Gary Null

Gary Michael Null (born 1945) is an American talk radio host and author. He advocates alternative medicine and naturopathy. On his radio show, and in books and self-produced movies, Null criticizes the mainstream medical community, promotes a range of alternative cancer treatments and dietary supplements, and questions the link between HIV and AIDS. Starting in 1979 and continuing through the 1980s, Null helped produce two series of articles for Penthouse, entitled "The Politics of Cancer" and "Medical Genocide".

In 2010, Null reported that he and six other consumers had been hospitalized – and that he had nearly died – of vitamin D poisoning, after ingesting a nutritional supplement carrying his name and endorsement. Null sued a contractor involved in producing the product, alleging that each contained more than 1,000 times the dose of vitamin D reported on the label.

His views on health and nutrition are at odds with scientific consensus and have been described as "dubious at best."

Early life and education

Null was raised in Parkersburg, West Virginia, with his two brothers. He holds an associate's degree in business administration from Mountain State College in West Virginia and a bachelor of science degree from Thomas Edison State College in Trenton, New Jersey. He has been certified by the State of New York as a dietitian-nutritionist.

Null holds a Ph.D. in human nutrition and public health sciences from Union Institute & University, a private distance-learning college headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Null's doctoral thesis was entitled "A Study of Psychological and Physiological Effects of Caffeine on Human Health".

His credentials, including the degree-granting practices at Edison State and the rigor of the Ph.D. program at Union Institute, were questioned in a 2010 essay by Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch. In it, Barrett labels Null "one of the nation's leading promoters of dubious treatment for serious disease."

Advocacy and adverse responses

Attacks on mainstream medicine

Null attacks many facets of mainstream medicine, arguing that physicians and pharmacuetical companies have an economic interest in promoting rather than preventing sickness. In the 1979-80, he co-authored a series of articles on cancer research for Penthouse, entitled The Politics of Cancer beginning with one entitled "The Great Cancer Fraud." Null's writings in Penthouse accused the medical community of "suppressing alternative cancer treatments to protect the medical establishment's solid-gold cancer train." In place of standard medical therapy, Null advocated alternative cancer treatments such as hydrazine sulfate. In 1985, Null began writing a lengthy series of reports for Penthouse entitled "Medical Genocide". In 1999 TIME wrote of Null: "From a young reporter this is to be expected. But two decades later, Null, 54, is still warning of a variety of medical bogeymen out to gull a trusting public."

In addition to his promotion of alternative cancer treatments and condemnation of the medical establishment, Null has argued that HIV is harmless and does not cause AIDS. In his book AIDS: A Second Opinion, Null questioned the role of antiretroviral medication and instead advocated a range of dietary supplements for HIV-positive individuals. In 2002, Salon.com described the book as "massive, irresponsible and nearly unreadable."

Seth Kalichman has decried Null's role as a prominent proponent of AIDS denialism and has accused him of cashing in on HIV/AIDS; in Kalichman's 2009 book, Denying AIDS, he compared Null's activities to Holocaust denial and described Null as an example of a dangerous entrepreneur who "obviously breached" the balance between free speech and protecting public health.

Radio programs

Null began broadcasting a syndicated radio talk show, Natural Living with Gary Null in 1980. His show was broadcast first on WBAI, then on the VoiceAmerica Network and over the internet. Null's show subsequently returned to WBAI, leading to protests from ACT-UP New York and other AIDS activist groups concerned by Null's promotion of AIDS denialism. He continues to host The Gary Null Show through the Progressive Radio Network, which he established in 2005.

Documentaries and detractors

Null has made several self-funded and self-produced documentary films on public policy issues, personal health, and development. His videos have been aired by PBS during pledge drives, but concern arose within PBS over the videos' sensational claims. Ervin Duggan, the president of PBS, expressed concern that by showing Null's videos, the network was "open[ing] the door to quacks and charlatans." Null implied that his problems with PBS may have been an attempt to silence him, saying: "The guardians of the gates of orthodoxy at PBS... you don't know who their friends are."

Fighting the flu shot

Null was the keynote speaker at a rally opposing mandatory H1N1 influenza vaccination during the 2009 flu pandemic, leading the New York State Department of Health to dismiss Null's claims about the vaccine as "not scientifically credible."

Poisonous supplement

Null owns Gary Null & Associates, a company that markets dietary supplements, as well as a health-food store in New York City. In 2010, Null claimed that he was sickened and nearly killed by his own dietary supplements. On 27 April 2010, The New York Daily News reported that Null had filed a $10 million lawsuit against Triarco Industries in Manhattan Supreme Court, accusing the manufacturer of "botching" its work on "Gary Null's Ultimate Power Meal" through inadequate manufacturing and safety testing, leading to the hospitalization of six consumers for severe kidney damage. The suit alleges that the supplement contained 1,000 times the labelled dose of Vitamin D. Null reportedly suffered severe pain and kidney damage from "Gary Null's Ultimate Power Meal", but continued consuming the supplement in the belief that it would relieve his symptoms. Null's attorney cast the alleged vitamin poisoning as an isolated incident, saying: "We don't want anything to affect the physical well-being of anyone or the reputation of the company."

The Los Angeles Times wrote that Null's experience "should give pause to anyone lured by the extravagant claims of many supplements makers", and noted that it was common for dietary supplements to contain doses "wildly different than those indicated on their label" as a result of weak regulation.

External links

• Official website
• Gary Null at IMDb
• Homepage on Progressive Radio Network