FDA issues warning to controversial Houston cancer doctor

The Food and Drug Administration has issued a strongly worded warning letter to a controversial Houston physician, Stanislaw Burzynski, who was the subject of a USA TODAY investigation last month. Burzynski – hailed as a maverick by his fans but a snake oil salesman by mainstream doctors -- has long claimed to have dramatic success in hard-to-treat cancers, especially brainstem tumors that are usually considered fatal. According to the National Cancer Institute, however, Burzynski has never produced definitive proof that his drugs save lives by publishing a randomized, controlled trial in a peer-reviewed journal.