Rebuttal

The article below has been posted on http:https://www.youngliving.org/US/quackwatch/quackwatch_content.asp

Examining the Truth

By Terry S. Friedmann, MD, ABHM and

Sabina DeVita, EdD, DNM, RNCP with Karen Boren

Part I: Young Living Essential Oils

As Young Living Essential Oils' products, influence, and business opportunities extend around the world, the company and its founder occasionally come under attack by those who take an adversarial stance toward natural healthcare. Unfortunately, these attacks are often full of inaccurate information and are intended to discredit alternative medicine and malign leading proponents of natural healthcare. With today's information technology, these anti-natural agendas are easily channeled through the media and Internet and convincingly portrayed as truth. Because of today's busy lifestyles, viewers and readers have little time to investigate, and therefore oftentimes accept negative information thought to be authoritative as truthful.

In order to provide accurate information and aid to those individuals and groups who have become aware of false claims and are troubled by them, we offer the following documented facts that will prove the integrity of Young Living Essential Oils, its founder and its products. In addition to this summary, there are thousands of university and scientific studies that validate alternative medicine and its role in modern healthcare.

Young Living Essential Oils

Young Living Essential Oils is dedicated to uniting ancient traditions and modern science to produce the highest-quality essential oils and oil-enhanced products in the world. They empower individuals and families to achieve their highest potential and enjoy increased physical, mental, emotional and financial health.

Young Living's global growth is attributed to its superior products.

The company manufactures and sells the highest quality essential oils available anywhere in the world. Its products are endorsed by hundreds of medical professionals, including such nationally recognized figures as Ronald Lawrence, Ph.D., M.D.

Quality is first and foremost at Young Living. No expense is spared in testing and proving that Young Living products are superior to competitors'. This claim is supported by gas chromatography testing which is conducted at two French laboratories that are AFNOR-certified. AFNOR (the Association French Normalization Organization Regulation) sets the standards for essential oils to differentiate true therapeutic-grade essential oils from similar oils with inferior chemistry.

The therapeutic benefits of essential oils are well documented—research abounds and is ongoing in the scientific and medical community. The United States National Library of Medicine (PubMed) website (with more than 14 million medical abstracts from peerreviewed journals) featured 3,780 abstracts about essential oils as of May 2004. Scientists and researchers are investigating essential oils on such topics as: “Terpinen-4-ol, the main component of Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil inhibits the in vitro growth of human melanoma cells” (Feb. 2004), “Composition and the in vitro antimicrobial activities of the essential oils of some Thymus varieties,” (Jan-Feb. 2004), “Susceptibility of methicillin-resistant staphylococci to oregano essential oil, carvacrol and thymol” (Jan. 2004).

As a global leader in the cultivation, distillation and production of pure therapeutic-grade essential oils, Young Living Essential Oils is guided by seasoned executives and is firmly based with more than 250,000 independent distributors worldwide.

These distributors are passionate about achieving their highest potential—by improving their physical, emotional and financial well-being—and helping others achieve the same success. Their own positive experiences with Young Living products have driven them to learn more about alternative medicine and to share these health discoveries with family, friends and co-workers. Young Living offers seminars and training meetings to keep members and their guests updated and educated about the latest research and discoveries made by the scientific community and medical field. The company takes pride in the fact that its distributors are knowledgeable, professional individuals and that the company is led by an experienced executive team.

Alternative Medicine in Modern Society

Alternative medicine grew out of a desire for people to take responsibility for their own health and well-being. Many see the need to find sources other than prescription drugs for balance and nutritional benefit. Modern medicine will always have its place, but so will alternative methods and products.

Young Living's founder, Gary Young, has steadfastly stated his desire to promote health and wellness through excellent, high quality products.

Young Living Under Attack

Specific allegations have been directed at Young Living Essential Oils and the company's founder, Gary Young, in an effort to discredit them. These false and misleading statements appear on a website identified as Quackwatch. The defamatory campaign of Quackwatch and the pharmaceuticals (see part II of this article) is to discourage people from using natural products and health remedies, therefore leaving people to believe that high-priced patented drugs are the only answer. We encourage you to examine the truth and exercise your power of choice. Following are some of the more virulent accusations that have been leveled against Gary Young and Young Living. Because of the blatant nature and lack of integrity inherent in this campaign of defamation, we have felt it necessary to respond to these allegations.

*(Quackwatch allegations):

* “[Gary Young] graduated from the Challis, Idaho high school on May 23, 1967. This is the only legitimate educational credential that I have been able to verify.” (Emphasis added.)

Gary Young received his Doctorate of Naturopathy from Bernadean University. At the time when Gary was working on his degree (1982-85), Bernadean was the only school offering these studies. During this time, the school was under the direction of Joseph M. Kadans, Ph.D. All the coursework that Gary completed was reviewed by a medical doctor. The university, however, did not participate in the accreditation process. Gary is currently pursuing further studies from accredited universities.

In his pursuit of health secrets, Gary has studied in places all over the world—from remote villages to cosmopolitan cities—from world-renowned experts in natural health medicine. He has dedicated himself to learning not only the science behind essential oils, but also the art of growing and distilling them so that the result is the highest-grade oils available.

Gary Young has studied with such experts as J.C. Lapraz, M.D., in France (effects of essential oils on the respiratory system), and in Egypt with Radwan Farag, Ph.D., (essential oil chemistry and its effect on the immune system). He also studied essential oil chemistry, absolute extraction and gas chromatography at Anadolu University in Eskisehir, Turkey.

He has traveled around the world seeking the health secrets of the peoples of Ningxia, China, Hunzaland in Pakistan, southern Ecuador, the Talish Mountains of Azerbaijan and the Tarahumara Indians of central Mexico.

Gary Young also commands impressive designing and fabricating skills. Essential oil experts from France (including Marcel Espieu, former president of the Lavender Growers Association and Jean-Noel Landel, M.B.A.) have paid high compliments for the essential oil distilling equipment Gary Young designed and built.1

The education that Gary Young has sought throughout the world has its culmination in the business he built, the farms and distilleries he engineered and the pure oils he creates and markets.

* “He claims that while he was working as a logger in 1973, a falling tree struck him on the head.”

Gary Young's wife at the time of the accident, Donna Jean Datoff, has verified in a notarized statement the reality of the accident and Gary's time spent in two Canadian hospitals.

* “I seriously doubt that he can substantiate his claim that the products he used actually cured him.”

By following his nutrition and exercise program, 55-year-old Gary Young cured himself after his injuries and is in excellent health. He leads a very active lifestyle, including weight-lifting each day, backpacking into wilderness areas and jousting in tournaments.

Gary placed first in the National Physique Committee, Inc. (NPC) Western States Fitness Contest in 2002 and second in the 2003 competition. He took second place in the 2003 World Championship Jousting Association's International Dragon's Lair Jousting Tournament (jousting skilled-at-arms) and fifth place in the light armor division.

Gary teaches the importance of proper nutrition and exercise, and encourages others to follow healthy habits in their lives as well. There is an exhausting list of medical abstracts showing how crucial nutrition and exercise are to health and well-being. By typing in the key words “nutrition” and “exercise” on the PubMed website of the National Library of Medicine, 5,822 peerreviewed articles appear.

* “This description [the story of a man and his mission from the YL website] suggests that before Young embarked on his health-related career, he was mentally unstable and possibly even brain damaged.”

The author of this site, Stephen Barrett, has made an unsubstantiated psychiatric diagnosis which is both inaccurate and unprofessional. Stephen Barrett has never met with nor talked to Gary Young at any time in his life, and is therefore unqualified to make a diagnosis of his mental health. Gary Young's life and his many accomplishments are proof of his mental stability—he has acquired immense knowledge about essential oils, has designed and fabricated complicated essential oil distilling equipment, has conducted extensive research, has formulated several products, oversees the harvest and production on his farms, has written and published books, is the founder and president of an international company and has created a humanitarian project that is helping improve the lives of the Tarahumara Indians.

* [While delivering his own child] “He left the baby under water for almost an hour, causing the death of an apparently healthy infant on September 4, 1982. Although the coroner said that the baby would have lived if she had been delivered in a conventional manner, Young was never charged in that case.”

This statement, which is completely false and misleading, shows a lack of humanity from the accuser. No one caused the tragic death of the Youngs' infant, and it was not “apparently healthy” as Barrett accuses, nor was it “under water for almost an hour.” The baby died due to serious complications that were not related to the delivery. Legal charges were never considered, as there was no question concerning the integrity of the delivery.

* “Butch Owen, an American essential oils exporter living and working in Turkey, investigated Young's claims of Turkish credentials and found them to be unsubstantiated. Professor Mustafa Keviz, a lecturer on the Agricultural and Plants faculty of Anadolu University, stated that Gary Young had never given lectures there. The United Nations Development Organization (sic) never sponsored Young or invited him to speak. He showed up uninvited and convinced some officials to permit him to present on two topics.”

Professor K. Husnu Baser, Head of the Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Anadolu University in Eskisehir, Turkey, refuted these false accusations in an e-mail sent on March 27, 2004, to Emily Wright, executive assistant to Gary and Mary Young.

Dr. Baser said he knows Butch Owen and that Owen “is against him [Gary Young] and his deeds in full force. This is possibly due to a more established market situation of Gary's business and he and people like him are jealous and trying to destroy [Gary] and his fame as much as possible.”

Dr. Baser further stated, “Gary was invited to the 1995 UNIDO Workshop by Prof. Tuley de Silva, who was the person in charge of UNIDO's programmes on medicinal and aromatic plants at the time. Gary gave more than one lecture during the workshop.” With regard to the statement by Professor Mustafa Keviz, Dr. Baser said: “I do not know that Mustafa person. I was the person in charge of organizing the meeting but all the lectures were decided and invited by UNIDO.”

Dr. Baser also confirmed that Gary studied essential oil chemistry, absolute extraction, and gas chromatography at Anadolu University when Professor Baser was director of the Medicinal and Aromatic Plant and Drug Research Centre (TBAM).

Dr. Baser concluded, “I hope this is enough clarification about the nasty claims people make using my name about Gary Young. Please give my best wishes to Gary, Mary, Sue and all other friends in Payson, too many to name. Best wishes, Prof. Dr. K. Husnu Baser.”

* “What about Young's claims to be an authority on essential oils? The publisher of the Journal of Essential Oils [sic] (JOAR) has confirmed that Young co-authored at least one paper in the JEOR. The publisher also pointed out that the JEOR did not verify his credentials.”

The correct title is the Journal of Essential Oil Research. Gary Young was a co-author on two scientific papers submitted to JEOR. In addition, as a grower, distiller and formulator of essential oils and blends, he understands and uses a gas chromatograph to analyze the chemical constituents in essential oils. The research involved is valid science conducted according to rigorous scientific standards and overseen by Young Living scientist Sue Chao, Diane Horne of Weber State University and D. Gary Young.

Gary Young's credentials include his lecturing worldwide. He lectured at the First International Symposium on Integrated Medical Aromatherapy in Grasse, France, March 21-22, 1998. Among the other presenters were essential oil experts Pierre Franchomme, director of research, Bucharest, Romania, and Daniel Penoel, M.D.

* “Young also claims expertise in the design of equipment for the distillation of essential oils and says that he has designed and built several distillers for producing his oils. On August 17, 2000, one of his homemade distillers ruptured at the lid/cover joint, fatally injuring a worker at Young Living Farms in Mona, Utah.”

Gary Young designed his first small cooker/distiller in 1989. In 1991 he built a second carbon steel portable distiller with an 80-liter capacity. By 2002, Young Living Essential Oils had four 4,100-liter cookers, a 6,900-liter cooker, three 8,700-liter cookers, two 12,500-liter cookers, and one specially designed 1,600-liter cooker.

Young Living has distilled sage, clary sage, thyme, lavender, bergamot, tarragon, German and Roman chamomile, melissa, tansy, peppermint, goldenrod, hyssop, oregano and spearmint. From wildcrafted trees,YL has distilled pine, fir, balsam fir, juniper, cedar, white fir and tsuga.

In 15 years of distilling essential oils from farms in two states, there has been only one accident. Tragically, a worker was killed in this accident. Young Living provided financial compensation to the family and immediately adopted a recommendation made by the Utah Occupational Safety and Health Division on how to avoid over-pressurization.

Young Living has complied with all recommendations of the Utah Occupational Safety and Health Division (UOSHD).

* “Young's book Aromatherapy: The Essential Beginning has a whole chapter on ancient and modern equipment used for steam distillation. Although the chapter emphasizes that ‘the best quality of oil would be produced when the pressure was zero pounds during distillation,’ the UOSHD report noted that steam had delivered to the vessel at 125 p.s.i. (pounds per square inch) of pressure.” [Emphasis added.]

For the plants distilled at the Mona, Utah farm, Gary designed the equipment to distill at no more than 5 p.s.i.. The steam enters the cooker under slight pressure in order to force the steam up through the column of plant material, carrying away the essential oil. The steam naturally convects up through the plant material. By the time it reaches the top of the cooker, there is virtually no pressure.

During the accident, there was an over-pressurization event, however, even the UOSHD inspector could not say exactly what happened. This malfunction allowed excessive pressure to build, causing the vessel lid to fail.

Pressure is needed to deliver the steam from the boiler. The maximum pressure possible in the boiler is 125 p.s.i.. However, as the steam moves through the pipes into the cooker, the pressure is less than 5 p.s.i. (depending on the plant being distilled). The steam encounters an “open vessel.” This means that the steam freely goes up through the plant material, then flows to the condenser where it goes through 270 tubes that are 9/16ths of an inch in diameter, cooling back into water and entering the separator. The essential oil floats on the top where it is collected, and the water freely flows out of the separator. There is nothing to hinder the movement of first the steam, and then the water.

It is important to note that Barrett is incorrect when he states: “the UOSHD report noted that steam had delivered to the vessel [that ruptured at the lid joint] at 125 p.s.i.” What the report actually states is: “steam is delivered to the vessels at amaximum pressure of 125 p.s.i. from a gas-fired boiler.”2 [Emphasis added.] Barrett has misread the report.

* “All product descriptions include the disclaimer, ‘This statement has not been evaluated the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.’ The FDA has warned the company not to claim that certain products are intended to treat, prevent, cure, or mitigate disease.”

These disclaimers are required by law, and Young Living, as well as thousands of other alternative, natural health manufacturers comply with the requirements. The FDA only allows information about structure and function of the body and certain approved health claims. Only drugs can legally make therapeutic claims.

* “The mere fact that a substance was used by past cultures does not prove that it is safe, effective, or useful for any disease state.”

Of course it doesn't. Research is required to determine which substances are safe and effective, and that is why Young Living conducts extensive scientific research. Perhaps Barrett is taking issue here with Egyptian and biblical uses of essential oils and modern applications of such knowledge. Oils and unguents are mentioned nearly 100 times in the Bible. The ancient Egyptian document, the Ebers Papyrus, (discovered in 1817) listed over 800 different herbal prescriptions and remedies.

The fact is that many traditional folk treatments have led to modern-day formulas prescribed by doctors. Willow bark was used in China for centuries before chemists broke down its ingredients and came up with the chemical formula for aspirin. The pain-relieving methyl salicylate found in wintergreen and birch essential oils has been synthesized for use in sports massages. The herbal wisdom of ancient cultures has been proven over and over by modern science.

Sometimes patients come to the clinic when all other medical options have been exhausted and it's almost too late to help them. There is grieving and sorrow when a Young Life patient doesn't make it.

The question must be asked, “Do hospitals ever treat patients who later die?” It is hardly credible to suggest that any healthcare provider could cure all patients.

Stephen Barrett also mentions a testimonial from singer Merrill Osmond whose health problems included:

• • Sleeping disorders that started when he was in his early 30s

  • Gout, which he started developing in his 30s

  • Diabetes, diagnosed when he was in his early 30s

  • Kidney problems—after passing out on stage in his 40s, Merrill was rushed to Duke University where he was told his kidneys were failing and he should bid his family goodbye

  • Mini-strokes, the first at age 21

  • Psoriasis and eczema that have plagued him his entire life

  • Depression that almost took his life when he was in his 20s

  • Fluid surrounding his heart—doctors told him he would not live past the age of 35.

Merrill Osmond was on Glucophage®, Glucotrol®, Prozac®, lithium, Allopurinol®, Ambian®, Lipitor®, Nexium®, Methotrexate® and Enbrel®.

Osmond's story has been told in newspaper and magazine articles. He shares his success at the Young Life Research Clinic with the world. Today, Merrill Osmond is off every one of those prescriptions.

* “Young initially claimed that RDT (Raindrop Technique) could effectively treat scoliosis by affecting toxins and viruses, which he said cause scoliosis. There is no scientific basis to this claim because there is no evidence that either viruses or toxins cause scoliosis.”

Essential Science Publishing has found scientific documentation. The Essential Oils Desk Reference and the Essential Oils Integrative Medical Guide include the following two studies, which show Barrett's ignorance.

Studies at Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland, have linked virus-like particles to idiopathic scoliosis. “The nature of virus-like particles in the paraxial muscles of idiopathic scoliosis,” J Pathol. 1979 Sep;129(1)9-12 and “Virus-like particles in paraspinal muscles in scoliosis,” Br Med J. 1976 Oct 16;2(6041):912-3.

There is much scientific evidence that certain microorganisms lodge near the spinal cord and contribute to deformities. Research at the Pasteur Institute in France, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, documented increasing numbers of patients showing evidence of spinal disease caused by tuberculosis. (Jenks PJ, Stewart B, “Images in Clinical Medicine: Vertebral Tuberculosis,” N Engl J Med. 1998 Jun 4;338(23):1677.)

Reuters just reported on April 23, 2004, that a common cold virus can hide out in the lungs for weeks or months. Viruses certainly hide out along the spine as well.

* “Raindrop uses seven single oils plus two blends formulated by YLEO. The concentrations of several oils exceed recommended safe doses and can cause skin irritation, sensitivity, phototoxicity, and essential oil toxicity.”

The third edition of the Essential Oils Desk Reference notes: “Using undiluted essential oils in the Raindrop Technique is consistent with the French model for aromatherapy—which is the most extensively practiced and studied model in the world. An illustrious roster of 20th century French physicians provides convincing evidence that undiluted essential oils have a valuable place in the therapeutic arsenal of clinical professionals. Rene' Gattefosse', Ph.D., Jean Valnet, M.D., Jean-Claude Lapraz, M.D., Daniel Penoel, M.D. and many others have long attested to the safe and effective use of undiluted essential oils and the dramatic and powerful benefits they can impart.”

Should there be skin irritation, adding a pure vegetable oil or massage oil soothes away any sensitivity. “A Statistical Validation of Raindrop Technique” lists the overwhelmingly positive experiences that more than 400 respondents had to the Raindrop Technique. (Available at Essential Science Publishing.)

Ralph Moss, Ph.D., author of The Moss Reports on cancer notes that, “Quack was often a convenient term to attack one's ideological opponents. The essence of a quack, however, was that he 'transgressed what those in the saddle defined as true, orthodox, regular, good, medicine.'”

D. Gary Young received this word of praise from Alexander G. Schauss, Ph.D., CEO and President of the American Institute for Biosocial and Medical Research, Inc.:

“I have known Gary for well over a decade, during which time I have marveled at his desire to continuously travel worldwide in his pursuit of knowledge. As a lifetime student of health care, Gary possesses that immutable desire to seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge and thereby find therapeutic applications that would benefit others. He also possesses an exceptional ability to teach and educate others. I have observed Gary in several situations in which he can captivate an audience of hundreds, even thousands, with his methodical and commanding presentation. His ability to translate highly technical information for lay people is exceptional. I have been impressed with how Gary does this accurately without compromising scientific accuracy.”

Ronald M Lawrence, M.D., Ph.D., author of several books and a founding member of the International Association for the Study of Pain, makes this fitting conclusion about Quackwatch and Gary Young:

“Quackwatch is not respected by anyone who has knowledge of complementary and alternative medicine. They [Quackwatch] themselves are deceitful and fabricators. My knowledge of Gary Young and Young Living leads me to believe that Young Living helps far more people than Quackwatch ever could. I think Gary Young has done a fabulous job on aromatherapy and I am 100 percent supportive of what he is doing.”