The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine

During the 1990s, Daniel P. Wirth published an amazing series of more than a dozen seemingly impeccable studies, involving strange treatments and faith healing. His most recent publication, coauthored by two professors from prestigious Columbia University, attracted international media attention in 2001, because it seemed to demonstrate that distant anonymous prayers could miraculously double the success rate of infertility treatments. However, the following timeline reveals that Mr. Wirth, a man with no scientific or medical credentials, has a long history of bizarre behavior and criminal, fraudulent activities. Daniel Wirth is currently incarcerated in federal prison, and it now appears that much or all of his research may be fraudulent.

Note:The purpose of this review is not to attack Daniel Wirth or any of his collaborators but rather to support science and evidence-based medicine. Shockingly, most of Mr. Wirth's studies, including his infamous “pray-for-pregnancy” publication, have not been retracted. These studies remain in libraries and on the Internet, misleading all who read them. The following information may assist with damage control.

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On October 11, 2002, acclaimed paranormal author and prolific faith-healing researcher, Daniel Wirth, was indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple felony charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States of America. On May 17, 2004, just as his federal trial was about to begin, Wirth pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and bank fraud and agreed to forfeit assets totaling more than $1 million obtained through criminally fraudulent schemes. On November 23, 2004, Daniel Wirth was sentenced to five years in federal prison to be followed by three years of parole.

Wirth’s research during the 1990’s was touted by many advocates of paranormal and faith healing to be of the highest caliber.^1–18 Other researchers had presented anecdotal reports on spiritual healing, but few had conducted randomized, controlled trials. Not so for Daniel Wirth: in both the volume and apparent quality of research, he stood far above the crowd. He quickly became the virtual “poster boy” of paranormal and faith healing. His studies were so widely cited that it would be difficult to find anyone in the field who was not familiar with his work. It might be said that his studies represent the very backbone of paranormal healing. His 2001 study on prayer and infertility was covered by newspapers around the world and even reported on ABC’s Good Morning America.¹⁹

The fall of Daniel will be a potentially fatal blow to some aspects of paranormal healing and a serious blow to faith healing. Therefore, advocates of these methods will surely search for a way to keep their ships from sinking. For example, it could be argued that for some reason, Mr. Wirth suddenly fell into a life of crime in 2002 but that prior to that time he lead an honest an ethical life. Nothing could be further from the truth. Dozens of events documented in the following timeline demonstrate a pattern of fraud and deception dating back more than twenty years. Investigations by the FBI and local law enforcement agencies have given us a window into the hidden life of an illusive man and his equally mysterious colleague.

The saga of Daniel Wirth also reveals gaping holes in the medical research peer-review process. For many years Wirth’s research associates were mainly nonphysicians or physicians with unusual backgrounds, and his papers were generally published in obscure paranormal and
“alternative-medicine” journals. In contrast, Wirth’s final research project involved physicians at a major university and was published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. This final episode in Wirth’s research career tested the peer-review systems at Columbia University and the Journal of Reproductive Medicine. In both institutions, these systems totally failed. Worse yet, the journal failed to take any action for 3 years after being informed of the study’s flaws and Wirth’s colored past. Even after Wirth’s arrest and conviction on felony fraud charges, the journal failed to take appropriate action.

The following timeline correlates, chronologically, Mr. Wirth’s research career with his criminal career. The reader can decide if it is likely that Mr. Wirth could have been doing meticulous and ethical research while simultaneously living a life of crime, fraud, and deception.

Notes on the Timeline Format

Statements in braces ({}) come directly from a United States federal indictment to which Wirth pled “guilty as charged.” These statements are thus considered to be factual.

Events of particular interest are printed in italic text.

Note that the indictment uses the name “John Doe” when referring to Wirth’s accomplice and former research associate, Joseph Horvath, since this man used so many different names (Josepf Steven Horvath, Joseph Wayne Hessler, John Wayne Truelove, Jeffrey Wayne Hessler, Dr. James Royce) for so many years that his true identity is still unknown. Wirth also used the name John Wayne Truelove.

The term conspirators in the federal indictment refers to both Daniel Wirth and his former research associate, Joseph Horvath, a.k.a. John Doe.

1981

• {Sometime after the death of Jeffrey Wayne Hessler, on or about September 22, 1981, the conspirators (Wirth and Horvath) obtained a social security number issued in Hessler’s name. Jeffrey Wayne Hessler was born on December 25, 1955 in Havelock County, North Carolina and died on April 20, 1957 in New Haven County, Connecticut.}

1983

• {Sometime after the death of John Wayne Truelove, on or after August 22, 1983, DOE (Horvath) assumed the identity of Truelove, and on multiple occasions used a social security account number fraudulently obtained with a copy of Truelove’s birth certificate arid a driver’s license.}
• {John Wayne Truelove was born on September 6, 1954 in Fairfield County, Connecticut. and died on May 3, 1959 in Westchester County, New York.}

1984

• {On or about March 14, 1984, Daniel Wirth completed and submitted a United States Department of State Passport Application using the name “John Wayne Truelove,”date of birth September 6, 1954, place of birth Danbury, Connecticut, with no social security number indicated.}
• {On or about October 10, 1984. DANIEL WIRTH completed an application for United States Post Office Box 502 at 875 Saw Mill River Road. Ardsley, New York, 10502.}

1986

• Wirth, using questionnaires, studies 48 patients treated by Mr. Greg Schelkun, a spiritual healer trained in the Philippines in the “Espiritista” system of healing that includes psychic surgery, laying on of hands and distant healing. The system has a Christian foundation in which the practitioner cultivates divine healing by entering a trance-like state, thus opening himself to the healing power of the Holy Spirit. Schelkun asserts that he only acts as a channel for the “universal energies of God” and that any “miraculous cures” that occur are due solely to the grace of God. Study patients are treated for conditions ranging from ovarian cysts to AIDS and cancer. Wirth finds that 90% of patients believed that their condition was improved by the treatment. This project was conducted in partial fulfillment of Wirth’s master’s degree in parapsychology but was not published until nine years later (see 1995).

1986–1989

• Wirth may have attended law school during this interval. State bar records indicate that he attended law school at Santa Clara University, a Catholic, Jesuit institution south of San Francisco.

1990

• {In or around September through December 1990, DOE (Horvath) represented that he was “Dr. James Royce” in engaging a professional photographer to photograph round cuts on the upper shoulder areas of three purported medical research subjects.}
• Police originally questioned Horvath after his claim of having been robbed and attacked during a robbery of a Palo Alto, California, restaurant at which he was the night manager. During the investigation, Horvath became a prime suspect in the possibility that the robbery had been staged. Also during that police investigation, a coworker from the restaurant divulged that he had been subjected to biopsies that were performed by Horvath. Horvath was charged with practicing medicine without a license.
• {In or around September through December 1990, DOE paid the professional photographer with an American Express credit card, account number 372868990203010, issued to “Josepf Horvath,” with another cardholder, “James Royce,” and an address of 1364 Rudgear, Walnut Creek, California.}
• {On or after December 24, 1990, DOE told officers of the Palo Alto, California Police Department that his name was Jeffrey W. Hessler, Joseph Wayne Hessler, and Josepf Horvath.}
• {In or around 1990, exact date unknown, WIRTH prepared an article titled “Unorthodox Healing: The Effect of Noncontact Therapeutic Touch on the Healing Rate of Full Thickness Dermal Wounds.”}
• The article referred to above in the federal indictment appears to be the first of Wirth’s five studies on the effect of Noncontact Therapeutic Touch (NCTT) on the healing of iatrogenically inflicted, full-thickness dermal wounds in human subjects. It was published in an obscure paranormal journal called Subtle Energies. Wirth’s associate, Joseph Horvath, was apparently arrested for impersonating a doctor or practicing medicine without a license while conducting this study. As noted below in the indictment, he was apparently convicted on a related charge. According to Wirth, it has been postulated that NCTT achieves its healing effect by an “interaction of energy fields” between the practitioner and the subject. The method requires the healer to (1) “center” his/herself both physically and psychologically, (2) “attune” to the energy field of the subject by “scanning” with the hands 2–6 inches from the body in order to detect imbalances, or blocks, within the energy field, and (3) consciously redirect and “rebalance the energy” in those areas of blockage. (Note that this entire theory has been proven to be false [see 1998].)
• {In 1990, DOE (Wirth’s associate) was convicted on the charge of unlawful human experimentation in Palo Alto, California as a result of activities involving the study of alternative medicine, and in connection with that matter identified himself as “Jeffrey Wayne Hessler,” “Josepf Steve Horvath,” and “Dr. James Royce.” A main witness against Horvath was Wallace Sampson, MD.}
• {DOE and WIRTH have participated together, and with others, in activities involving the study of alternative medicine, including the presentation and publication of papers in that area.}

1991

• Daniel Wirth is featured in a television documentary called Healing produced in England and broadcast on the Discovery Channel in the United States. The report begins by describing NCTT and notes that while “healers” may claim their methods work, “assertion is not evidence.” To evaluate the evidence, the story then moves to the United States, where NCTT is being investigated under strictly controlled scientific conditions. Daniel Wirth is then featured as he conducts the first of his five studies on NCTT healing of full-thickness dermal wounds in human subjects. The study is explained and the commentator points out several times that Wirth’s research methods are “scrupulous.” The commentator refers to Daniel Wirth as Dr. Wirth and states that he is a psychologist. (Wirth is actually a parapsychologist, a field that deals with allegedly paranormal or supernatural phenomena.) Wirth is shown holding a clipboard while supervising his study in a modest suburban California home where study subjects with “doctor-inflicted” biopsy wounds place their arms through a hole in the wall and are treated by a NCTT “healer” who waves her hands over the subjects’ arms. Finally, Dr. Wirth is interviewed, and he explains the astounding study results. By day 16, all wounds in the NCTT treatment group were either completely healed or well on their way to being healed, whereas not a single wound in the control group was healed.

1992

• {On or about June 1, 1992, DOE used the name “John Wayne Truelove” and a non-existent address to open a mailbox at a commercial mail-receiving center at East 9116 Sprague, Spokane, Washington. 99206.}
• {On or about December 21, 1992, DOE obtained a California drivers license in the name “JW Hessler” with a date of birth, December 25, 1955.}
• Wirth’s study on the effect of alternative-healing therapy on the regeneration rate of salamander forelimbs is published in an obscure journal. One of the study’s coauthors is Joseph Horvath; the man was arrested in 1990 and will eventually be indicted with Wirth in 2002 on multiple felony fraud and conspiracy charges.

1993

• {On or about July 28, 1993, WIRTH used the address of East 9116 Sprague Avenue, Box 76, Spokane, Washington as a mailing address in applying for and attaining admission to the Washington State bar.}
• In a single year, four of Wirth’s paranormal-healing studies are published including the first of five papers to be coauthored by Dr. William S. Eidelman, a California physician who would subsequently have his medical license suspended after his office is raided by narcotics agents (see 2001 and 2002).
• Wirth’s publications originate from an entity called Healing Sciences Research International. This official-sounding organization turns out to be nothing more than a post-office box in Orinda, California.
• Reprint requests for Wirth’s articles are directed to Doctor Daniel Wirth at Healing Sciences Research International. However, Mr. Wirth is not a medical doctor nor does he have any doctoral degree. He does have a law degree and a master’s degree in parapsychology, a field dealing with alleged paranormal phenomena such as ghosts and ESP.

1994

• {The Social Security Administration was not notified of the death of Julius Wirth, and Social Security benefits totaling approximately $103,178.20, continued to be paid after his death on July 12, 1994 until August 2003 via electronic funds transfer to the Republic National Bank account of Vivian and Julius Wirth. Julius Wirth was born on July 17, 1922 and died in Yonkers, New York on July 12, 1994.}
• For the second consecutive year, four of Wirth’s paranormal healing studies are published. Included in these papers is the fourth and perhaps most bizarre of Wirth’s five studies on the effect of NCTT on the healing of iatrogenically-inflicted full-thickness dermal wounds in humans. Although the study has only 8 patients in the treatment group and 7 in the control group, approximately 6 different interventions are used in addition to NCTT. These include biofeedback, visualization/relaxation sessions, guided imagery with intent to heal the wounds, LeShan healing, Reiki treatments, and prayers from a distant intercessory prayer group. There are almost more treatment interventions than patients in the study. The NCTT healers themselves also received Reiki/massage treatments to “counter the demands” on their own bodies, apparently caused by their intense efforts to detect and alter “subtle energy fields” supposedly surrounding the study patients. Strangely, the wounds heal more quickly in the control group than in the group that was treated with a half-dozen alternative-medicine interventions. To his credit, Wirth reports the surprising “reverse” results. However, he then offers several explanations for the study’s failure, including the intriguing theory that the various paranormal healers may have actually been efficacious but incompatible and thus “cancelled” out each other’s positive healing effects.

1995

• Wirth publishes two more paranormal healing reports, including his study of faith healer and psychic surgeon, Greg Schelkun, conducted 9 years previously. He also publishes a review of all five of his prior studies on the effect of NCTT on the healing of iatrogenically inflicted full-thickness dermal wounds in humans.

1996

• Three more of Wirth’s healing reports are published including a second review of his five prior NCTT wound-healing studies, this time proposing far more extensive explanations for the studies conflicting results: two positive, two negative, and one with “reverse results” (better healing results in the untreated control group). All three of Wirth’s papers published in 1996 are coauthored by William S. Eidelman, a California physician who would subsequently have his medical license suspended after his office is raided by narcotic agents (see 2002).
• In an article titled “Missing Experimenter,” Canadian philosophy professor Dale Beyerstein, PhD, outlines numerous unsuccessful attempts to track down Daniel Wirth.

1997

• {On or about November 21, 1997, DOE used the name ‘John Wayne Truelove’ to obtain employment at The Pew Charitable Trusts in the position of manager, information technology.}
• {On November 21, 1997, DOE completed an employee’s withholding allowance certificate, IRS Form W-4 using the name “John Wayne Truelove,” social security number 378-92-7197, and an address of #138, 634 York Road, Warminster, Pennsylvania, 18974.}
• {From on or after November 21, 1997 until his employment ended, DOE collected and received wages, salary and other income from the Pew Charitable Trusts, totaling $159,299.00 under the name “John Wayne Truelove.”}
• Two more of Wirth’s papers, both coauthored by Jeffrey R. Cram, are published. Wirth has also published two prior papers with Cram. Jeffrey Cram is a California psychologist who has a special interest in “subtle-energy” fields and “flower-essence therapy.” Dr. Cram explains this “therapy” as follows: “Because flower essences are extremely dilute physically, there is no plausible conventional mechanism of action that can explain their bio-chemical composition.” Flower-essence therapy assumes that living beings are comprised of more than their physical bodies. There are also “bodies” composed of subtle energies. The “etheric body” acts as a “field of formative forces,” giving shape and direction to the growth of physical body, along with the “astral body” or soul, which is the seat of our thoughts, feelings and experiences.
• {On or about December 15, 1997, DOE submitted a Money Access Card (‘MAC’) application to AmeriChoice Federal Credit Union using the name ‘John Truelove,’ social security number 378-92-7197, date of birth September 6, 1954, a commercial mail box facility at 634 York Road, #138, Warminster, Pa. 18974, and a home telephone number of (215)248-6909, also used by WIRTH.}

1998

• {In applying for Post Office Box 502, DANIEL WIRTH authorized “Rudy Wirth” to receive mail at that post office box; Rudolph Wirth, who died on February 15, 1998, was a social security benefits recipient, with an address of record at 37 Murray Avenue, Yonkers, New York 10704.}
• {On or about July 22, 1998, DOE applied to AmeriChoice Federal Credit Union for a credit card with a $10,000 credit limit, using the name “John W. Truelove,” social security number 378-92-7197, a commercial mailbox location, 634 York Road, #138, Warminster, Pa. 18974 as his home address, and a telephone number 215 248-6909, also used by WIRTH, and listing The Pew Charitable Trusts as his current employer and “Consulting Group; Director, IT, 1824-5th, Seattle, WA” as his previous employer.}
• {On or about August 26, 1998. WIRTH opened an account at First Union National Bank, account number 3014217160537, in his name using the address of Suite 60, 1121 N. Bethlehem Pike, Spring House, PA 19477.}
• {On August 27, 1998, DOE fraudulently obtained a Washington state drivers license in the name “John Wayne Truelove.”}
• {On September 5, 1998, DOE fraudulently obtained a Pennsylvania drivers license issued in the name “John Wayne Truelove.”}
• {On or about October 16, 1998, WIRTH opened an account at First Union National Bank, account number 1014227770179, in his name using the address of Suite 60, 1121 N. Bethlehem Pike, Spring House, PA 19477.}
• {On or about December 23, 1998, DOE obtained a car loan in the amount of $33,725.26 for a 1999 Jeep Cherokee, from AmeriChoice Federal Credit Union using the name “John W. Truelove” and social security number 378-92-7197.}
• {On or about December 24, 1998, WIRTH obtained a Vermont drivers license in the name of “Daniel P. Wirth} with a post office box “P.O. Box 1268, Wilmington, VT 05363,” which had not been assigned to him by the post office.}
• A landmark study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association reveals that twenty-one experienced Therapeutic Touch practitioners were unable to even detect any “human energy fields” under blinded conditions. It would, of course, be impossible to correct “imbalances” in energy fields that cannot even be detected. The authors conclude the healing claims of NCTT, the subject of much of Wirth’s research, are therefore absolutely groundless.20

1999

• {On or about July 6, 1999. DOE received a job offer directed to John Wayne Truelove from Adelphia with a starting salary of $135,000 per year and a bonus of $10,000.}
• {On or about September 3, 1999, in connection with homeowners insurance, DOE provided a telephone number 215 248-6909, also used by WIRTH, to the Swartley Agency in Silverdale, Pennsylvania.}
• Wirth collaborates with investigators at Columbia University (Rogerio Lobo, MD, and Kwang-yul Cha, MD) and allegedly conducts an international study in which Christian prayer groups in the United States, Canada, and Australia pray for patients in Korea who are undergoing IVF treatment for infertility. The prayer groups know nothing about the patients except for their appearance in a photograph. The Korean patients are not told that they are being used as human subjects in a research project (see 2001).
• On October 24, 1999, Kwang-yul Cha, MD (Wirth’s collaborator on the above study) organizes and presides over an international symposium on alternative medicine near Seoul, South Korea. Cha is listed as an active scholar in the field of alternative medicine at Columbia University. He is also listed as the first president of the Pochon Cha University, the first school in Korea to list alternative medicine as an official subject in its curriculum. Several invited speakers are from the Rosenthal Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at Columbia University.
• {On or about December 1, 1999, following the deaths of Julius and Vivian Wirth and Jeffrey Wayne Hessler, the conspirators caused a commercial mailbox to be opened in the name of Vivian Wirth, at #146, New Windsor, New York, 12553, a commercial mail box receiving center, also known as The UPS Store and formerly as Mail Boxes ETC.}

2000

• {In or around January 2000, WIRTH applied for and rented an apartment at the Swan Lake Apartments in Santa Cruz, California, using the name “John Wayne Truelove.”}
• {On or about May 25, 2000, following the deaths of Julius and Vivian Wirth, the conspirators caused the bank statements and other correspondence concerning the HSBC account in the name of Vivian and Julius Wirth to be directed to a new address, the commercial mail receiving center at #146, New Windsor, New York, 12553, known as The UPS Store and formerly Mail Boxes ETC; bank statements for that account previously had listed the address as P.O. Box 502, 875 Saw Mill River Road, Ardsley, New York, the post office box opened by DANIEL WIRTH.}

2001

• {On or about January 1, 2001, the conspirators rented an apartment at the Swan Lake Apartments in Santa Cruz, California under the name John Wayne Truelove.}
• {On January 23, 2001, WIRTH opened a mail box at 1840 412t Avenue, #102, Capitola, California.}
• {On or before January 14, 2001, WIRTH obtained a mailbox from a commercial mail receiving center at Suite 60, 1121 N. Bethlehem Pike, Spring House, Pennsylvania, 19477, located across the street from the First Union branch.}
• {On or about the following dates commencing January 31, 2001, in the following counts, the conspirators wrote checks drawn on the AmeriChoice credit union account that he opened in the name of “John Wayne Truelove,” payable to the Swan Lake Apartments in Santa Cruz, California, where WIRTH resided under the name “John Wayne Truelove.”}
• In September 2001, the Columbia “miracle” study (see 1999) is published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, The Journal of Reproductive Medicine.19 The study claimed that patients who were prayed for had an astounding 100% increase in the success rate of IVF procedures. Wirth’s coauthors are two distinguished infertility specialists from Columbia University, Dr. Kwang-yul Cha and and Dr. Rogerio Lobo, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
• Columbia University promotes the Cha/Wirth/Lobo “miracle” study on its Internet site. The article touts the study’s careful methodology and states that Dr. Lobo was the report’s lead author. (See DHHS investigation below in which Columbia states that Dr. Lobo was not aware of the study until 6–12 months after it’s completion.)
• The New York Times and ABC’s Good Morning America report on the study and note that Professor and Chairman Dr. Lobo was the report’s lead author. Many other newspapers and magazines report the study’s amazing results.
• {On or before September 7, 2001, WIRTH opened and controlled two bank accounts at First Union, a custom checking and a statement savings, and provided to the bank as his address a mail box at a commercial mail receiving service, Mail Boxes, Etc., located at #105, 1201 Bethlehem Pike, North Wales, Pennsylvania 19454 to open the accounts.}
• Due to the media attention, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) learns of the Columbia “miracle” study and the fact that it was conducted with no informed consent.
• In October 2001, narcotics officers raid the Santa Monica, California, office of Dr. William Eidelman, coauthor of several of Wirth’s papers. Eidelman is an outspoken proponent of the medical use of marijuana. Officers present a search warrant, charging that Eidelman provided undercover narcotics agents with medical marijuana recommendations without valid medical grounds. (See May 28, 2002 for further details.)
• On approximately October 1, 2001, Dr. George L. Wied, Editor in Chief of the The Journal of Reproductive Medicine (JRM) is informed via e-mail of major flaws in the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study and of the fact that Mr. Wirth has a long history of publications that claim to reveal the existence of miraculous healing powers. He is urged to publish a letter to the editor included with the e-mail. Dr. Wied does not reply.
• On October 15, 2001, Dr. Wied of the JRM is sent a hard copy of the above e-mail and a copy of the letter to the editor that briefly critiques the study.
• On October 24, 2001, the above e-mail is sent to Dr. Wied again. Dr. Wied fails to respond.
• In November 2001, the United States DHHS Office of Human Research Protections investigates Columbia University for possible noncompliance with DHHS regulations for the protection of human subjects involved in the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study.
• On November 28, 2001, Columbia University Vice President Thomas Q. Morris, MD, files a report with the DHHS stating that Dr. Lobo first learned of the study from Dr. Cha 6–12 months after the study was completed and that Dr. Lobo primarily provided editorial review and assistance with publication. Dr. Lobo also serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of The Journal of Reproductive Medicine.
• On December 9, 2001, The New York Times features the Columbia “miracle” study in its Sunday Magazine “Year in Ideas” special under the heading, “Prayer Works.”
• On December 21, 2001, Michael A. Carome, MD, Director of the Division of Compliance Oversight of the Office for Human Research Protection of the DHHS sends a letter to Columbia University Vice President Thomas Q. Morris acknowledging the receipt of a report about the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study and the “corrective action” in which the Columbia IRB office will perform an educational in-service for Dr. Lobo’s department.
• {On or about December 27, 2001, WIRTH wrote check number 311 drawn on a First Union account in the amount of $369,000 payable to Linsco Private Ledger for deposit into the Linsco Private Ledger account in WIRTH’s name.}
• December 2001: faith-healing guru and author of “Healing Ways” and “Prayer Is Good Medicine,” Dr. Larry Dossey, reports in the journal California Physician, that some 1,600 studies have revealed “something positive” about intercessory prayer. A letter to the editor notes that if there were, in fact, something positive, it certainly wouldn’t take 1,600 studies to find it! Dr. Dossey’s published response to the letter included the following convincing argument, “Controlled clinical trials and the peer-review process continue to serve us well. The most recent example of this process in action in the area of intercessory prayer is from Columbia Medical School—a positive, controlled clinical trail published in the respected, peer-reviewed Journal of Reproductive Medicine.” Dr. Dossey had effectively used the hopelessly flawed Columbia “miracle” study to prove the validity of faith healing. Since the scandal surrounding the study had not been revealed, readers no doubt concluded that Dr. Dossey stood on solid scientific ground.²¹

2002

• {On January 15, 2002, WIRTH opened a business high performance money market account at First Union in the name “Daniel Wirth, Esquire” with an address of Suite 60, 1121 N. Bethlehem Pike, Spring House, Pennsylvania, 19477.}
• {On January 15, 2002, WIRTH opened an operating account at First Union in the name “Daniel Wirth, Esquire” with an address of Suite 60, 1121 N. Bethlehem Pike, Spring House, Pennsylvania, 19477.}
• {On or about January 28, 2002, WIRTH filed documents with the Secretary of State of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to create a professional corporation in the name “Daniel Wirth, Esquire,” and listed the commercial mail box at #60, 1121 North Bethlehem Pike, Spring House, Pa. 19477 as the registered office.}
• {On or about March 6, 2002, DOE caused Adelphia to make a check number 1152604, in the amount of $340,300 payable to Daniel Wirth and mail the check to WIRTH at #102, 1840 41st Avenue, Capitola, California.}
• {On or about March 7, 2002, DOE met with employees of Adelphia to discuss the WIRTH invoices and was told not to return to his office until after an investigation into the invoices had concluded, although DOE retained a key to his office.}
• {On or about March 18, 2002, WIRTH deposited the $340,300 check mailed to him by Adelphia at First Union.}
• In March 2002, an article in the peer-reviewed journal, Human Reproduction, critiques the Columbia “miracle” study and states, “Very recently a seemingly impeccable paper proving absurd claims was published in a serious and (hitherto?) respected journal in the field of reproductive medicine.” The article concludes that “Fraud is difficult to extract from an apparently impeccable paper, but everyone is invited to draw one’s owns conclusions about the trustworthiness of the authors. We do not believe anything of the story and are very much opposed to publishing this kind of absurdity in serious journals.”
• In May 2002, an article is published in a peer-reviewed medical journal in which spiritual-healing advocates John and Margaret Tarpley at Vanderbilt University report that, “In a recent, well-designed study Cha and associates reported their masked randomized trial of women undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer wherein the prayed-for group had almost twice the implantation success rate.” The Tarpley’s use the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study to demonstrate that well-designed studies have scientifically demonstrated the power of faith healing.²²
• On May 28, 2002, the medical license of Dr. William Eidelman, coauthor of several of Wirth’s papers, is suspended. Dr. Eidelman offers his view of how he was wrongly treated by narcotics officers and the state medical board on his Internet site, www.dreidelman.com. On his site, Dr. Eidelman also features several of his essays on subjects like, “Healing with Your Hands” and “The Bioenergy Revolution.” He also explains the “scientific basis of spiritual healing” and discusses “resonance balancing energy.”
• {On or about May 28, 2002, DOE told FBI agents during an interview that his name was John Wayne Truelove, that his social security number was 378-92-7197, and that he was born in Connecticut.}
• {On July 3, 2002, WIRTH falsely stated to an FBI special agent that he never knew DOE by any other name than ‘John Wayne Truelove,’ except for the nicknames “Jack” or “Toby.”}
• {On or about September 18, 2002, WIRTH caused a check in the amount of $309,334.83 to be drawn on the Linsco Private Ledger account in WIRTH’s name and made payable to “Daniel Wirth.”}
• {After the deaths of Jeffrey Wayne Hessler and Julius and Vivian E. Wirth, on or about January 22, 2002, the conspirators opened a checking account at Ulster Savings in the name of “Jeffrey Hessler,” using the date of birth of and a social security number issued for Jeffrey Wayne Hessler.}
• {On or about October 1, 2002, WIRTH moved out of the apartment at the Swan Lake Apartments in Santa Cruz, California, that had been rented in the name of John Wayne Truelove.}
• {On October 11, 2002 Daniel Wirth and Joseph Horvath (John Doe) were indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple felony charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States. Mr. Wirth was arrested and released on ‘house arrest’ pending his trial. Mr. Horvath remained in jail.}
• {On or about December 9, 2002, at the arraignment on the initial indictment in this case, DOE stated that his correct name is Josepf Steve Horvath.}
• On October 16, 2002, an Associated Press article published in several newspapers outlines the federal charges against Wirth and Horvath. However, no connection with the Columbia University “miracle” study is made public until the London Observer covers the story in May 2004.
• Dr. Rogerio Lobo, still at Columbia University but no longer chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, continues to decline to return calls or e-mails about the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study.
• Dr. Kwang-yul Cha, prior head of the Cha-Columbia Infertility Center, is no longer affiliated with Columbia University and continues to decline to return calls or e-mails about the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study.
• In October 2002, an analysis of the Cha/Wirth/Lobo is published in The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine (SRAM), explaining many of the study’s potential flaws.²³
• During November 2002, Editor Dr. Wied and Managing Editor Donna Kessel of the JRM fail to respond to several telephone calls requesting information about the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study. Ms. Kessel eventually comes to the phone and states that the JRM is aware of the above e-mails and letters but states that the JRM will publish nothing about the study and “does not want to add fuel to the flames.”
• On November 30, 2002, another letter is sent to Editor George Wied at the JRM. Dr. Wied is informed of the above phone call. A copy of the SRAM analysis of the Cha/Wirth/Lobo is enclosed. A certified-mail receipt confirms that the material has been received by the JRM. The JRM again fails to respond.

2003

• On February 15, 2003, an Associated Press article reports that arson has been added to the charges pending against Wirth’s accomplice and former research associate, Joseph Horvath. Horvath, who remains in jail, is now charged with burning down his house to collect $226,000 in insurance money. In discussing the numerous aliases used by Horvath, the AP article states, “By any name, this case is starting to echo that of Frank Abagnale Jr. the con man Leonardo DiCaprio plays in the current hit movie, Catch Me If You Can.” Also in the article, Frank R. Ubhaus, Wirth’s lawyer, said, “Wirth is a former lawyer in California who now writes on alternative health topics.” The article also reveals that Horvath’s criminal file in California includes a charge of practicing medicine without a license in the early 1990s. In that case, a restaurant coworker complained about a strange procedure allegedly perform by Horvath, a.k.a. Hessler. He “cut circles out of [a coworker’s] shoulders, to remove the skin, and was trying to document the healing process. He claimed to be some kind of doctor to this guy.” The information made public in this AP article seems to clearly indicate that a phony doctor performed the biopsies in Wirth’s NCTT studies.
• {The Social Security Administration was not notified of the death of Julius Wirth, and social security benefits totaling approximately $103,178.20, continued to be paid after his death on July 12, 1994 until August 2003 via electronic funds transfer to the Republic National Bank account of Vivian and Julius Wirth.}
• On April 21, 2003, a letter to Editor Wied and Managing Editor Kessel inform them again about the SRAM analysis of the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study. They are also informed that Columbia University was investigated by the DHHS due to problems with the study. Finally, they are informed that Mr. Wirth had been arrested by the FBI on fraud charges along with one of his prior research associates. The JRM again fails to reply.
• On May 6, 2003, an e-mail followed by a certified letter is sent to Editor Wied and Managing Editor Kessel at JRM. The letter reviews many of the facts cited above and virtually pleads with the editors to break their silence and allow the public to be fully informed about the issues surrounding the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study. The JRM again fails to reply.
• On August 24, 2003, an e-mail (and hard-copy letter) is sent to Dr. Lawrence Devoe who was recently named coeditor in chief of the JRM. Dr. Devoe is informed that JRM Editor George Wied and Managing Editor Donna Kessel had repetitively failed to respond to concerns about the Columbia “miracle” study for almost 2 years. Dr. Devoe is also informed that one of the study’s authors had been arrested on felony fraud charges and that, according to the FBI, he had been using stolen names of dead people for many years. At that time, Dr. Devoe is also informed of the study’s total lack of informed consent and the resulting DHHS investigation of Columbia University as well as the possible history of scientific misconduct by one of the study’s authors. Finally, Dr. Devoe is informed that study coauthor Dr. Rogerio Lobo was apparently not involved with the study in any way until 6–12 months after its completion, although The New York Times and ABC News identified him as the study’s lead author. Dr. Devoe declines to respond.
• On September 11, 2003, an e-mail is sent to Dr. Devoe, JRM coeditor in chief, informing him of more details about the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study, including the “Missing Experimenter” article. (See 1996). On the 2nd anniversary of the flawed study’s publication, Dr. Devoe is asked to do the honorable thing: to break the JRM’s 2 years of silence and retract the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study. Dr. Devoe declines to respond.
• In September 2003, calls to Columbia University indicate that Dr. Lobo is not available and that Dr. Cha may be in the Los Angeles area.
• On September 12, 2003, Dr. Cha’s colleague at the Cha Fertility Center in Los Angeles states that Dr. Cha has received letters about the Columbia study and will respond to concerns about the study in 3 weeks, when he returns from Korea. Dr. Cha never responds.
• Investigative journalist Joseph McDemott writes a series of detailed articles about Wirth and Horvath in a Pennsylvania newspaper. However, none of the articles make a connection between Daniel Wirth, the accused criminal, and Daniel Wirth, the coauthor of the Columbia “miracle” study.

2004

• A second critique of the Columbia “miracle” study is published in SRAM, this time explaining many of the study’s theological flaws and demonstrating why faith healing reports do not belong in medical journals.²⁴
• On January 16, 2004, an Internet search for the terms “Wirth and therapeutic touch research” yields more than 500 hits, most touting Daniel Wirth’s research findings. A similar search for the terms, “Wirth and prayer” yields more than 1,000 hits, many related to Daniel Wirth (or DP Wirth or Daniel P. Wirth).
• In the February 2004 edition of her nationally distributed newsletter, faith-healing advocate and author of eleven books on “healing,” Susan Lark, MD, cites the Columbia “miracle” study as strong evidence for the power of prayer. She notes that critics of faith healing have argued that most prayer studies have not been credible due to weak methodologies. However, she points out that “those researchers who believe in prayer are answering this critique quickly—and effectively. The fact is, the medical journals are rapidly filling with studies that are proving the power of prayer.” She next goes on to describe the Columbia “miracle” study.
• On May 17, 2004, just as his federal trial is about to begin, Daniel Wirth pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and bank fraud and using a variety of phony identities. His accomplice and former research colleague, Joseph Hessler, a.k.a. John Doe, also abruptly changes his plea to guilty. As part of the plea bargain, both men face a maximum of five years in federal prison.
• On May 26, 2004: An abstract of the article, “Prayer Study: Flawed and Fraud,” by Dr. Bruce Flamm, is posted on Dr. Michael Shermer’s Skeptic magazine Internet site, announcing that the Daniel Wirth who pleaded guilty to felony fraud charges is the same Daniel Wirth who coauthored the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study. The public is now aware of what the JRM had known for more than a year.
• On May 30, 2004, the London Observer reports on the Cha/Wirth/Lobo saga, noting that neither Dr. Cha nor Dr. Lobo returned phone calls and e-mails requesting an interview and that phone calls to the JRM were not returned. The Observer article reveals that Columbia removed the press release announcing the study from its online archive shortly after receiving requests from scientists for comments about the Wirth fraud charges. This is the first major newspaper coverage of the developing scandal.
• On June 2, 2004, only after the link between Daniel Wirth and the study was made public, JRM Editor in Chief Dr. Lawrence Devoe announced that The Journal of Reproductive Medicine will finally remove the flawed Columbia Cha/Wirth/Lobo study from its Internet site.
• On June 7, 2004, The New York Sun reports on the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study, noting that the JRM has withdrawn it and removed it from its Web site and that authors of the study did not respond to requests for comments. A quote from JRM Managing Editor Donna Kessel states, “I just know it has been withdrawn.”
• On June 8, 2004, The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on the Cha/Wirth/Lobo saga, noting that neither Dr. Cha nor Dr. Lobo responded to requests for comment. Dr. Devoe of the JRM told the Chronicle, “We are well aware of the issue concerning that paper” and that “The paper is being scrutinized and there will be a statement that will appear in a forthcoming issue.”
• On June 9, 2004, The New York Sun reports further details on the Cha/Wirth/Lobo saga. Columbia University spokeswoman Anne Bayne is quoted as saying, “At this point, Columbia has made some informal inquiries and sees no need for any action.”
• On June 14, 2004, The Scientist reports that Gerald D. Fischbach, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Columbia had assembled a committee of scientists, faculty, and administration to investigate the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study.
• On June 24, 2004, Nature reports that JRM Managing Editor Donna Kessel says that the paper was peer-reviewed but that she is now carrying out an investigation of the study.
• On June 24, 2004, The Times of London publishes “The Murky Miracle.” It notes that the JRM has carried out its own post-mortem examination on the peer-review process that allowed the paper to slip through and the results well probably be published in the July issue. Herbert Benson, president of the Mind/Body Medical Institute in Boston says the fact that this paper had been questioned shows that peer review followed by replication works as a “self-correcting” system.
• On July 1, 2004, Time magazine publishes a scathing article about the Cha/Wirth/Lobo scandal. The report emphasizes that the peer-review system failed at both Columbia University and the JRM and asks why the authors and the JRM consistently stonewalled for nearly three years when challenged about the study.
• On July 13, 2004, Newsday reports that Daniel Wirth’s accomplice, Josepf Steven Horvath, a.k.a. John Wayne Truelove, was found dead in his Pennsylvania prison cell. He apparently hanged himself from the upper bunk. The article explains that it was Wirth who first used the name of Truelove, a New York child who died at age 5 in 1959, to obtain a phony passport in the mid-1980s.
• The July 15, 2004, issue of Science and Theology News includes and exclusive interview with Daniel Wirth, who is now under house arrest in Capitola, California, awaiting sentencing. Mr. Wirth maintains that the more than $1 million in fees that his accomplice Horvath sent him from Adelphia Corporation were legitimate as were the results of the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study. He reveals that he, Cha, and Lobo had shopped the prayer study to larger publications like the NEJM and JAMA but were turned down because of the subject matter. Wirth said that he designed the study, noting that the “rotational aspect” of different prayer groups is crucial, “creating almost what I like to term a ‘radiant field effect’ a continual, nonstop, around-the-clock prayer effect.” Harold G. Koenig, prayer researcher and Science and Theology News’s editor in chief, expressed concerns about the study’s impact on the rest of prayer research.
• On July 15, 2004, Ob.Gyn. News, the newspaper that reaches the majority of the nations’ obstetricians and gynecologists reports that Dr. Devoe at the JRM plans to look at all the letters and e-mails submitted to the journal regarding the study and then publish a summary of people’s concerns, along with a response from the study’s authors. Dr. Lobo is quoted as saying, “Wirth’s involvement was just in organizing the prayer groups.” Dr. Lobo also said it would have been impossible for Mr. Wirth to have fabricated the data.
• August 17, 2004: The Los Angeles Times covers the scandal surrounding the Columbia “miracle” study. Devoe said he was going through mail generated by the prayer study and would send it to the authors for their response. “It will take some time,” Devoe said. (It had taken three years thus far!) Dr. Kwang Cha did not return calls from the LA Times seeking comment. The LA Times article is published in many newspapers across the nation.
• The September/November 2004 issue of Skeptical Inquirer features the article, “The Columbia University ‘Miracle’ Study: Flawed and Fraud,” a comprehensive review of the scandal surrounding the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study, Columbia University, and the JRM.
• In the November 2004 issue of Scientific American, an article, titled “Flying Carpets and Scientific Prayers,” critiques the flawed Columbia study.
• On November 23, 2004, Daniel Wirth was sentenced to five years in federal prison to be followed by three years of parole. He was immediately taken into custody by United States federal marshals pending his assignment to a federal penitentiary.
• The November 2004 issue of Focus Magazine, the Australian doctor’s magazine, features an article titled “Mass Deception,” a comprehensive review of the Columbia “miracle” study scandal.
• The November 2004 issue of The Journal of Reproductive Medicine (JRM) includes a letter in which prayer study coauthor Kwang Cha defends the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study. The letter explains that it was written at the request of JRM editor in chief Lawrence Devoe. To the utter amazement of many physicians, journalists, and scientists, JRM decided to publish this letter but refused to publish a single letter critical of the study for more than three years. Dr. Cha’s published comments are false and misleading. For example, he states that it is regrettable that coauthor Daniel Wirth has been accused of fraud and refers to Wirth’s alleged crimes. In fact, Mr. Wirth had been indicted in October 2002 and had finally pled guilty to multiple felony charges on May 17, 2004. He had been a convicted felon for six months. Dr. Cha also states that it would have been “impossible for Mr. Wirth to have played any role in manipulating or altering the data.” (Dr. Lobo has made the same claim [see July 15, 2004].) Readers of JRM are thus encouraged to ignore any criticisms of the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study that they may have heard about in newspapers or magazines.
• November 26, 2004: The Orange County Register, second only to the Los Angeles Times in circulation in the Los Angeles area, features the Columbia scandal in a front-page article, “Standing up for science.” The article points out that it took an FBI investigation, con men stealing dead boys’ identities, and a jailhouse suicide to get anyone to notice a questionable study. What happens the next time an improbable research paper is published that isn’t connected to a tawdry tale?
• December 2, 2004: The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that Dr. Rogerio Lobo has removed his name from the disputed Cha/Wirth/Lobo study and points out that he was once touted as the study’s lead author. The article notes that the JRM had reposted the Cha/Wirth/Lobo to its Web site in September without comment. Dr. Devoe told the Chronicle that the JRM would indeed be removing Dr. Lobo’s name from the paper and that one or more letters critical of the study would appear in a future issue of the journal.
• December 4, 2004: The New York Times confirms that Dr. Lobo has pulled his name from the controversial study but that all three coauthors stand behind the study. Dr. Devoe told the NY Times that Dr. Lobo’s name should be removed but that the journal’s review of the paper had found no serious problems. Dr. Lobo did not respond to a request for comments and Elizabeth Streich, a Columbia University spokeswoman, said the university had no further comment.
• December 10, 2004: Time magazine publishes a second article about the scandal surrounding the Cha/Wirth/Lobo “pray-for-pregnancy” study. The article states that, incredibly, The Journal of Reproductive Medicine has returned the Wirth study, now missing Lobo’s name, to its Web site. The Time article goes on to state that “Columbia’s actions are incomprehensible. Does the university think that simply removing Dr. Lobo’s name from the fertility study gets it off the hook for giving its imprimatur to the prayer paper? And what about The Journal of Reproductive Medicine, which stonewalled for more than three years before launching an ‘investigation’ and now has seemingly abandoned any scientific objectivity by refusing to print, or even acknowledge, its critical mail?”

2005

• July 15, 2005: Gerald D. Fischbach, MD, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Columbia University, reports that Columbia’s Committee on Scientific Conduct found that Columbia professor Rogerio Lobo did not participate in the design of the study, the data collection, or the interpretation of the results of the Cha/Wirth/Lobo paper. He merely helped edit the manuscript. Dr. Fischbach acknowledges that he therefore strongly reprimanded Dr. Lobo and instructed him to withdraw his name from the publication. Dr. Fischbach also states that he requested that The Journal of Reproductive Medicine immediately remove all links to Columbia University from Wirth’s “pray-for-pregnancy” publication.
• July 2005: The multicenter MANTRA II study is published. This huge research project evaluated prayer in hundreds of patients at nine medical centers across the United States. In contrast to Wirth’s “pray-for-pregnancy” study, it demonstrates that distant prayer has no beneficial effect on any health outcomes.²⁵
• December, 2005: The article, “Questions Concerning the Work of Daniel P. Wirth,” written by Jerry Solfvin, PhD, Eric Leskowitz, MD, and Daniel J. Benor, MD, is published.²⁶ Importantly, each of these authors has personally attempted to contact Mr. Wirth over the years in ongoing efforts to gain access to data that might support Wirth’s astounding healing claims. All their efforts failed, and supporting data were never produced. One of the article’s authors, Jerry Solfvin, was Wirth’s mentor and master’s-thesis adviser at John F. Kennedy University. This article contains inside information from individuals who corresponded with or personally worked with Daniel Wirth over many years. It reveals new and shocking information about Mr. Wirth and his bizarre healing research. The authors carefully investigated Wirth’s five wound-healing studies and concluded that, “We believe that unless and until [that] explanation is given, the five wound healing studies published by Daniel P. Wirth should be excised from the legitimate literature of healing.” In relation to Mr. Wirth’s other research studies, the authors concluded, “We believe that the facts presented above are sufficiently troublesome to warrant a more detailed look at Daniel P. Wirth’s entire body of work.”

2006

• January 9, 2006: The Philadelphia Inquirer publishes an article, “Shaking faith in ‘scientific’ standards,” about the Cha/Wirth “pray-for-pregnancy” study. The article sarcastically states that “The study suggests that scientists have been working under a false assumption that the universe is ruled by predictable natural forces.” The article also points out that neither Columbia University nor The Journal of Reproductive Medicine have yet to publicize any real investigation or retract the bizarre paper.
• January 21, 2006: Officials at Columbia University and The Journal of Reproductive Medicine are sent a copy of the December, 2005, article, “Questions Concerning the Work of Daniel P. Wirth.” They are informed that the evidence for fraud is now so compelling, so completely overwhelming, that no reasonable physician, scientist, or editor would allow Wirth’s “pray-for-pregnancy” paper to remain in the peer-reviewed scientific literature.
• January 25, 2006: The above Philadelphia Inquirer article is retitled, “Can I get an amen? And a retraction?” and published by Knight Ridder Newspapers in several major US cities.
• February 13, 2006: Gerald D. Fischbach, MD, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Columbia University, states that professor Lobo cannot vouch for the integrity or the validity of the reported results of the “pray-for-pregnancy” study. Dr. Fischbach also announces that Columbia University is no longer identified as the sponsoring institution of the study and that all links between Columbia University and the study have been removed from the National Library of Medicine database.
• April 2006: “The Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer” is published. Known as the STEP study, this monumental research project took almost a decade and involved almost 2,000 patients and investigators at six academic medical centers, including Harvard and the Mayo Clinic. The STEP study, confirming the results of the MANTRA II study, published in 2005, found that distant prayer had no beneficial effects.²⁷
• April 8, 2006: Officials at Columbia University and The Journal of Reproductive Medicine are informed of the results of the MANTRA II and STEP studies. They are also informed that Daniel Wirth’s “pray-for-pregnancy” study is the one and only randomized, controlled study that has ever claimed profound effects of distant prayer. They are again informed about the December 2005 publication by Drs. Solfvin, Leskowitz, and Benor that questioned all of Wirth’s astounding healing claims.
• May 2006: As this article goes to press, Daniel Wirth remains in federal prison, coauthor Kwang-yul Cha stands by their bizarre research, and Dr. Lawrence Devoe, Editor in Chief of The Journal of Reproductive Medicine, steadfastly refuses to retract the preposterous Cha/Wirth “pray-for-pregnancy” study.

References

1. Wirth DP, Cram JR, Chang RJ. Multisite surface electromyography and complementary healing intervention: A comparative analysis. J Altern Complement Med. 1997 (Winter);3(4):355–364.
2. Wirth DP, Cram JR. Multisite electromyographic analysis of therapeutic touch and qigong therapy. J Altern Complement Med. 1997 (Summer);3(2):109–118.
3. Wirth DP, Richardson JT, Eidelman WS. Wound healing and complementary therapies: A review. J Altern Complement Med. 1996 (Winter);2(4):493–502.
4. Wirth DP, Chang RJ, Eidelman WS, Paxton JB. Hematological indicators of complementary healing intervention. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 1996 (January):14–20.
5. Wirth DP, Richardon JT, Martinez RD, Eidelman WS, Lopez ME. Non-contact Therapeutic Touch intervention and full-thickness cutaneous wounds: A replication. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 1996 (October):237–240.
6. Wirth DP. The significance of belief and expectancy within the spiritual healing encounter. Soc Sci Med. 1995;41(2);249–260.
7. Wirth DP. Complementary healing intervention and dermal wound reepithelialization: An overview. Int J Psychosomatics. 1995;42;48–53.
8. Wirth DP, Cram JR. The psychophysiology of nontraditional prayer. Int J Psychosom. 1994;41(1–4):68–75.
9. Wirth DP, Barrett MJ. Complementary healing therapies. Int J Psychosom. 1994;41(1–4):61–67.
10. Wirth DP, Mitchell BJ. Complementary healing therapy for patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Journal of Scientific Exploration. 1994;8(3):367–377.
11. Wirth DP, Barrett MJ, Eidelman WS. Non-contact therapeutic touch and wound reepithelialization: an extension of previous research. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 1994;2(4):187–192.
12. Wirth DP, Brenlan DR, Levvine RJ, Rodriguez CM. The effect of complementary healing therapy on postoperative pain after surgical removal of impacted third molar teeth. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 1993;1(3):133–138.
13. Wirth DP, Cram JR. Multi-site electromyographic analysis of non-contact therapeutic touch. Int J Psychosom. 1993;40(1–4):47–55.
14. Wirth DP, Richardson JT, Martinez RD, Eidelman WS, O’Malley AC. Full thickness dermal wounds treated with non-contact Therapeutic Touch; A replication and extension. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 1993;1 (3)127–132.
15. Wirth DP. Implementing spiritual healing in modern medical practice: Advances. J Mind-Body Health. 1993;9(4): 69–81.
16. Wirth DP, Johnson CA, Horvath JS, MacGregor JD. The effect of alternative healing therapy on the regeneration rate of salamander forelimbs. Journal of Scientific Exploration. 1992;6(4):375–391.
17. Wirth DP. The effect of non-contact Therapeutic Touch on the healing rate of full thickness dermal wounds. Nurse Healers Professional Associates. 1992;13(3);4–8.
18. Wirth DP. The effect of non-contact Therapeutic Touch on the healing rate of full thickness dermal wounds. Subtle Energies. 1990;1:1–20.
19. Cha KY, Wirth DP, Lopo RA. Does prayer influence the success of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer? J Reprod Med. 2001;46:781–787.
20. Rosa L, Rosa E, Sarner L, Barrett S. A close look at Therapeutic Touch. JAMA. 1998 (April 1);279(13):1005–1010.
21. Dossey L. Prescription for prayer. (Published response to a letter to the editor.) Southern California Physician. 2001;12:46.
22. Tarpley JL, Tarpley MJ. Spirituality in surgical practice. J Am Coll Surg. 2002;194(5):642–647.
23. Flamm BL. Faith healing by prayer: Analysis of Cha KY, Wirth DP, Lobo RA, Does prayer influence the success of in vitro fertilization embryo transfer? Sci Review Alt Med. 2002;6(1):47–50.
24. Flamm BL. Faith healing confronts modern medicine. Sci Review Alt Med. 2004;8(1):9–14.
25. Krucoff MW, Crater SW, Gallup D, Blankenship JC, Cuffe, et al. The MANTRA II randomised study. Lancet. 2005;366(9481):211–217.
26. Solfvin J, Leskowitz E, Benor D. Questions concerning the work of Daniel P. Wirth. J Altern Complement Med. 2005;11(6): 949–950.
27. Benson H, Dusek JA, Sherwood JB, Lam P, Bethea CF, et al. Study of the therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer (STEP) in cardiac bypass patients: A multicenter randomized trial of uncertainty and certainty of receiving intercessory prayer. Am Heart J. 2006;151(4):934–42.

About the Authors

Bruce L. Flamm, MD, Clinical Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California, Irvine Medicine Center. Correspondence: Bruce L. Flamm, MD, University of California, Irvine Medical Center, 101 The City Drive, Orange, CA 92863 (email: bruceflamm@aol.com ).