marketed. In a 1996 case, the marketers of a 'Rife device' claiming to cure numerous diseases including cancer and AIDS were convicted of felony health fraud. The sentencing judge described them as "target[ing] the most vulnerable people, including those suffering from terminal disease" and providing false hope. In some cases cancer patients who ceased chemotherapy and instead used these devices have died. A Mount Vernon couple Donald and Sharon Brandt, who operated a clandestine health-care clinic based on Rife's inventions has been convicted for a short imprisonment period. Rife devices are currently classified as a subset of radionics devices, which are generally viewed as pseudomedicine by mainstream experts. In Australia, the use of Rife machines has been blamed for the deaths of cancer patients who might have been cured with conventional therapy. In 2002 John Bryon Krueger, who operated the Royal Rife Research Society, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in a murder and also received a concurrent 30-month sentence for illegally selling Rife devices. In 2009 a U.S. court convicted James Folsom of 26 felony counts for sale of the Rife devices sold as 'NatureTronics', 'AstroPulse', 'BioSolutions', 'Energy Wellness', and 'Global Wellness'. Legacy In 1994, the American Cancer Society's journal CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians criticized Rife's methods and devices in an article titled "Questionable Methods of Cancer Management: Electronic Devices". The ACS reported that Rife machines were being sold in a "pyramid-like, multilevel marketing scheme". A key component in the marketing of Rife devices has been the claim, initially put forward by Rife himself, that the devices were being suppressed by an establishment conspiracy against cancer "cures". Although 'Rife devices' are not registered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and have been linked to deaths among cancer sufferers, The Seattle Times reported that over 300 people attended the 2006 Rife International Health Conference in Seattle, where dozens of unregistered devices were sold. Cancer Research UK, the world's largest independent cancer research charity, has stated: A 2000 article in The Sydney Morning Herald warned: See also Electromagnetic therapy (alternative medicine) List of ineffective cancer treatments Medical applications of radio frequency Pulsed radiofrequency#Therapeutic uses References External links Electromagnetic Therapy from the American Cancer Society Rife devices from the National Council Against Health Fraud 1888 births 1971 deaths 20th-century American inventors Alternative cancer treatment advocates Health fraud People from Douglas County, Nebraska Radionic practitioners American