5 ms·

'Sham' cancer charities raised $187M, used almost none on patients, suit

24 points by taivare 11y ago

brickmort 11y ago
> upsetting for upstanding charities like Susan G Komen. err......
- bdcravens 11y ago
  Yes, they have a very good reputation .... for suing charities that dare to use "... for the cure" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/07/komen-foundation-charities-cure_n_793176.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/07/komen-foundation-ch... http://www.awesomecancersurvivor.com/2012/10/lawsuits-for-the-cure-from-the-archives.html http://www.awesomecancersurvivor.com/2012/10/lawsuits-for-th...
melling 11y ago
What are the best research cancer charities?
- chdir 11y ago
  See ratings here: http://www.charitynavigator.org/ http://www.charitynavigator.org/ https://www.charitywatch.org/home https://www.charitywatch.org/home
- emmab 11y ago
  Also see http://www.givewell.org/ http://www.givewell.org/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_altruism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_altruism
alejohausner 11y ago
This may sound harsh, but, given the feeble success of any cancer treatment, why should people give money to a lost cause like cancer research? So, donations to all cancer charities should be avoided.
- cmdrfred 11y ago
  Dollar for dollar food, water and education in the 3rd world has to have the greatest impact on human suffering, but they are likely a different color than you so it seems some would rather save some drug company R and D money.
  - JoshuaDavid 11y ago
    > Dollar for dollar food, water and education in the 3rd world has to have the greatest impact on human suffering Medicine in the 3rd world actually seems to outperform any of those[1]. On the other hand, it's medicine of the "let's take the well-known cures and distribute them to people who don't have them" variety, not the "let's research a cure for this rare but heartbreaking disease in children" variety. [1] http://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities http://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities
    - cmdrfred 11y ago
      I stand corrected, all four in concert is ideal.
- bdcravens 11y ago
  The same could have been said of Cystic Fibrosis, yet over the past 30 years, the life expectancy has gone from grade school to into the forties. This hasn't been the result of organic improvements in medicine, but epic expenditures and meteoric discoveries and drugs. One can hope that the cancer discovery to cure or rapidly increase quality/quantity of life is attainable.
- cglee 11y ago
  http://killingcancer.vice.com http://killingcancer.vice.com
M8 11y ago
Keep donating. It's not like modern countries tax people.
sytelus 11y ago
So these scammers are going to get out of it with just a little scratch after decades of doing this and making 100s of millions: The younger Reynolds’ settlement will be suspended when he pays $75,000, the FTC says, and Perkins’ settlement will be suspended entirely “based on her inability to pay,” unless authorities discover they lied about their assets. Effler’s will be suspended after he pays $60,000. Looks like all those cancer walks and runs are pretty good venues for these scammers to get piece of action. Normally, when you are donating you will look up charity's ratings but in those events people rarely look them up because marketing is so strong that everything looks in order. Even $100 a piece for few hundred people every week in some city can rack up large sums in well advertized events. They now even have "professional fundraiser" which means this must be a booming business already and FTC has barely scratched the surface.
rip747 11y ago
this is why I personally feel we should have harsher and stricter law concerning what is considered a non-for-profit and also all their financials should be made public in an easy to digest manner that public can keep an eye on. I don't get how its taken this long to see what these companies were spending their donations on and what they were paying out. Why can't this information be on a government website that lists this information in a grid so someone like me, who isn't an accountant by any means, can view and understand the information.
zaccus 11y ago
This is going to sound evil, but I don't really understand the point of cancer charities. I thought the reason why medical care costs so much was because of all the R&D that goes into it. It seems ridiculous that with all the money being poured into the industry, cancer research still needs charity support. The whole thing seems like a feel-good scam to me. I would gladly donate to a charity that helps poor people pay for cancer treatment that their insurance doesn't cover. But I find it hard to believe that the actual R&D is underfunded.
taivare 11y ago
Don't give up hope or charity .. Cuba just came up with a very low price vaccine for lung cancer .. https://t.co/ctgnY0mHVC https://t.co/ctgnY0mHVC and even top medical authorities in the U.S. concede the discovery is promising.

24 points by taivare 11y ago

brickmort 11y ago

> upsetting for upstanding charities like Susan G Komen. err......

bdcravens 11y ago
Yes, they have a very good reputation .... for suing charities that dare to use "... for the cure" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/07/komen-foundation-charities-cure_n_793176.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/07/komen-foundation-ch... http://www.awesomecancersurvivor.com/2012/10/lawsuits-for-the-cure-from-the-archives.html http://www.awesomecancersurvivor.com/2012/10/lawsuits-for-th...

melling 11y ago

What are the best research cancer charities?

chdir 11y ago
See ratings here: http://www.charitynavigator.org/ http://www.charitynavigator.org/ https://www.charitywatch.org/home https://www.charitywatch.org/home
emmab 11y ago
Also see http://www.givewell.org/ http://www.givewell.org/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_altruism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_altruism

alejohausner 11y ago

This may sound harsh, but, given the feeble success of any cancer treatment, why should people give money to a lost cause like cancer research? So, donations to all cancer charities should be avoided.

cmdrfred 11y ago
Dollar for dollar food, water and education in the 3rd world has to have the greatest impact on human suffering, but they are likely a different color than you so it seems some would rather save some drug company R and D money.
- JoshuaDavid 11y ago
  > Dollar for dollar food, water and education in the 3rd world has to have the greatest impact on human suffering Medicine in the 3rd world actually seems to outperform any of those[1]. On the other hand, it's medicine of the "let's take the well-known cures and distribute them to people who don't have them" variety, not the "let's research a cure for this rare but heartbreaking disease in children" variety. [1] http://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities http://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities
  - cmdrfred 11y ago
    I stand corrected, all four in concert is ideal.
bdcravens 11y ago
The same could have been said of Cystic Fibrosis, yet over the past 30 years, the life expectancy has gone from grade school to into the forties. This hasn't been the result of organic improvements in medicine, but epic expenditures and meteoric discoveries and drugs. One can hope that the cancer discovery to cure or rapidly increase quality/quantity of life is attainable.
cglee 11y ago
http://killingcancer.vice.com http://killingcancer.vice.com

M8 11y ago

Keep donating. It's not like modern countries tax people.

sytelus 11y ago

So these scammers are going to get out of it with just a little scratch after decades of doing this and making 100s of millions: The younger Reynolds’ settlement will be suspended when he pays $75,000, the FTC says, and Perkins’ settlement will be suspended entirely “based on her inability to pay,” unless authorities discover they lied about their assets. Effler’s will be suspended after he pays $60,000. Looks like all those cancer walks and runs are pretty good venues for these scammers to get piece of action. Normally, when you are donating you will look up charity's ratings but in those events people rarely look them up because marketing is so strong that everything looks in order. Even $100 a piece for few hundred people every week in some city can rack up large sums in well advertized events. They now even have "professional fundraiser" which means this must be a booming business already and FTC has barely scratched the surface.

rip747 11y ago

this is why I personally feel we should have harsher and stricter law concerning what is considered a non-for-profit and also all their financials should be made public in an easy to digest manner that public can keep an eye on. I don't get how its taken this long to see what these companies were spending their donations on and what they were paying out. Why can't this information be on a government website that lists this information in a grid so someone like me, who isn't an accountant by any means, can view and understand the information.

zaccus 11y ago

This is going to sound evil, but I don't really understand the point of cancer charities. I thought the reason why medical care costs so much was because of all the R&D that goes into it. It seems ridiculous that with all the money being poured into the industry, cancer research still needs charity support. The whole thing seems like a feel-good scam to me. I would gladly donate to a charity that helps poor people pay for cancer treatment that their insurance doesn't cover. But I find it hard to believe that the actual R&D is underfunded.

taivare 11y ago

Don't give up hope or charity .. Cuba just came up with a very low price vaccine for lung cancer .. https://t.co/ctgnY0mHVC https://t.co/ctgnY0mHVC and even top medical authorities in the U.S. concede the discovery is promising.