78 The Australian Women’s Weekly | MAY 2019
and destroys large parts of the
skin and underlying tissue, often
leaving behind significant scarring.
“It cuts through the skin and it’s quite
dangerous,” Dr Cusack says.
Those who endorse the treatment
claim it “draws out” cancer, and that
the black scabs or “eschars” it creates
are evidence of destroyed cancer cells.
Deb says she still finds it hard to
believe Helen was taken in by such
claims, but understands she was in an
extremely fearful state.
Health authorities are working to
shut down dubious healers who prey
on the vulnerable and the desperately
scared, but Dr Cusack says they rely
on the public to report them. “It’s not
clear how many people there are out
there but we suspect there are quite
a lot, given the prevalence of some of
these black salves and other claims
being made,” she says.
The office of the Victorian Health
Complaints Commission has only
been in operation for two years,
and in that time has received 23
complaints against “alternative
therapists” who claim they can cure
serious health issues, including cancer.
“There’s a vulnerability in people
that people like Dennis Jensen prey
on,” Dr Cusack explains. “It’s really
hard to know how many people there
are out there.”
GP Andy Croaker works in a
clinic just south of the NSW seaside
town of Coffs Harbour, which has a
population of about 70,000. Last
year he saw at least a dozen persisting
skin cancers that people had tried
and failed to cure by applying black
salve. He’s part of a Southern Cross
University research team that recently
analysed 13 black salve products from
around the world.
Some were dangerously strong, with
one containing a cytotoxic compound
at 900 times the concentration needed
to kill normal skin cells. Using this
paste would be “similar to applying
strong acid to the skin,” Dr Croaker
says. Compound levels in other brands
of black salve were so low they were
undetectable, meaning that they
would not react to skin tissue. This
could give people who are applying it
to a lesion a false sense of security,
Dr Croaker says. Black salve dealers
claim the treatment only reacts to
cancerous cells. Consequently, a
salve that causes no reaction, “could
delay skin cancer diagnosis which
for some skin cancers could put
patients’ lives at risk,” Dr Croaker says.
There is no evidence to support
the claim black salve destroys only
cancerous cells.
One of the black salve products the
researchers tested contained high
levels of lead, another health hazard.
The paste is made by mixing
bloodroot with zinc chloride, which
is a corrosive, synthetic chemical.
It’s promoted online as a “safe and
natural skin cancer treatment”,
when in fact it is neither.
“It is not natural, it is not cancer-
specific and it causes harm to normal
tissue,” Dr Croaker concludes.
Deb says, in Helen’s case, the black
salve damaged her body so badly that
eventually surgeons couldn’t haveoperated on her cancer, even if she
had wanted them too.
It was April 2017 when an MRI
revealed Helen had ovarian cancer
and she started talking to co-workers
about what she could do to fight it.
“The stats for ovarian cancer were so
frightening for her,” Deb says. The
family believes it was a paramedic
who referred her to Jensen.
“He told Belinda he had cured
thousands of people with cancer,” Deb
says. “He convinced her of the fear of big
pharma, that they weren’t out to save
your life, they were out to make money.”
Jensen began applying the tar-like
salve to Helen’s stomach. As Helen’s
skin began to burn, scar and blacken,
Jensen told her the treatment was
working. “He kept saying to her, ‘See,
it’s worked. It’s worked! It’s just like
dead coral in there. We’ve got this!’
“I’d say to Belinda, ‘How can
someone who’s as bright as Helen
and a triple certificated nurse fall for
this?’” Deb says. “She said, ‘He’s madeDennis Wayne
JensenThe “spiritual healer” (above) was banned
from treating anyone or claiming he could
cure cancer after Helen’s death. He treated
Helen (above, right), a keen cyclist, with
black salve (right) for ovarian cancer.