# Did Royal Raymond Rife find a cure for cancer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 24, 2001, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205 "2001-10-24T00:07:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/41 "2012-11-30T18:34:39Z")
General rule: If you read about it in an unsolicited email, it’s phony. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/42 "2012-11-30T18:58:32Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > There was recently an NPR story on some current research based on RRR’s work. Applying sound waves at the resonance frequency of certain cells seemed to kill them. It sounded like there was some limited success and the work’s ongoing. When I get home I’ll look for some info. Isn’t that how the sonic toothbrushes claim (or did claim) to work? I sort of remember that Sonicare made that claim when they first came out in the late 1980s. I know they don’t make that claim anymore, because I recently had to replace mine after ten years of faithful service, and now the box and the instruction sheet make no mention of this wondrous effect whatsoever. However, I used to own another brand named Ultrasonex that made that very claim—that the sonic waves killed oral bacteria. Even my dentist vouched for them. To be fair though, it’s possible that both brands simply claimed to loosen or somehow disrupt the biofilm. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/43 "2012-11-30T19:07:38Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > Reading some of the web-sites devoted to this gave me the distinct feeling that we’re dealing with snake-oil. Similar to the Miss Cleo disclaimer, “For entertainment only”, several sites promoting Rife devices include “I am not an oncologist, but a homeopathic practitioner”, etc. > > While a respected journal’s silence on the subject could be the sign of a giant conspiracy, it could also just be that they find it too laughable to address. > > The NCAHF does have [this](http://www.ncahf.org/articles/o-r/rife.html) to say about it. His invention sounds more likely to cause cancer than cure it! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/44 "2012-11-30T22:46:47Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Even “Moe the Fish” fails to intimidate. They called him “The Bottom-Feeder” - but never to his face. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![wheresmymind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@wheresmymind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheresmymind)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/45 "2012-11-30T23:51:54Z")
I’m pretty sure **DarrenS** has figured out that Raymond’s invention is bunk sometime in the past 12 years. Or in the 2 years since this zombie was last re-animated. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/46 "2012-11-30T23:55:11Z")
This quote: > [@](#): > > Reading some of the web-sites devoted to this gave me the distinct feeling that we’re dealing with snake-oil. Similar to the Miss Cleo disclaimer, “For entertainment only”, several sites promoting Rife devices include “I am not an oncologist, but a homeopathic practitioner”, etc. makes me think of that stupid Airborne product, which proudly claims that it was “invented by an elementary school teacher!” Sorry, but that doesn’t inspire confidence in your product. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/47 "2012-12-01T00:10:49Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Here’s the linik to the story from This American Life **Snarky** mentioned: [http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/450/so-crazy-it-just-might-work](http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/450/so-crazy-it-just-might-work) > > There is also a documentary coming out about the team of researchers. They did have some interesting results but the partnership between the cancer research and the music professor who were working on this had a falling out. It’s worth a listen. The episode centered around the conflicts between the two and the problems with this particular non-scientist trying, even with **significant** assistance, to get reliable results. One notable part featured issues with the inventor not following proper scientific testing procedures\* while treating the samples and this causing the data to be invalid. He also apparently felt like the scientist was moving the goalposts, always demanding more tests, while from the scientific point of view, between the flawed tests and insufficient data, more testing really was needed. So maybe, possibly, it might have promise. Or it might not. - One example off the top of my head, I may be misremembering slightly: The data “showed” the sound-treated samples to have less growth than the control group. But the control group was left in the incubator during the several hours’ worth of treatments, and the treated group was sitting out the whole time. Or was it perhaps intense heat (stronger than the incubator) from the treatment equipment that was slowly killing the treated cells - which won’t be a good technique to use on a living being - while the control cells got to sit in ideal conditions for growth the whole time? ---
**Author:** ![jaketheweight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jaketheweight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaketheweight)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/48 "2012-12-03T05:35:48Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Patents don’t work that way. A patent needs to be for something that’s new and non-obvious, meaning that it can’t just be someone else’s idea and it can’t be a completely trivial concept obvious to people who work in the relevant field. Ease of manufacture doesn’t enter into it. > > Except that a patent requires that the entire plans be laid out in public for everyone to see. That’s the deal: You make your invention public, and the government enforces a limited monopoly for you where they’ll help you go after anyone else who makes money off of your invention. > > You could keep it a trade secret, foregoing the patent and keeping everything under wraps. Except if you do that, you no longer have the governmental monopoly and the first time one of your machines cures someone it will get torn down to component parts and everyone will be making knock-offs within a week. > > So? Even if your story’s true, it has no bearing on whether someone else could have paid Rife for his plans and carried on in his stead. > > What? No. That’s idiotic. If I have a machine that cures cancer, I don’t give a shit about the AMA. I give a shit about curing cancer. > > So… if he had a device to cure disease, why did he die of a disease? > > A lot of people traveled from the US to the UK during WWII. > > So your story is fatally flawed and does nothing to bolster your position. The wall-o-text effect would have stunned me, but, thankfully, I have my +2 Glasses of Skimming and I made my endurance roll. Your reading comprehension is absolutely terrible, It’s not a story I made up it’s from a documentary I can post the link if you like. My postion is not of belief in RR I merely said it was an interesting documentary. Again it’s not my story it’s from a documentary ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/49 "2012-12-03T13:28:07Z")
> [@jaketheweight](#): > > Your reading comprehension is absolutely terrible, It’s not a story I made up it’s from a documentary I can post the link if you like. My postion is not of belief in RR I merely said it was an interesting documentary. Again it’s not my story it’s from a documentary So I take it you don’t really believe what you posted then? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/50 "2012-12-03T15:28:26Z")
Royal Rife is championed in “Natural Cures ‘They’ Don’t Want You To Know About” by Kevin Trudeau. Says it all, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/51 "2012-12-03T16:05:23Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > So I take it you don’t really believe what you posted then? Give the guy a break, he’s Just Asking Questions. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/52 "2012-12-03T18:25:32Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Give the guy a break, he’s Just Asking Questions. My apologies then. I didn’t recognize a question in jaketheweight’s first post (and really still haven’t found a question in it). It just seemed to me at first he was posting something he thought to be true, and his second post confused me with regards to whether or not he actually believed it. I’m still not really sure…Does he really believe what he posted? I can’t tell. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/53 "2012-12-03T21:01:13Z")
[When ‘Just Asking Questions’ is capitalized, this is what it means](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/JAQing_off): > [@](#): > > [T]he act of spouting accusations while cowardly hiding behind the claim that one is “ **J** ust **A** sking **Q** uestions”. The strategy is to keep asking leading questions in an attempt to influence listeners’ views; the term is derived from the frequent claim by the denialist that they are “just asking questions,” albeit in a manner much the same as political [push polls](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Push_poll). It is often associated with [denialism](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Denialism) in general. It’s pretty much a term of art in some circles, especially among the people who deal with conspiracy nutcases on a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![srobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@srobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srobi)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/54 "2013-09-10T14:21:12Z")
> [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](#): > > Ah, radionics. > > [Rife Machine Operator Sued | Quackwatch](http://www.quackwatch.com/04ConsumerEducation/News/rife.html) > > I think that’s a definite “no”, Darren. 😃 I’ll agree that a lot of this sounds dubious on the surface but don’t be too quick to dismiss all of it. This radionics is precisely what happens with ultraviolet germicidal radiation, a time proven process ([Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet_germicidal_irradiation)). It’s a different, but specific, wavelength and the cell doesn’t rupture, but rather, the nucleus is rendered non-functional. In that respect I’d say that the concept holds water, although you can’t use it in the presence of living tissue and avoid doing damage to that. I would like to see a test where they separate blood components keeping the blood cells safe while irradiating the virus particles contained in the remaining serum. This separation is easily done. Another part I’d like to learn more about is whether in fact the telescope in question did more than what people claim is possible with conventional optics. But so far I see a lot of testimonials and not much substance. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/55 "2013-09-10T15:20:03Z")
> [@srobi](#): > > I’ll agree that a lot of this sounds dubious on the surface but don’t be too quick to dismiss all of it. This radionics is precisely what happens with ultraviolet germicidal radiation, a time proven process ([Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet_germicidal_irradiation)). > It’s a different, but specific, wavelength and the cell doesn’t rupture, but rather, the nucleus is rendered non-functional. Bullshit. Re-read your wiki link. UV radiation causes DNA damage to all cell types: bacteria, healthy human cells, cancer cells, doesn’t matter. “Radionics” has nothing to do with UV radiation, and has no plausible mechanism to affect only cancer cells. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/56 "2013-09-10T15:57:19Z")
Wow, a thrice-revived zombie thread! This must be some sort of record. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/57 "2013-09-10T16:01:36Z")
**Moderator Note** Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board, srobi. Please note that this thread was started many years ago, and the post in particular that you are replying to was made in 2001 (12 years ago). We tend to call threads that have been revived like this “zombies” so don’t be too surprised if you see a few zombie jokes as a result of your reply here. Note that we don’t mind zombies here on the SDMB as long as you add something useful to the conversation. Just be aware that many of the original thread participants may not even be around any more to respond to your comments. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/58 "2013-09-10T16:13:20Z")
> [@jaketheweight](#): > > This pissed off the AMA in particular Morris Fishbein who was the head of the ama and as corrupt a person as you could find. The rest of you can read about Morris Fishbein’s decades-long quest against “goat gland” quack John R. Brinkley in [Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam](http://books.google.com/books?id=qWSmOQAACAAJ). Fishbein couldn’t take action against Brinkley or other quacks directly, since they obviously stayed out of the AMA. But he could crusade in the pages of the Journal of the AMA and in the popular medical magazine they printed, Hygieia. He also could put pressure on state medical boards to pull their licenses. (Which they often refused to because of political pressure coming from the vast amount of money the quacks brought in, far more than mere doctors.) Fishbein was not a saint or even a tzadik. He had a tremendous ego, loved his little fiefdom, and stayed overlong with conservative practices in an age of medical advances. But he was also right about quacks. Brinkley made the mistake of suing him for libel and managed to lose the case in his home town before a jury of people who benefited from the money he was bringing into town. If an actual doctor doing conventional medicine opposed Fishbein, that doctor was probably right. But someone outside the system who never allowed others to independently test his outlandish claims opposed him, he was certainly wrong. A whole parallel world of “suppressed” cancer cures exists. Cheap, noninvasive, and 100% effective. So why is nobody using them anywhere? Why wouldn’t a rogue country set themselves up as the cancer cure capital of the world? Why wouldn’t a religious body gain ten million adherents as providers of a miracle cure? Why wouldn’t doctors use it on their loved ones, for that matter? If it were real, how could a thousand AMAs keep it hidden? The answer is the same as the why in all conspiracy theories. The theory is wrong, and the cure doesn’t exist. Sad and simple. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/60 "2023-02-14T15:08:36Z")
Haven’t heard of Hulda Clark before, but I have to say what’s on her [wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulda_Regehr_Clark?wprov=sfla1) does not inspire confidence: > Regarding the effectiveness of her treatment, Clark wrote, “The method is 100% effective in stopping cancer regardless of the type of cancer or how terminal it may be. It follows that this method must work for you, too, if you are able to carry out the instructions.” > Clark died 3 September 2009 from blood and bone cancer. 🤷 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205/61 "2023-02-14T22:09:57Z")
Readers will be glad to know that they can still buy Rife machines online. eBay is a fertile source; you can even get a Rife machine with built-in Hulda Clark frequencies. There may not be a specific frequency for vanquishing zombies, but surely something on this list works. > **[Royal Rife Machine Frequencies](https://altered-states.net/barry/rifefrequencies/rifemachinefrequencyindex.htm)** > > Rife machine frequencies,Common bacteria can cause heart attacks,Chlamydia pneumoniae, Chlamydia pneumoniae bacteria enter the body through the mouth and nose, infecting the lungs and causing respiratory diseases such as bronchitis and pneumonia. > ., [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-royal-raymond-rife-find-a-cure-for-cancer/89205.md?page=4)