Editing Matthias Rath (section)

{{Short description|German businessman and doctor}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Matthias Rath
| nationality        = German
}}

'''Matthias Rath''' (born 1955) is a doctor,<ref name="FallofRath"/> businessman, and [[vitamin]] salesman.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7453449.stm S Africa bans Aids vitamin trials] BBC News, UK. Published 13 June 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2008.</ref><ref>[http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=37846&c=1 BMJ pays out to doctor over 'child death' story.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080304190940/http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=37846&c=1 |date=4 March 2008 }} Press Gazette magazine. Published 5 June 2007. Retrieved 10 September 2008.</ref><ref name="new yorker"/><ref name="natmed"/> He earned his medical degree in Germany.<!-- Which university?--><ref name="business-guardian"/> Rath claims that a program of [[dietary supplement|nutritional supplements]] (which he calls "cellular medicine"), including formulations that he sells, can treat or cure [[diabetes]], [[cardiovascular disease]], cancer, and HIV/AIDS.<ref>Articles coauthored by Rath on these topics include:
*{{cite journal |vauthors=Ivanov V, Ivanova S, Roomi MW, Kalinovsky T, Niedzwiecki A, Rath M |title=Extracellular matrix-mediated control of aortic smooth muscle cell growth and migration by a combination of ascorbic acid, lysine, proline, and catechins |journal=J. Cardiovasc. Pharmacol. |volume=50 |issue=5 |pages=541–7 |date=November 2007 |pmid=18030064 |doi=10.1097/FJC.0b013e318145148e |s2cid=37885340 |doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal |vauthors=Ivanov V, Roomi MW, Kalinovsky T, Niedzwiecki A, Rath M |title=Anti-atherogenic effects of a mixture of ascorbic acid, lysine, proline, arginine, cysteine, and green tea phenolics in human aortic smooth muscle cells |journal=J. Cardiovasc. Pharmacol. |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=140–5 |date=March 2007 |pmid=17414225 |doi=10.1097/FJC.0b013e3180308489 |s2cid=24773920 |doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal |vauthors=Ivanov V, Ivanova S, Roomi MW, Kalinovsky T, Niedzwiecki A, Rath M |title=Naturally produced extracellular matrix inhibits growth rate and invasiveness of human osteosarcoma cancer cells |journal=Med. Oncol. |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=209–17 |year=2007 |pmid=17848746 |doi= 10.1007/BF02698042|s2cid=2894009 }}
*{{cite journal |vauthors=Roomi MW, Roomi N, Ivanov V, Kalinovsky T, Niedzwiecki A, Rath M |title=Inhibition of pulmonary metastasis of melanoma b16fo cells in C57BL/6 mice by a nutrient mixture consisting of ascorbic Acid, lysine, proline, arginine, and green tea extract |journal=Exp. Lung Res. |volume=32 |issue=10 |pages=517–30 |year=2006 |pmid=17169857 |doi=10.1080/01902140601098552 |s2cid=29037898 }}
*[http://www.thecommonwealth.org/news/163943/160507chmbook.htm Role of micronutrients in the control of HIV and AIDS.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201200304/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/news/163943/160507chmbook.htm |date=1 December 2008 }} Commonwealth Health Ministers Book 2007, pages 187–189. Published by Henley Media Group Ltd in association with the [[Commonwealth Secretariat]].</ref><ref name="reckless"/> These claims are not supported by any reliable [[medical research]].<ref name="BadScience">{{cite book|last=Goldacre|title=Bad Science|year=2008|publisher=4th Estate|isbn=978-0-00-728487-0|pages=181–197}}</ref><ref name="thelancet">{{cite journal|title=SA health minister urged to stop vitamin-peddling doctor | doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67739-2|pmid=16315355|volume=366|issue=9500|journal=The Lancet|pages=1837–1838|year=2005|last1=Kapp|first1=Clare|s2cid=42106234|doi-access=free}}</ref> Rath runs the Dr. Rath Health Foundation, has been closely associated with Health Now, Inc.,<ref name="bmj"/> and founded the Dr. Rath Research Institute.

The ''[[The Sunday Times (South Africa)|Sunday Times]]'' has described Rath as an "international campaigner for the use of natural remedies" whose "theories on the treatment of cancer have been rejected by health authorities all over the world."<ref>[http://www.aegis.org/news/suntimes/2004/st041117.html Dissidents take their crusade to the streets] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060824191007/http://www.aegis.org/news/suntimes/2004/ST041117.html |date=24 August 2006 }}, By Rowan Philip and Edwin Lombard. Published in the ''[[The Sunday Times (South Africa)|Sunday Times (Johannesburg)]]'' on 30 November 2004. Retrieved 9 May 2008.</ref> On HIV/AIDS, Rath has disparaged the pharmaceutical industry and denounced [[antiretroviral]] medication as toxic and dangerous, while claiming that his vitamin pills could reverse the course of AIDS. As a result, Rath has been accused of "potentially endangering thousands of lives" in South Africa, a country with a [[HIV/AIDS in South Africa|massive AIDS epidemic]] where Rath was active in the mid-2000s.<ref name="FallofRath">[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/sep/12/matthiasrath.aids2 Fall of the vitamin doctor: Matthias Rath drops libel action], by Sarah Boseley. ''The Guardian'', UK, 12 September 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2008</ref> The head of [[Médecins Sans Frontières]] in South Africa [[Eric Goemaere]] said of Rath, “This guy is killing people by luring them with unrecognised treatment without any scientific evidence”; Rath attempted to sue him.<ref name="BadScience"/><ref name="thelancet" /><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2009/07/start/the-man-who-sold-out-medicine?page=2|accessdate=2 January 2011|title=Wired UK magazine reports on the activities of Mathias Rath, who believes vitamins can cure HIV (Wired UK)|magazine=Wired UK }}</ref>

Rath's claims and methods have been widely criticised by medical organisations, AIDS-activist groups, and the United Nations, among others.<ref name="new yorker">[http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/03/12/070312fa_fact_specter The Denialists: The dangerous attacks on the consensus about H.I.V. and AIDS], by Michael Specter. Published in ''[[The New Yorker]]'' on 12 March 2007. Retrieved 16 April 2007.</ref><ref name="natmed">{{cite journal |title=Denying science |journal=Nat. Med. |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=369 |year=2006 |pmid=16598265|doi=10.1038/nm0406-369|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="lancet-news">{{cite journal |author=Kapp C |title=SA health minister urged to stop vitamin-peddling doctor |journal=Lancet |volume=366 |issue=9500 |pages=1837–8 |date=November 2005 |pmid=16315355 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67739-2 |s2cid=42106234 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="unreuters">[http://www.aegis.org/news/re/2005/re050512.html U.N. slams AIDS 'dissident' for attack on drugs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418003924/http://www.aegis.org/news/re/2005/re050512.html |date=18 April 2009 }}, by Stephanie Nebehay. Published by [[Reuters]] on 12 May 2005. Retrieved 9 May 2008</ref> Former South African President [[Thabo Mbeki]] and former Minister of Health [[Manto Tshabalala-Msimang]] have also been criticised by the medical and AIDS-activist community for their perceived support for Rath's claims.<ref name="lancet-news"/><ref>[http://www.businessday.co.za/Articles/TarkArticle.aspx?ID=1424752 'Minister defends vitamin guru’s views on AIDS, nutrition’] Business Day newspaper, South Africa. Published 13 April 2005. Retrieved 3 June 2008.</ref><ref>[http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=784783 TAC calls for Manto’s head over Rath] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614150714/http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=784783 |date=14 June 2008 }}. Published 13 June 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2008.</ref> According to doctors with [[Médecins Sans Frontières]],<ref name="Denouncer"/> the [[Treatment Action Campaign]] (a South African AIDS-activist group)<ref name="plusnews-1">[http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=78739 South Africa: TAC prevails over Rath. PlusNews Global, 13 June 2008.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415175407/http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=78739 |date=15 April 2009 }}. Retrieved 15 June 2008.</ref> and a former Rath colleague,<ref name="no-drugs"/> unauthorised [[clinical trial]]s run by Rath and his associates, using vitamins as therapy for HIV, resulted in deaths of some participants. In 2008, the [[Cape High Court]] found the trials unlawful, banned Rath and his foundation from conducting unauthorised clinical trials and from advertising their products, and instructed the South African Health Department to fully investigate Rath's vitamin trials.<ref name="plusnews-1"/><ref>[http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN351191.html South African court bans AIDS vitamin trials] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130104202703/http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN351191.html |date=4 January 2013 }}. Published by [[Reuters]] on 13 June 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2008.</ref> In 2008, Rath expanded his advertising to Russia, a country where the incidence of HIV/AIDS had been increasing.<ref name="FallofRath"/>