/oss/taxonomy/term/187/all en /oss/article/health-quackery/blue-scorpion-venom-cancer <p>Cancer patients from around the world have been travelling to Cuba for years to be treated for cancer with venom extracted from the blue scorpion. It all started in the 1980s when biologist Misael Bordier Chivas was carrying out experiments with animal toxins and found that the scorpion venom decreased the size of tumours in rats and dogs. Then, in 1993, a Cuban whose daughter had pancreatic cancer heard about the scorpion venom story and approached Chivas who consented to give the girl some venom mixed with distilled water. She recovered and is alive today.</p> Wed, 15 Feb 2017 20:08:20 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1451 at /oss