In 1996, a Congressional Subcommittee hearing on alternative cancer treatments heard a heartbreaking testimony from Sgt. Ric Schiff, a San Francisco police officer and a father of twin girls. His daughter, Crystin, had been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive brain tumor when she was four years old. The doctors gave her no hope and offered only toxic and painful treatments that would not cure her, but only prolong her suffering.

Sgt. Schiff and his wife refused to accept this fate and searched for other options. They came across Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, a Polish-born physician and researcher who had developed a novel therapy called antineoplastons. Antineoplastons are natural compounds that Burzynski claims can treat cancer by switching off abnormal cells. However, his therapy is not approved by the FDA and has been the subject of controversy and legal battles for decades.

Sgt. Schiff, who had experience in fraud investigation, did his own research and was convinced that Dr. Burzynski was not a scammer, but a genuine healer. He decided to take his daughter to his clinic in Houston, Texas, where she received antineoplaston therapy. To his astonishment, Crystin’s tumor shrank and disappeared within months. She was cancer-free for 18 months, until she stopped the treatment.

Unfortunately, the cancer came back with a vengeance and Crystin had to resume the antineoplaston therapy. Again, the tumor vanished within weeks. But it was too late. The damage done by the previous radiation therapy had caused her brain to deteriorate. She died of neurological necrosis in July 1995, at the age of seven. She was the first and only child with her type of cancer to die cancer-free.

Sgt. Schiff blamed the government and the medical establishment for denying his daughter a chance to live. He accused them of spreading false information and suppressing alternative treatments that could save lives. He urged the Congress to support Dr. Burzynski and his therapy, and to uphold the constitutional right to life.

His testimony was powerful and emotional, but it did not change the status quo. Dr. Burzynski continues to face opposition and criticism from the authorities and the scientific community. His therapy remains unproven and controversial. His patients, however, swear by his results and defend his reputation.

The story of Sgt. Schiff and his daughter is a tragic example of the challenges and dilemmas faced by cancer patients and their families. It raises questions about the ethics and politics of cancer research and treatment, and the role of personal choice and responsibility in health care. It also shows the courage and love of a father who fought for his daughter’s life until the end.