T.S. Wiley is scheduled to appear on the radio program, "Dr. Fitness and the Fat Guy", next Thursday, September 13.

It's an Atlanta radio show about weight loss and fitness. You can tune in alongside us to learn what T.S. Wiley has to say on the subject. The show airs live at 7:30 PM EDT, 4:30 PM Pacific.

A new service emerged just a few days ago that helps to identify who is responsible for changes to Wikipedia, the "encyclopedia that anyone can edit". It's called WikiScanner. Already a number of interesting changes have been dug up thanks to this. Diebold appears to have deleted unsavory information about their voting machines and their fund-raising for President Bush. Scientology computers have been used to remove criticism on the church's page. BBC got caught changing "George Walker Bush" to "George Wanker Bush". FOX News has been caught making edits about Al Franken.

As I once pointed out to T.S. Wiley's husband, Neil Raden (a computer consultant): "You're not nearly as anonymous on the Internet as you think." (This was after we caught Neil Raden posting messages and e-mails under fake names -- what's known as "sock puppetry".)

So have there been any anonymous changes to Wikipedia originating from the T.S. Wiley household? Yes, more than just a few:

http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/f.php?ip1=72.205.193.253

Click on the links in the "diff" column to see what was added, changed, or removed.

Besides the expected attempts to slant the Wiley Protocol story, you'll find some interesting contributions to articles on Neil Raden's competitors (we assume) -- Bill Inmon and Claudia Imhoff -- in the Business Intelligence field.

A reader writes:

Wow.

Well, clearly the cat is out of the bag and we should just come clean. Here's your answer:

At last, the bioethicists are looking into this.

M. Sara Rosenthal presented at the Endocrine Society's 89th annual meeting, June 2-5, on the recent phenomenon of celebrities, particularly Suzanne Somers, advocating and offering advice on bioidentical hormone therapies. She is the director of the University of Kentucky Program for Bioethics and Patients' Rights.

"Problems can occur when women look to untrained lay practitioners for medical advice," said Rosenthal. "With no medical background or formal training in science, Somers is providing prescriptive medical advice that many endocrinologists question. Many of the therapies Somers endorses have not undergone standard institutional research review processes. Women may not understand or appreciate that such therapies pose unknown risks to their health and are not regulated or monitored."

I don't have a copy of Ms. Rosenthal's presentation and can't say whether she directly addressed Somers' advocacy of the Wiley Protocol (though it seems implied), but I do know that she inquired with women who have had adverse experiences on the Wiley Protocol.

Reference

What follows are T.S. Wiley's response to the Letter to Senator Smith and my response to T.S. Wiley.

Wiley's e-mail was sent last night to the letter's author and me, and CC'd to Julie Taguchi MD, Merrily Mount MD, and Brandi Kupchella at the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging.

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T.S. Wiley:
Senator Smith's office did their homework admirably. They knew all about you and Wiley Watch before they invited me. And they have been made aware that you won't provide Dr. Taguchi with any evidence of harm or allow any examination of your allegedly harmed members by valid physicians. We also discussed Bent's "illness" and inability to speak English, making your quotes from him unreliable at best. Dr. Taguchi has also spoken to Merrily Mount many times. Merrily is willing to state that the video on UTUBE was prepared for her, as you know it was. If you would like validation of your claims, once again, please forward blood work and physician's reports (as well as your many prescriber's contact information) of previous harm to [redacted] as soon as possible. Any evidence or testimony is welcome as we encourage the report of all adverse events that are corroborated by professionals. -TS Wiley

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My reply:
> We also discussed Bent's "illness" and inability to speak English, making your quotes from him unreliable at best.

You could have asked him.

[Before breaking ties with Wiley over her protocol, Dr. Bent Formby worked extensively with T.S. Wiley on both of her books. She cites his help with science as a credential.]

We ran that paragraph past Dr. Formby to be sure that it's something he would fully endorse. To remind you:

"You should know that Ms. Wiley's co-author and science mentor, Dr. Bent Formby – a researcher with PhDs in molecular biology and medical biochemistry – disavows the Wiley Protocol, calling it 'a nuclear blast to the endocrine system' and 'fantastically irresponsible.' He asked, after watching the hearing, 'Does somebody have to die of kidney failure or suicide before she is stopped?'"

Unreliable quotes? His response: "Just perfect. Keep me informed and let me know if you need more input from me."

Last Thursday, T.S. Wiley appeared as a witness before the Senate Special Committee on Aging for a hearing on bioidentical hormones.

In questioning, Wiley claimed that there have been only two adverse events reported by women on her protocol.

The following response was sent to Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon, who presided over the hearing. If you are among the many women whose existence T.S. Wiley is attempting to hide, I encourage you also to be heard and be known.

Contact Senator Gordon Smith
Hearing page
Video of the hearing
Wiley's written testimony

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April 22, 2007

The Honorable Gordon Smith
United States Senate
404 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-3704

Dear Senator Smith:

I watched with particular interest your hearing on bioidentical hormones by the Senate Special Committee on Aging, April 19, 2007, and in particular the testimony of your witness, T.S. Wiley.

I have extensive experience with Ms. Wiley and the Wiley Protocol – as a patient on the protocol, as an insider working closely with her to promote it, and for over two years now as a leading voice in opposition to the protocol.

I broke with T.S. Wiley when I could no longer doubt that the Wiley Protocol was making me and the women I was working with perilously ill. I now moderate an online support group for women seeking recovery from and alternatives to the Wiley Protocol. We have about 320 members and are growing (I'm sorry to say). I am a stay-at-home mother and I have no financial interest in this matter. I have only a sincere conviction of the protocol's danger – and an acute hope that women can be spared the terrible experiences that I and too many others have endured.

You asked Ms. Wiley if there have been any adverse events. She mentioned only two cases of blood clots.

These words were, for me, a punch in the gut.

A flurry of changes were made to T.S. Wiley's bio page after I posted The Truth About T.S. Wiley's Credentials. Let's take a look at the latest version of Wiley's identity:

The Purported College Degree and Other “Education”

Where it used to say, “Pending B.A. in Anthropology, Webster University, 1975” (and before that, “B.A. in Anthropology, Webster University, St. Louis, 1975”), it now says “Attended the B.A. Program in Anthropology, Webster University, 1970-1975”.

Much better. However...

Wiley now claims the following as “education”:

• 7 year Private Tutorial in molecular biology with Dr. Bent Formby, PH.D. 1996- 2003
• 8 year Private Clinical Tutorial with Dr. Julie Taguchi 1998-2006

Inflated credentials, and especially fabricated credentials, are one of the strongest warning signs of quacks and con artists. The implicit dishonesty is a sure sign of somebody who's trying to get away with something – faking reality, hoping to fool. Hoping nobody will notice.

T.S. Wiley calls herself a scientist and a researcher. The substance of her record in the field consists of the following:

• B.A. in Anthropology, Webster University, St. Louis, 1975
• Member of the New York Academy of Sciences and American Association of Anthropologists
• Guest Investigator at Sansum Medical Research Institute
• Four published papers in scientific journals
• Various unreported projects and unpublished papers

This is not even a mediocre scientific career. This is, for someone whose academic studies ended over three decades ago, an abysmal record – if that person wishes to call herself a scientist and researcher and expects to be taken seriously.

But it's worse than an abysmal record. It is not just inflated, it is fabricated.

I've been regrettably busy and haven't yet posted here what we've uncovered about T.S. Wiley's various purported credentials. And now we've been scooped! See Newsweek's Health Gurus: Questionable Claims.

The main revelation is something we've known for a long time. T.S. Wiley has been running around the country claiming a B.A. in anthropology from Webster University (for instance here and on her own web site). This is a blatant lie. The degree does not exist. [UPDATE: After this was published the link went dead. Here's a copy. "T.S. Wiley earned a BA in Anthropology at Webster College, St. Louis, MO." No, she did not.]

On Wednesday I contacted the producers of Larry King Live, before the show, and brought to their attention this non-existent degree. This time, no mention was made of T.S. Wiley's degree in her introduction. And then, her bio page was changed. Where it used to say, "B.A. in Anthropology, Webster University, 1975" it now says "Pending B.A. in Anthropology, Webster University, 1975".

Pending. For 31 years.

Surely no other university has ruined as many careers with such a monumental backlog as this.

We called Webster's office of the registrar and read this new line to them. The registrar literally guffawed. She said there is no such thing as a "pending" degree.

There's more to be told about Wiley's so-called credentials. Stay tuned.

Here's a link to the full letter referred to in the New York Times article, condemning Somers' reckless endorsement of Wiley's protocol, and signed by the following doctors:

Erika Schwartz, M.D.
Diana Schwarzbein, M.D.
Daved Rosensweet M.D.
C.W. Randy Randolph, Jr., M.D.,R.Ph
Christiane Northrup, M.D.
Jane Murray, M.D.
Helene Leonetti, M.D.

Letter to Suzanne Somers

If you are at all tempted by the protocol, this is a must-read.