Trial of Cancer Doctor Ends in Hung Jury
Prosecutors vowed to retry a self-described medical revolutionary who treats cancer patients with a compound found in human urine after a jury deadlocked Monday.
Jurors split 6-6 on all 75 counts against Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, who was accused of charging desperate patients thousands of dollars for unproven cancer treatments. They deliberated for seven days before U.S. District Judge Sim Lake declared a mistrial.
Lake acquitted Burzynski of 34 counts of mail fraud, saying the government failed to prove the doctor billed insurance companies for treatment he did not perform. He set a May 19 retrial on the remaining charges of introducing an unapproved drug into interstate commerce and contempt of court.
“We are very happy,” a smiling Burzynski said, adding that the outcome was a huge relief for his patients.
Prosecutors painted the Polish-born, 54-year-old Burzynski as a profiteer who preyed on the terminally ill. But throughout the six-week trial, supportive patients and their relatives held rallies outside the courthouse.
Burzynski contends antineoplastons, the compounds found in human urine, serve as biochemical “turn-off” switches for cancer genes.
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