael Laws, a man not noted for delicacy and kindness, made me the subject of his column. He was less cruel than usual when he wrote "The news that such an esteemed rationalist had embraced such quackery provided a positive fillip for the odd, dippy and deranged everywhere."

Did anyone imagine that I enjoyed having to go public on this? It's hard enough facing death, even with morphine as an aid, without having to do so publicly and for the entertainment of others.

But there was one email that came today that was so singular in its kindness, and which restored me in a moment of quiet tearfulness. It was from a man named Kevin Kevany, a journalist with whom I had worked in writing a series of articles for the New Zealand Manufacturer last year. I reproduce it here, just to show that someone saw my motives differently.

"Paul

To your courage, you now add bravery, in your willingness to protect others at the expense of a loss of privacy.
You are a mensch of the first order. Your gifts to New Zealand in so many spheres testify to that.
My thoughts are with you dealing with this bastard thing.

Bestest
Kevin"