I’m Dr Leena Uppal from Mead Medical.

Medical Myth Busting and the Black Salve

Myth: Black salve can be used safely to treat skin cancer and other skin conditions naturally and effectively. This myth is responsible for serious harm and even death in some cases. The sale of Black Salve in Australia is illegal. But-it is also easily available online from countries with less regulation. It most commonly it contains bloodroot and zinc Chloride. Zinc chloride is a synthetic corrosive chemical with nothing natural about it. This combination causes tissue destruction and scabbing and the dead tissue eventually sloughs away.

It has an interesting history.

In the 1850’s American surgeon, Jesse Fell popularised Fell’s Paste. He learned of bloodroot from the Native Americans and added in zinc chloride. On emigrating to London he briefly established a lucrative cancer practice using this paste but was soon ridiculed by the medical establishment.

In the 1920’s, Harry Hoxsey, an insurance salesman, began selling Hoxey’s Red Paste which had antimony trisulfide added to the bloodroot and zinc chloride. . Hoxsey opened 17 clinics across the US and treated thousands of patients-but the American Medical Association branded Hoxsey a fraud and the US FDA posted warnings about Hoxsey’s Paste in 46,000 US post offices!

In the 1930’s Dr Frederick Moh noted that zinc chloride fixed and histologically preserved skin in vivo. He patented a paste that contained stibnite and bloodroot and zinc chloride to help him map tumour margins. This technique was very successful but Dr Moh patented the paste to prevent it being used improperly as standalone therapy.

In 1975 Dr Almeida Goncalves, developed a paste with galangal + bloodroot + zinc chloride. He applied this salve for 24 hours to a lesion as well as 5-10mm of normal looking skin around it. Biopsies taken during 5-10 yr follow up showed no recurrences but there were high failure rates on initial application. Up to 38% BCCs and 21% SCCs failed to respond. Multiple applications were needed. This suggests that treatment Black Salve is very risky and patients using Black Salve are at considerable risk of residual cancer if they do not have biopsies after salve application.

In the 1990’s Greg Caton formed Alpha Omega Labs, which made Black Salve. Caton served a US prison sentence for mail fraud and the introduction of new, unapproved drugs, but after he got out of prison he moved to Ecuador where he still sells Black Salve online to the world, just outside US jurisdiction.

In summary, Black Salve is not natural, it is not cancer specific and it harms normal human tissue!

Medical Myth number one, busted.

Welcome Dr Celia Worth

We welcome Dr Celia Worth to the Mead Medical team.

Dr Worth is a mother of two young children and completed her medical degree at the University of Queensland in 2008. She then she went on to complete five years of speciality training in obstetrics and gynaecology at predominantly Liverpool Hospital, a busy tertiary centre in Sydney.

In 2017 she made the difficult decision to follow her husband back to his home town in Perth and refocus her priorities to work life balance and being a mother.

Since that time she has been working as a career medical officer in obstetrics and gynaecology at Joondalup Hospital.

For now, she is working towards completing the general practitioner component of becoming a GP obstetrician but hopes to complete her specialist training in the future once her children are at school.

Celia is passionate about every aspect of women’s health and providing women with equitable access to all available resources, information and health care providers.

Her current aspirations include having another child, providing care to women with a holistic approach and locuming in remote areas of Western Australia to bridge the gap in health care provision for women.

Welcome back Dr Anna Dillon and Dr Sandy Braiuka

Dr Anna Dillon

We welcome back Dr Anna Dillon and Dr Sandy Braiuka who are returning to the Mead Medical team after finishing their training at other practices.

Dr Anna Dillon initially qualified as a Physiotherapist in 2002 and worked in NZ, the UK and Australia before deciding to study medicine at Notre Dame in Fremantle. She graduated in 2012 and worked at Fremantle Hospital. While doing a GP term in Carnarvon she discovered her passion for general practice and womens health and she has subsequently undertaken 2 years of womens health training and is part of the Mead team who provide obstetric care at Bentley Hospital. Anna is passionate about all aspects of general practice with a particular interest in women’s health, sexual health, paediatrics, sports medicine and preventative health. Outside of work Anna and her partner are kept busy with their gorgeous infant son. She also enjoys running and mountain biking and exploring WA.

Dr Sandy Braiuka

Dr Sandy Braiuka has enjoyed careers in many aspects of health care for over 30 years, including as a teacher, researcher, naturopath, kinesiologist and now as a Doctor. She has a special interest in sexual health, paediatrics, mental health, palliative care and all aspects of women’s health including antenatal care and insertion and removal of mirenas and implanons. Her passion is integrative medicine and the exploration of the mind-body connection through mindfulness, meditation and preventative health care. Outside of medicine, Sandy loves singing with the Gay and Lesbian choir and traveling to explore new places, cultures and food.

Goodbye Dr Helen Wilcox

We’re sad to advise that Dr Helen Wilcox has left Mead. She and her husband have made the decision to move their family back to the UK. Helen spent 6 years with us and will be sorely missed by patients, staff and fellow Doctors alike. We wish Helen and her family the best of luck for the next phase of their lives.

Today we welcome Dr Johan du Preez as a full time Doctor at Mead Medical.

Dr du Preez has been working with us on the weekends for some time, but as of today adds Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays to his existing weekend sessions at Mead.

His interest lies in acute care and preventative care of acute/chronic disease processes across all age groups. He is well versed in skin checks and small procedures/excisions as well as acute injury management and is a strong believer in evidence based medicine.

Appointments with Dr du Preez can be made online via our website, via the Hot Doc app on your smartphone, or by calling 9293 4455 (Kalamunda) and 9453 6566 (Forrestfield).

We’re pleased to announce that Dr Johan du Preez will extend his sessions with us and from Monday 27^th May will commence full time, consulting Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday, as well as his current weekend schedule.

He will work across both Kalamunda and Forrestfield, and as usual, appointments can be made via our website, the Hot Doc app on your smartphone or by calling 9293 4455 (Kalamunda) and 9453 6566 (Forrestfield).

Mead Medical are very pleased to announce that Dr Debalina Gon Chaudhury has joined the practice and will commence Saturday sessions with us as of Saturday 12^th April. Appointments can be made by calling 9293 4455 (Kalamunda), online at meadmedical.com.au or via the Hot Doc app on your smartphone.

Dr Chaudhury graduated from India and migrated to Perth in 2009. Since then she has worked in various hospitals and disciplines throughout WA. Dr Chaudhury entered GP training in the Northern Territory in 2016 and completed her training in 2018, during which time she gained strong experience in Aboriginal health. She is now a Fellow of the Royal Australia College of GPs (RACGP), holds certificates in emergency medicine, family planning and sexual health, and can assist in contraception & menopause advice, and implanon insertion and removal. Dr Chaudhury has specific interest in women’s health, emergency medicine, Aboriginal health, chronic disease management and preventive health.

Book now for your flu vaccination!

Please see below the list of opening hours for both clinics over the Easter & ANZAC Day period.

Mead Medical would like to welcome Dr Johannes du Preez to the Mead Medical team.

Dr du Preez studied in South Africa and worked there for two years in a GP practice before leaving for Canada in 1997 where he met his wife and their two children were born.

While in Canada he obtained his LMCC in 1999, a further certificate of competency in family/general practice in 2003 and in 2005 a certificate of competency in emergency medicine.

Over 19 years he worked in a number of locations in northern Alberta and Vancouver Island as a primary partner in a GP practice as well as an emergency physician in tertiary referral hospitals.

Johan and his family moved to Australia in 2016 where he obtained Fellowship with the RACGP and has been practicing in an urban GP practice for the past two years.

Mead Medical is now open all day across the weekend for your convenience.

Mead Medical is excited to announce that Dr Elaine Lee will join the practice, commencing on Tuesday 22nd January.

Dr Lee graduated from the University of Western Australia and is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. She is experienced in occupational health medicine, chronic disease management, mental health, women’s and men’s health. She also has a postgraduate qualification in paediatric medicine.

Dr Lee was awarded WA GP Registrar of the Year in 2013 for her commitment and dedication towards providing community care in rural and Aboriginal health settings.

In addition to this, she is able to converse in multiple languages including Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka and Hokkien) and Malay.

Appointments with Dr Lee can be made by calling 9293 4455 (Kalamunda), 9453 6566 (Forrestfield), online via our website or via the Hot Doc app on your smartphone.