The Cincinnati Beacon
What are Victoria’s Secrets? A Letter to the Enquirer’s Politics Editor
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
 Photo courtesy of here.
Carl Weiser, Assistant Editor, Government/Public Affairs
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Dear Mr. Weiser,
This is a follow-up to reporter Margaret McGurk’s February 17 item, The Debunko Squad: Wulsin’s Work Criticized.
From Ms. McGurk’s report:
The question: Did Victoria Wulsin cover up unethical medical experiments? That’s a charge made by Steve Black, who is running against Wulsin in the Democratic primary for the 2nd Congressional District, in a campaign mailer. He says the National Council Against Health Fraud has asked the State Medical Board of Ohio to investigate Wulsin on the charges.
The facts: A request for an investigation of Wulsin’s work for the Heimlich Institute was filed on Nov. 3, 2006 by Robert S. Baratz, a Massachusetts doctor who, under the NCAHF banner, has been a harsh critic of Dr. Henry Heimlich, founder of the institute. The letter accused Wulsin of “participation in unsupervised, unapproved, and dangerous experiments”
Wulsin worked for the institute in 2004 while it was conducting controversial experiments based on the idea that infecting AIDS patients with malaria might restore their immune systems. Wulsin said her only role was to review records and analyze data. She said she wrote a report criticizing the study and concluding that the therapy was ineffective, and was fired immediately by Heimlich.
The Ohio Medical Board will not confirm or comment on any investigation, other than to report that as of Feb. 14, it has taken no action against Wulsin. The case apparently remains open, as Black’s campaign says. Neither Baratz nor Wulsin has received the customary letter the board issues when it closes a case.
For the past few years, The Beacon’s been reporting on the Heimlich Institute, including a November 3, 2006 story about the complaint filed by NCAHFagainst Dr. Wulsin’s license. More recently we reported how NCAHF has been keeping an eye on the Heimlich Institute’s dubious “malariotherapy” experiments for over a decade. From a October 30, 1994 Los Angles Times front page story:
(Dr. Heimlich) is risking people’s lives and he is trading on the life-saving aura of his name to get people to help him,” said Dr. John Renner of the National Council Against Health Fraud, which has been tracking the Heimlich project. “After this, he won’t go down in history for the Heimlich maneuver. He’ll go down in history as a bizarre, mad scientist.
As you may know, on February 16, 2003, the Enquirer broke a big story about the Heimlich Institute’s “malariotherapy” experiments in China. That report,which linked two prominent UCLA immunology professors to the Heimlich experiments, eventually made its way into many publications, including the March 4, 2003 New York Times. Given Ms. McGurk’s item, I presume you’re now watching the current story. That’s why I’m writing you.
Over the past couple years, Dr. Wulsin has responded to our questions about her association with the Heimlich Institute and we’ve appreciated her co-operation. Recently, however, she and her campaign staff have failed to respond to our multiple request for answers to the following questions:
1) Has Dr. Wulsin received any communications about this matter from anyone associated with the State Medical Board of Ohio? If yes, what are they?
2) I’ve attached a copy of the National Council Against Health Fraud complaint, filed on November 3, 2006. Would Dr. Wulsin please provide a detailed reply to the allegations and specifically address why they are false?
3) What were the exact dates of Dr. Wulsin’s association with the Heimlich Institute as a paid employee?
4) Was Dr. Wulsin paid by the Heimlich Institute or was she paid by Dr. Heimlich or another individual?
5) Regarding her association with the Heimlich Institute, who first contacted her? Was it attorney Joseph Dehner or someone else? What was the date of that first contact?
6) Would you please provide me with a copy of Dr. Wulsin’s most recent curriculum vitae?
If the Enquirer is planning future stories on these matters, I’d appreciate it if you’d forward my questions to the appropriate reporter.
Thanks for for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
The Dean of Cincinnati
The Cincinnati Beacon
cc: Margaret McGurk, Malia Rulon, Barbara Henry (Gannett)
P.S. You may wish to fix the headline of Ms. McGurk’s online article which now reads, “The Debunko Sqaud” (sic)
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