Profile of a Super Volunteer Activist
Betty Martini
by H. J. Roberts, MD, FACP, FCCP
Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients
May 1996, pp. 106-109
I presumed to have known the nature of consumer "activists"
from encounters with several remarkable persons of this
genre. They had contacted me during previous decades for
information and advice after involving themselves in
various "causes." The latter included concern about
exposure to pesticides, fluoride and other noxious
chemicals, illnesses attributed to the use of products
containing aspartame (NutraSweet(r)) and monosodium
glutamate (MSG), the medical and immunologic complications
of vasectomy, the ravages of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar
attacks), and the need for more rational approaches to the
prevention of multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and
traffic accidents.
But Betty Martini of Atlanta proved the ultimate prototype
for such involvement.
A Roberts' Angel
----------------
Betty first surfaced - or more accurately, bubbled up -
during 1994 when she joined the ranks of "Roberts' Angels."
This term, a takeoff on the television series Charlie's
Angels, was concocted without my knowledge by two "Angels"
in Dallas and Chicago who attempted to warn the public
about the potential hazards of products containing the
chemical sweetener aspartame. This tribute reminded me of
the line in Hamlet: "A ministering angel shall my sister
be."
Betty initially confined her activities to assembling
"kits" of literature detailing the hazards of aspartame.
These contained copies of more than a dozen articles and
letters published in various journals and periodicals, and
my position statements dealing with the potential
complications of aspartame products in persons with
diabetes and hypoglycemia, pregnant women and young
children.
Betty also produced flyers on the subject, and personally
distributed thousands of them to any-and all interested
persons. Concomitantly, she managed to get April declared
as "AntiAspartame Month" in Georgia.
I found it difficult to judge the motives for these
multilateral activities by a unique personality who drew a
martini glass with bubbles alongside her signature.
Moreover, Betty's engaging next-door-neighbor behavior,
coupled with a delightful Southern accent, captivated
members of the media to a degree I had never observed.
I finally concluded that Betty's determined efforts were
totally altruistic and constructive...rather than
reflecting an ego-boosting search for fame or the promotion
of some product. She seemed to embody President Clinton's
remark about the great need for a love standard rather than
a gold standard. As a physician-researcher who had not
received a cent for my studies, I was sensitized to these
matters.
In the process, I also became intrigued with this Atlanta
native who had evolved into such a formidable
self-propelled whistle-blower. Indeed, someone had given
her the "thorn in the side" award of the tongue-in-cheek
National Association of Goodness (NAG).
First Encounter
---------------
I first met Betty in Hollywood, Florida. She was preparing
to fly there, at her own expense, in order to visit the
"FDA Holocaust Museum," and asked me to meet her there. I
had no idea what this enterprise was about.
The facility proved to be a converted store that displayed
dozens of healthrelated features, photos and exhibits. All
underscored dubious decisions made by the FDA that the
museum's founders regarded as improper...and on occasion,
schizoid. On the one hand, this agency permitted the use of
toxic and carcinogenic products for human consumption -
most notably aspartame and MSG. By contrast, it had shut
down firms and physician-clinics because they advocated the
use of herbs, vitamins and other relatively innocuous
supplements. The FDA also arbitrarily refused to approve
Stevia, a natural sweetener long consumed throughout the
world by diabetics and persons with hypoglycemia.
Betty acknowledged that many considerations influenced FDA
policy in these matters, some of which escaped her as a lay
person. But she had seen enough to be convinced that
consumers needed lots more corporate-neutral input and help.
I had no inkling about the enormous energy and wide scope
of this short blond dynamo until she went into high gear in
two realms. One was involvement with aspartame, described
below. The other concerned the injection of synthetic
growth hormone into cows for the purpose of increasing the
supply of milk, even though no shortage existed. This
product was made by the Monsanto Chemical Company...by
coincidence the corporate parent of The NutraSweet Company.
Betty was shocked by the ramifications of recombinant
bovine growth hormone based on an enormous amount of
information she had already gathered. One aspect pertained
to the increase of insulin-like growth factor, which might
be carcinogenic. She proceeded to enlist concerned persons
all over the globe in this venture of righteous indignation.
Atlanta Encounter #1
--------------------
I was to receive an honorary fellowship from the American
College of Physicians in Atlanta during March 1995. When
Betty and Don learned of this forthcoming visit, they
suggested that I meet some of their friends involved in
"Mission Possible"...more intriguing bait.
This sojourn reinforced the impression of a remarkable
woman. Some hallmarks included:
* A great cook
* A devoted wife and mother
* A conscientious Bible teacher (2-3 times weekly)
* A lover of cats (especially Arbuckle)
* A one-of-a-kind advisor to neighbors and friends
* An eager student of cancer and cancer therapy resulting
from her personal battle with breast cancer - a fact
heretofore unknown to me
I delved into Betty's previous activist background as
subtly as possible.
* She had run for Mayor of Atlanta in 1973 against Maynard
Jackson!
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| [picture of Betty Martini and H.J. Roberts, M.D. |
| in original article appears here] |
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| Betty Martini and H.J. Roberts, MD at the convocation of the |
| American College of Physicians on March 16, 1995. |
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* She had established "Physicians on Call," a program that
provided quality emergency medical services on a 24 hour
basis. Jimmy Carter, then Governor of Georgia, wrote her:
"I'm proud of what you're doing."
* She had attempted to establish a state-of-the-art
hospital for trauma in Atlanta. Unfortunately, Betty
encountered stiff resistance from the medical community.
* She had single-handedly exposed fraud in Georgia's
insurance industry. Betty placed a 10-foot-high and
50 foot-wide billboard near the State Capital that cost
$3,500 a month. It contained her lament about the huge
increase in health insurance rates, including her own.
The billboard stated: "Prudential Goosed My Rates 836%...
and gave me Pestilential Prudentialitis. It's
PRUDICULOUS." The message was signed, "MARTINI ON THE
ROCK, INC." - an obvious swipe at the company's trade
mark, the Rock of Gibraltar. These efforts culminated in
sweeping reforms of the State's insurance laws.
Betty indulged in highly effective humorous tactics during
her battle against Prudential. They would be utilized in
subsequent campaigns against aspartame and bovine growth
hormone. She devised a consumer-protest scum remover that
carried the label: "Prudiculous Scum Remover: Combats
Premium Schemiums, Kitus Blarneyitis and Pestilential
Prudentialitis." The latter referred to "a deadly plague
spread by an infection agent...the only cure is
cancellation."
Betty also wrote a ditty called The Hard Rock Blues. It
concluded: "Now my warning, sad but true, Don't let the
rock get a piece of you."
Meeting the Medical Establishment
---------------------------------
Betty insisted upon accompanying me to sessions of the
annual meeting of the American College of Physicians held
at the Georgia World Congress Center. I balked at first.
But there was no question about her intent: to learn. She
listened attentively at every lecture, making extensive and
highly perceptive notes. Without fear or embarrassment,
Betty cornered many physicians including professorial
lecturers - about various topics, and usually ended up
explaining the hazards of aspartame products. Most
expressed gratitude for orienting them to Aspartame
Disease, about which the majority heretofore had been
unaware.
Betty also witnessed first hand the "arrogance of
ignorance," a source of professional dismay to me. It was
embodied in the reflexive behavior of doctors who regarded
her comments as "nonsense."
Betty was overwhelmed by the bias of presumed authorities
on topics such as reactive hypoglycemia and the chronic
fatigue syndrome. One incident left a profound impression:
A physician attending a session on diabetes objected to
having "activists" in the audience. This included me even
though I had not uttered a word! Betty previously asked if
anyone had encountered the aggravation of diabetes and its
complications by aspartame.
This doctor's obnoxious denial reminded me of a joking
comment uttered two days previously by one of Betty's M.P.
friends: "Denial is not a river in Egypt.
More on Activism
----------------
Betty willingly paid a high price for her ambitious
activities as an unsalaried activist and Roberts' Angel.
They often consumed 18 hours of her days...and nights. With
reserved approval of Don, her talented husband/chemist/
minister, she transformed several areas in her lovely home
into "war rooms" for publishing, stocking and distributing
anti-aspartame and anti-bovine growth hormone literature on
a vast scale. Betty's skits" had now evolved into
Packages." Betty and several friends banded themselves into
a new organization: Mission Possible or M.P. These "true
believers then reached the four corners of the earth
through their own networks, and by personally distributing
flyers to flight attendants and pilots on planes.
Chutzpah in Atlanta
-------------------
Atlanta houses the headquarters of the Coca-Cola Company.
Any effort to boycott Diet Coked, a major product, posed a
formidable undertaking that few would ever attempt...or
risk. Indeed, doing so in Atlanta could probably intimidate
99% of its inhabitants.
But not the crusading Betty Martini! Members of M.P. staged
their version of the Boston Tea Party in Atlanta by dumping
Diet Coke and other aspartame sodas in front of a large
health food store before the media. Hearing about these
tactics in her home town, I recalled the famous line by
John Milton in Lycidas: "Look homeward Angel now."
On another occasion, Betty and other outraged members of
Mission Possible protested the widespread use of aspartame
products by diabetics. They appeared at the Diabetes
Association walk-a-thon, distributed flyers warning of the
potential adverse effects of aspartame to an estimated
1,000 diabetics and their families. They also dedicated the
day - July 4th - to the late Joyce Wilson, a diabetic
aspartame reactor with severe retinal complications. The
group handed out press packs with black lace and sympathy
cards garnished with a long-stemmed yellow rose.
These engagements were only a prelude to the Olympic games
scheduled in Atlanta the next year. Betty had already
passed the anti-aspartame torch to other Roberts' Angels in
the hope of achieving the goal of M.P. She described the
group in these terms: "We are a volunteer force, and pay
our own expenses. We have nothing to sell, but we are
giving away the truth. We ask that you pass the torch."
These events reminded me of a story told about Mary Harris,
the "Mother Jones" of Mother Jones Magazine, when she
approached her 100th birthday. Introduced as a "great
humanitarian" at a college convocation, Harris exclaimed:
"I'm not a humanitarian. I'm a hell raiser!"
Ventures in Cancer Treatment
----------------------------
I am not only certified and recertified by the American
Board of Internal Medicine, but also the author of nine
books. My first text on medical diagnosis was used by
60,000 doctors, especially to prepare for their Board
examinations.
This preamble is intended to indicate that I have been
around medicine long enough to realize that most purported
"cures" for cancer have been discredited, particularly when
suggested by nonphysicians who lack credentials.
During my first visit with the Martinis and their friends,
the subject of Betty's "cancer tea" arose. It surfaced when
Don fetched several plastic bags containing different
powders for one of the guests present. When I inquired
about their nature, Betty indicated that they were used to
make two preparations - Lydia's #55 and Lydia's #99 - which
were supplied free. I purposefully kept quiet.
Having come to realize that Betty is one smart cookie,
however, I felt it necessary to maintain an open mind over
a topic that would evoke insulting belly laughs from most
oncologists. In addition to her own case of breast cancer,
Betty stated that other individuals with malignancy of
various types had remained in remission for many months or
longer after using these preparations .. .often to the
amazement of their treating physicians.
I sought more details. Betty thereupon handed me the exact
instructions. The ingredients in #55 were powered rhubarb,
spikenard, black snakeroot and lady slipper. The
formulation for #99 included black cohosh roots, spikenard
roots, wild cherry bark, mullein leaf, lady slipper powder,
tincture of iron, quinine sulfate and oil of wintergreen.
The background of these formulas devised by Native American
medicine men, and how Betty found them, proved fascinating
stories in themselves.
Over the ensuing months, the number of apparent dramatic
remissions in Betty's "series" escalated. When I returned
to Atlanta, these "patients" included several persons with
cancer of the breast, two with melanoma, two with
non-Hodgkins lymphoma (including a local TV personality),
and individual instances of advanced colon cancer, chronic
myelocytic leukemia, prostate cancer and uterine cancer.
As noted, my reaction to such "treatment" ordinarily would
have been one of immediate rejection. I vividly recall the
professional and emotional beatings of renowned physicians
who had advocated discredited cancer therapies. In point of
fact, oncologists and the American Cancer Society delight
in this form of vilification of purported cures. They make
one message very clear: every suggested nostrum for cancer
has to go through the conventional channels of evaluation,
including controlled double blind studies. Otherwise, bow
out, or go to Mexico or one of the Caribbean islands, or
face censure."
Having previously worked with hematologists and oncologists
for a number of years, Betty was aware of such prejudice.
But now in an apparent total remission 3-1/2 years after
beginning these formulas, after refusing surgery (because
of the apparent dissemination of breast cancer in her
mother postoperatively), this gutsy pioneering spirit was
not about to be put off solely by "the party line." In her
inimitable way, Betty told the joke about a sheriff who
denied-the request of a man about to be hanged for a last
cigarette: "It's bad for your health."
On The Internet
---------------
Starting from scratch, literally, Betty's rapid mastery of
e-mail (bettym19@mindspring.com) and the Internet proved awesome. She
handled an average of 4050 messages every day! I personally
viewed this effort, which Betty pursued until the wee hours
of the morning. The magnitude of such a deluge for
information required "compression" when 4.5 megs were
exceeded.
The combined involvement of Betty, Mark, Elaine and other
Roberts' Angels on the Internet began having an impact as
more concerned persons, including physicians, warned
patients to avoid aspartame products. The group focused on
aspartame guzzlers with headaches and those diagnosed as
having multiple sclerosis.
While pilots found Betty's information disturbing, they
usually maintained an open mind in the event it was
accurate. Indicating that he planned to get a "second
opinion," one pilot added: "If their findings are in
agreement with yours, I'11 help Mission Possible out as much
as possible. I too have suffered a loss of visual acuity,
and some depression in recent years, with no thoughts of
aspartame as the culprit. I'm going to go off the stuff
immediately as well, and see if I can see or feel better.
Regardless of the outcome, thanks for putting the effort
into spreading the word about something you think is
dangerous."
Betty relayed many spontaneous comments on the Internet to
me. These are representative.
* "Hey Hey Hey...Sorry to barge in here. I just gotta. I'm
a sporadic browser of this group. My friends think I'm
whacked when I tell them that aspartame makes me feel
dizzy, out of breath, nauseated, clammy, and that it makes
my heart race."
* "I know this is only anecdotal, but my sister, age 32,
with no neurological symptoms her whole life, had two
grand mal seizures in the space of a few days. This was
after a summer drinking large quantities of Crystal
Light(r), a lemonade mix sweetened with NutraSweet. No
antecedents or siblings have ever had such symptoms."
* "Thanks for the info on NutraSweet. I have a girlfriend
who drinks six sodas in less than 20 minutes. She has a
lot of insulin reactions and goes into coma very often."
Every Doubting Thomas on the Internet became a personal
challenge for feisty Betty, especially when his or her
sarcasm was signed by some intriguing pen name (e.g.,
"Uncle Wolf"). She regarded them as potential converts,
knowing that religious converts often become the most
effective zealots. But Betty deliberately sprinkled humor
among the large amount of factual material sent...and
received some back. One "convert" wrote:
"I previously suspected that you were incapable of
accepting anything that countered the FDA-approved,
corporate oriented, party line. you have at last convinced
me, and I suspect many others, of it. one couldn't refute
the FDA dogma if God herself came down and told you that it
was wrong...I failed to see the necessity of performing
double-blind studies, at great expense to the taxpayers,
when in case after case after case, aspartame is proven to
be the culprit by simply removing it from a sick person's
diet - everything else remaining the same. Of course, such
methodology doesn't put the moola into the coffers of some
$$$-addicted research facility
Another viewer on the Internet provided his "$0.02" (two
cents) in these terms: "I want someone to prove it's safe,
not prove it's harmful. What I've read here the last couple
weeks has been enough to convince me to stop ingesting
aspartame. I returned every last can of diet soda to the
grocery store this past weekend, and I've stopped putting
Equal(r) in my coffee, cereal, etc. I've had enough
headaches, dizzy spells, etc., and the doctors don't know
why."
Betty's disciples, however, were less forgiving about
persons with an obvious axe to grind on the Internet. One
commented on such a "regular PITA" (pain in the ass):
"If I had a kill file, that's where he'd be. His level of
misinformation is atrocious, but apparently little can be
done about him. He has infiltrated every group I read
regularly to a point where I seldom post any more because
he has an opinion about everything, and speaks on it loudly
and often. I suggest you ignore him and get on with talking
to the people who listen."
But there were limits even to Betty's patience. She
responded to one character: "So I say, go ahead and drink
all the diet cola you want, and don't worry about silly
things like your health. Some things are worse, like an
arrogant attitude."
When an impasse was reached, Betty resorted to her unique
brand of poetry. "Rockhead" received this opus (slightly
modified) titled, "Educated Fool."
I love my chemo poison
I'm a modern guy, you know,
Every day consuming "foods"
Like the ads all tell me to.
I argue, fight and persevere
Defending toxins others fear...
No matter that you've spent 2 years
Researching, hearing others' tears.
I know so much with my degree
No evidence will alter me!
I did my thinking back in school,
But since haven't used a mental tool.
Your new ideas just hurt my pride
And so your evidence I deride.
I've got to struggle hard, you see
To keep someone from teaching me!
So here's a non-diet toast to the unsinkable Betty Martini
of Atlanta, whose valiant efforts have benefited the health
of many!
H. J. Roberts, MD, FACP, FCCP
300 - 27th Street
West Palm Beach, Florida 33407 USA
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