In response to Quak, quakk, quak's cynicism [May 31st], the truth is
that 100% of the people who come to Israel for tinnitus treatment are
satisfied they came.
Further, although the results of their visit may not be cure,
ironically, almost all of Dr. Shemesh's patients who have started
his treatment and then try other [tempting] treatments RETURN to his
treatment. This is because, relatively speaking, Dr. Shemesh's
personalized care, under the auspices of Hadassah Medical
Organization, is the most experienced tinnitus care available.
However, since many cannot afford the cost of travel or the time
involved or other considerations, a effective distance treatment
program is being worked out in consideration of their requests for
treatment too. The method involves deep evaluation, treatment, and
follow up, which means continual reassessment of a patient's
condition to try to treat him or her more effectively.
There is absolutely no scam involved. Dr. Shemesh is both a good
doctor and a friend to his patients. He does not engage in
backbiting, does not "quak, quak, quak." In truth, for 20 years he
has been treating severe cases of tinnitus, hyperacusis, and
Meneire's Disease, first in the Israel Defense Forces, then expanding
to the Israeli public, and now to sufferers from abroad.
Dr. Shemesh has earned the respect of not just a few but all of his
patients, jokes or malicious innuendos notwithstanding.
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----- Original Message -----
Newsgroups: alt.support.tinnitus
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2001 5:07 PM
Subject: Re: Tinnitus Treatment From Israel
Keep your tinnitus treatment. Once a shill always a shill.
For those of you new here, this post about the "new treatment from
Israel" comes regularly every few months with the hopes that there are
enough
newbies to take the bait.
In my opinion, this is just a scam. I guess they aren't enough
desparate
people willing to travel to Israel like they origianlly indicated you
must do
in order to get the treatment. Now it is miraculously offered remotely.
Quak, quakk quak
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45 Beersheva St. Website- http://tinnitus.itgo.com/Mike/mikecohen.htm
Jerusalem, 94507 Home phone- 011-972-2-625-9113
ISRAEL Cellular phone- 011-972-50-605-398
Tinnitus treatment in Israel by Dr Zecharya Shemesh: the cure or elaborate scam?
I am a middle aged former chronic tinnitus sufferer who was a patient of Dr. Shemesh for an extended period of time. I went through all phases of his treatment. I also met and kept contact with many other patients seeking cure from Dr Shemesh.
Dr Shemesh believes that tinnitus can be cured by appropriate metabolic changes. He claims that he can cure or significantly improve 70% of patients within 1 year and 80% within 2 or more years *. To achieve this you have to stay in Israel for at least 5 weeks during which he would take detailed anamnesis and order blood tests. After five weeks you would return home and keep taking capsules for at least one year. His website (http://www.en.tinnitus-vertigo-clinic.com/) mentions his affiliation with Israeli army and Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. During my association with Dr Shemesh I have learned the following facts:
1) Dr Shemesh was affiliated with both Israeli army and Hadassah medical center in the past. In the last 10 years or so he is affiliated with no one. His clinic is one man show run exclusively by him. His recently updated website is misleading showing what seems like a state of the art medical center. The clinic where he works consists of one room in the basement of an old dinghy building where he shares space with other doctors. The building where he works is not even remotely similar to the building on his website. His office also has no medical equipment.
2) Dr Shemesh did not publish any papers about treatment of tinnitus **. His metabolic approach is still kept secret and has never been under any peer review despite being, according to Dr Shemesh, "successfully" used since 1981. No independent clinical study was ever conducted to find out weather his treatment works or does not.
I have noticed that Dr Shemesh is not critical of the facts and sees everything as his own success. If your symptoms improve only for a short time, he sees "the cure on horizon". If your symptoms get worse, he talks about "healing crisis" which is "the proof that therapy works". If nothing happens, you have to be patient and wait, wait and again wait because "your metabolism is slower than in the average person". While "waiting for Godot", you have of course keep paying hundreds of dollars per month for very expensive multivitamins he purveys *****.
Dr Shemesh by his own admission also keeps no follow up data on patients he treats. Instead, he shows cherry picked videos of patients who at one point got better.
The discharge letter he gave me nearly one year after beginning of therapy was galore with factual and other mistakes and made me wonder if he was even listening to me.
3) His capsules are composed of very low amounts of vitamins, minerals and four herbs. Capsules are divided into two groups that he calls the key and the cylinder. The key is taken once per day during the entire treatment. The number of cylinders varies. Patient remains on one cylinder for two months. If there is no reduction of symptoms, one extra cylinder is added each second month. According to Dr Shemesh, majority of patients respond when taking 3 to 6 cylinders, therefore within at least 6 to 12 months. In one patient eight cylinders per day were required, meaning that it could take up to 16 months or longer to see if therapy works or not.
4) Cylinders should be spread throughout entire day in as many equal intervals as possible. They are taken the same way as antibiotics, which is very unusual for vitamins, minerals and herbs.
5) While on his capsules no alcohol or multivitamin preparations are allowed. Dr. Shemesh claims that addition of multivitamins will not allow his secret formula to work properly. Vitamins from food, even if in the unlimited amounts, however, do not disturb the formula.
6) Dr Shemesh purveys capsules prepared by his own pharmacist. Name of the pharmacist is a secret. Patients cannot contact pharmacist directly to double check for ingredients or for a price. In the past Dr Shemesh used to say that composition of capsules was a military secret. When Israeli army denied knowledge of the "secret" Dr Shemesh changed tactics and started giving patients chemical composition of capsules, which he claims are composed of very small amounts of vitamins, minerals and herbs. The main ingredients are very similar or identical in most patients, the amounts, however, differ slightly and supposedly reflect the metabolic state of body which Dr Shemesh obtains from blood tests and interview. He likes to tell patients that a course in mathematics at Oxford University helps him calculate the correct amounts.
I contacted about two dozen pharmacies in Tel Aviv and other cities in Israel and no one was willing to prepare capsules according to Dr Shemesh prescription. I do therefore have doubts that capsules indeed contain what Dr Shemesh is saying they do.
7) Dr Shemesh introduced me to multiple patients who he claimed were cured. When alone, however, all patients told me that they still had tinnitus. In some cases tinnitus was decreased, in some increased and in most cases it was the same. Conversely, I received phone calls from other patients congratulating me on my "cure", when in fact, my tinnitus remained the same. None of the patients that started therapy at approximately the same time as me got cured or got significantly better and neither did I, despite religiously taking all his medicine for one to many years. This is very far from 70-80 % cure rate or significant improvement that he promises.
On different occasions Dr Shemesh also mentioned very unusual success stories. When I asked him about additional details few weeks later, he told me the story differently or did not know what patient I was talking about.
8) Many of his theoretical assumptions are plain wrong:
1st, there is very little scientific proof to support the use of vitamins, herbs or minerals for tinnitus.
2nd, vitamins can be easily taken once a day, and do not have to be equally spread like antibiotics.
3rd, Dr Shemesh recommends cow's liver as a source of vitamin B12 even in patients with high blood levels of vitamin B12. He claims that vitamin B12 measured in blood is cyanocobalamine from multivitamin preparations and not metcobalamine from food such as liver. The matter of fact is that cyanocobalamine transforms into metcobalamine in the human body, therefore, additional sources of metcobalamine are not needed in people with high dosages of cyanocobalamine.
4th, the composition of his capsules is said to be individually calculated up to one tenth of the microgram. If there is no sufficient response, suddenly the carefully calculated micrograms are no more important and patient is asked to add another capsule. Patient is also allowed to eat unlimited amounts of vitamins from natural sources which is not logical since molecules of vitamins from the pharmacy or food are identical.
5th, since all vitamins except vitamins A, D, E and K are soluble in water they do not cause hypervitaminosis and can be given in an unlimited amounts. There is no advantage in giving any vitamin (water or fat soluble) in doses significantly below FDA approved daily allowances as Dr Shemesh is doing. To make things worse, Dr Shemesh does not recommend adding vitamins even in patients with clinical hypovitaminosis because, as he says, fixing hypovitaminosis will not allow his "secret formula" to work.
6th, in most cases, according to Dr Shemesh, it takes at least one year to see if capsules work, and from my observation they do NOT work in more than 95% of cases. Patient loses one year of very precious time that could have been spent on Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) or sound therapy which are most efficient in the early phases of tinnitus. Dr Shemesh does not recommend mixing his unpublished, unproven and never tested metabolic approach with well published, proven and tested treatment with TRT and sound therapy because, as he says, "it is not possible to determine in advance who will and who will not respond".
7th, Dr. Shemesh encourages his patients to pay attention to intensity of ringing, write down "graphical representation of tinnitus", and increase the number of capsules until the ringing is gone. The main part of treatment of tinnitus, however, is in instructing patients to ignore ringing and not focus on it. By paying attention to tinnitus patients get more anxious, aware and bothered which further increases loudness of ringing creating a vicious cycle. It is of no surprise that some of his patients committed suicide after focusing too much on the therapy that did not work ***.
8th, Dr Shemesh is very compassionate and approachable physician who is available to his patients by cell phone throughout entire working day. It is not difficult to like him on a personal level. Most patients, however, misinterpret his charm reminiscent of Pope Francis for medical expertise. They wrongfully believe that he is the world's final authority on tinnitus and get desperate when even he cannot help them.
9) Cost of living in Israel is high; cost of treatment is even higher. Below prices are translated into USD by the exchange rate of 3.5 New Israeli Shekel for 1 USD:
Consultation fee: 3600 USD ****
Laboratory exams: 800 USD
Multivitamin capsules: from 95.5 to 484 USD per month *****
Average price for a small studio in Tel Aviv from 2100 to 2600 USD for five weeks
10) The final question remains how to explain personal success stories from sufferers on his web site? (http://www.en.tinnitus-vertigo-clinic.com)
Dr Shemesh has been treating thousands of tinnitus sufferers since 1981. It is well known and documented that in some lucky individuals tinnitus gets better or slowly disappears without any therapy especially during the first year. All of the patients from the videos that I had chance to talk to started taking capsules early, during first 4 to 6 months of symptoms. These patients would, in my opinion, get better even if they stayed at home and did nothing. Patients praising Dr Shemesh on videos confuse coincidence with causation. These were not cures but spontaneous remissions which are not uncommon in patients whose tinnitus lasted less than one year. Interestingly, his website still plays a video of a patient who got recurrence few years after the "cure" and later committed suicide due to intractable ringing. Video is shown as a success, the patient is, however, dead ***.
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If Dr Shemesh wants to prove that his treatment is not a placebo he should allow the double blind study, maybe with the participation of his own alma mater Hadassah Medical Center. In such a study one half of patients would have the contents of capsules replaced by inactive substance. Neither Dr. Shemesh nor patients would know who got capsules and who placebo. If follow up by independent observers would not correctly identify patients from both groups, than the whole therapy is a scam and not a cure.
Double blind clinical study will probably never be done. There is too much at a stake if testing proves beyond doubt that his therapy does not work. Dr. Shemesh gets 3600 US dollars from each patient and likely also kickbacks from very expensive multivitamin capsules he purveys. His income is far above the average salary of Israeli physician which is between 60 to 75 thousand US dollars a year.
I also think that Dr. Shemesh knows very well that his treatment does not work any better than placebo. If he thought differently, he would have invited independent researchers long time ago. As a religious man of god he claims to be, he would also have published his "secrets" and enable tinnitus sufferers of the entire world to be cured. At least, he would have trained someone to fill his shoes after he is gone; as of today Dr Shemesh has no successor.
Similar to tobacco and firearm industry he rationalizes his behavior. He claims that he does not want to publish his findings because "other physicians would misquote his discoveries as has happened with his vitamin B 12 article". He also claims that testing cannot be done because "tinnitus is individual condition with therapy tailored for each patient". The same is, however, true for any medical condition. Therapy of all cancers and infections is individualized, yet amenable to publication and clinical testing. Tinnitus is no exception.
My recommendation is as follows. If you are rich, have plenty of spare time, have exhausted all other therapies, would like to see Israel as a tourist and do not mind spending thousands of dollars for therapy that most likely will not work, than maybe you should go. However, if you are not rich, do not have time and have not tried all other therapies, I would strongly recommend you to see audiologist or psychologist in your own country. There is currently no cure for tinnitus; however, a skilled health professional can teach you how to live with tinnitus with as little stress as possible. Audiologist can in about three quarters of patients significantly decrease volume of ringing with sound therapy in only few months; this is what happened in my case after I finally stopped taking "medicine" of Dr Shemesh and went to see qualified audiologist. If audiologist is not successful, psychologist can help you cope with loud tinnitus. Indeed, it is possible to hear loud ringing 24/7 and not to suffer. Dr Shemesh, however, cannot teach you these skills.
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* This percentages are given to prospective patients via email before therapy starts. Dr Shemesh would ask you a couple of clinical questions, for example how long you have tinnitus, what does it sound like, what do you eat, etc. Regardless of what you tell him he would answer that you have a 70% chances for cure or significant improvement during the first year and higher chances if you take his medicine longer. (I made a test and sent him three different emails under three different names where I answered questions differently. He gave me same 70 to 80 % rate in each case. I wonder if he at all read my responses).
** Dr. Shemesh published with other authors about a dozen papers, nine of which he proudly displays on his website. He was the primary author of only one paper. Many of these papers are about Tinnitus, but none about treatment of Tinnitus.
*** I found out that at least two patients took their life due to tinnitus after searching help from Dr. Shemesh.
First patient, RE from Hawaii, used to be a strong supporter of Dr. Shemesh in the early stages of therapy. His posts staunchly supporting Dr. Shemesh are still on the internet and can be found if you type "Shemesh tinnitus scam" in Google. In May of 2009, nine years after he travelled to Israel for a cure, he could not tolerate ringing anymore and took his own life. Mr. RE did not contribute the video.
Second patient who committed suicide in 2013 is still praising Dr Shemesh on the "official" website http://www.en.tinnitus-vertigo-clinic.com . Sarah Miller, a likely accomplice of Dr Shemesh, plays the copy of the same video on YouTube and intentionally gives the wrong information. Second patient, whom I used to know personally, had tinnitus for 6 months (when it still could be reversed), and not 15 years as she claims in the title of the video and in the attached forged letter. It is obvious that knowing patient is dead and cannot speak out, Mrs. Miller (alter ego of Dr Shemesh?) assumes it is safe to lie.
Another shill (supposedly also tinnitus sufferer) Michael Cohen originally from Chicago, used to market Dr Shemesh in 2000. As of today, Michael Cohen is still not cured and is selling DVD "Devil's symphony" on YouTube. The proceeds of sale supposedly go for tinnitus research.
**** Consultation fee of 3600 US dollars is paid for about 10 office visits while in Israel and for two year follow up by email or telephone. Fee is paid on the first day before treatment starts. Dr Shemesh would than ask you to sign a document where you agree not to ask for refund if treatment is not successful.
*****95.5 USD is a monthly fee for one key and one cylinder per day, 484 USD is a monthly fee for one key and eight cylinders per day. Since most patients supposedly respond to 3 to 6 cylinders, the average monthly price of capsules is from 206 to 373 USD.
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POST SCRITUM: Looking back, I understand better why I decided to visit Dr Shemesh despite having doubts. I noticed that he published nothing about his treatment approach and had no peer reviewed facts to prove his claims despite "curing" patients for over 30 years. All of his answers to my concrete questions were very vague. My impression was that he was selling hope and not evidence. I decided to see him anyway for one simple reason: official medicine told me that there was no cure while he assured me that he could cure most of patients. Knowing well that what sounds too good to be true is almost never true I took the gamble anyway because I am human. I was desperate and desperate people can be easily duped.
Looking back I also see striking resemblance between Dr Shemesh and Bernard Madoff. Both of them promised unrealistic results: Dr Shemesh to cure most of his patients, Mr Madoff to beat the market every single year. Both of them had no proof that their approach worked and both were poorly supervised or not supervised at all. Membership to both "clubs" was based on exclusivity: only the "chosen few" were allowed to join. Dr Shemesh keeps telling everyone that he screens his patients very carefully and selects only those who can assure him to be compliant and follow all of his instructions. Mr. Madoff, on the other hand, would pick only "sophisticated investors" which were by his definitions people with at least few million to invest. And of course, both of them were polite, approachable, charming, charismatic and well liked.
While there still is no cure, my current sound therapy treated tinnitus does not bother me. Most of the time I hear nothing. Only if I go to a quiet place and pay close attention, I do hear a faint distant sound. While I am in the strict technical sense not cured of tinnitus, I am for all practical purposes cured of suffering and enjoy the life as I did before.
My only regret today is that I visited the above "clinic" and spent so much time in agony waiting for the promised "cure". Too much money, effort and time were spent for nothing and the only ones that benefited from my misery were Dr Shemesh and his bank account.
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