MAY 2019 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 77
Cancer con
A
ftertheplaneshitthetwin
towersin September2011,
a Melbournenursenamed
HelenLawsonsignedup
foremergencyresponse
trainingthatwouldequiphertowork
in a specialistmedical
teamif therewasa
terrorattackin
Australia.It wasa very
“Helen”thingtodo,
herpartner’ssister
DebDaviessays.The
devotedhealthworker
wasanindefatigable
woman,motivated
bya strongsense
ofcompassion.
“NothingHelen
didwasbyhalves,”
Debsays.“Shewasan
absolutemachine.She
wasonly5’10”but
shewasanamazon.”
A lovingpartnerand
a seniornurse,Helen
liveda healthylifethat
revolvedaroundcycling
andwork,whichis whyit wasso
shockingtoeveryonewholovedher
when,facedwitha cancerdiagnosis,
shedecidedtobypassevidence-based
medicinein favourofanalternative
treatmentbeingspruikedbya
“spiritualhealer”.In2017,a man
namedDennisWayneJensen,who
rana businessoutofhishomein
Warrandyte,Victoria,convinced
Helenthathehadcuredhisown
braintumours,andhewouldcure
her,too.Hetoldhertoreject
conventionaltreatmentandputher
faithin him.Helendid,andshe
sufferedexcruciatingconsequences.
InAprillastyear,HelenLawson,
50,diedofovariancancer.She’dnever
hadsurgeryorconventionaltherapy,
despiteherfamily’spleas,andherlast
monthsweremarkedbyintensepain.
Herbodywasmutilatedbythetreatment
theself-proclaimedhealerhadapplied
toherabdomen– a corrosive
substancecommonlyknownasblack
salve.Thetreatmentis controversial
andwidelydiscredited,buta search
onlinewillturnuphundredsof
testimonialspraisingitshealingp“The black salve he put on her ate
through her. She would be on all
fours at night ... screaming in agony.”
Nurse Helen Lawson
(left, and below with
her partner, Belinda
Davies), died after
using black salve
over conventional
medicine to treat
ovarian cancer.properties. Devotees claim
it’s a natural and safe skin
cancer treatment that’s
being kept hidden from
patients by big pharma and
the “sickness industry”. One ad says:
“Only suppression and greed have
prevented its enormous benefits from
being made available to the mainstream.”
The medical community and the
Therapeutic Goods Administration
reject this, warning that there have
been no controlled clinical trials of the
salve and its use has been linked to
death and disfigurement.
“The cancer just kept growing
until it burst inside her and she died
a horrendous death in ICU,” Deb says,
crying as she recounts the story less than
a year after burying Helen, the beloved
partner of her sister, Belinda Davies.
“The black salve he put on her ate
through her,” Deb says. “She would be
on all fours at night just screaming in
agony and crying with no sleep, and
Belinda getting no sleep. Every time
they’d go to him, he’d say: ‘I’m so
proud of you, we’ve got this.’
“It infuriates me ... yes, she was
willing, but she was desperate and shebelieved this creep who had no stats to
back him up.”
In February last year, as Helen’s
health was deteriorating, Deb reported
Jensen to the authorities. By August,
Victoria’s Health Complaints
Commissioner Karen Cusack
had issued a prohibition order,
permanently banning him from
“treating” anyone or claiming he
could cure cancer. Helen had died,
but there was a risk other people were
being exposed to Jensen’s nefarious
practices. Shortly after the order was
made, another complainant came
forward. They had also been “treated”
for cancer by Jensen but in the second
case the “remedy” was laetrile, another
so-called miracle cure. It too is “potentially
very dangerous,” Dr Cusack says.
“Laetrile contains cyanide.”
It is illegal to sell black salve in
Australia, but tubs of the stuff can
be ordered easily and cheaply online.
GETTY IMAGES. IMAGES The charcoal-coloured paste burns →
SUPPLIED AND USED WITH PERMISSION.