Open letter the 18 people who forwarded me the link to an article entitled “A cure for cancer? Israeli scientists say they think they found one” from the Jerusalem Post today:

This link was forwarded without an introduction, but I assume you sent it to me because my mother has terminal lung cancer. Still, I’m left with some questions;

1) What do you expect me to do with this bit of press?

2) Should I open the link so I can do additional research about this development?

3) Who even reads The Jerusalem Post? Is it a trusted source?

4) What then? How do you suggest we access this “definitely will work because there is a 5 paragraph thing about it in the Jerusalem Post” treatment?

5) Are these doctors currently doing a clinical trial? Are then accepting participants for the trial? How do participants get in? Can you provide the contact information I would need to further investigate?

6) Should I just book a flight to Israel with my mother to go and seek out these doctors and ask them to take her on as a patient?

7) You’ve seen my mother or read a health update in the recent past. Given that information, do you think Emily is even capable of making an international trip? Remember how we couldn’t have lunch with you because Oakland is too far?

8) Did you read the article?

9) Why do you think that claims made about curing cancer made by the owner of the biotech company that is developing the cure are credible?

10) Again, have you read the piece? Did you see how this is all hypothetical and won’t be relevant for a least a year?

11) Have you considered that if this was a real thing that maybe one of our 17 cancer doctors from Marin Cancer Care, Stanford, or UCSF may already know about this? Are they just hiding it from us for some unknown reason?

12) Are you a medical professional?

13) Do you have any medical knowledge that you have used evaluate the content of this piece (I’m not saying article because this isn’t from a science journal) and it’s relevance to our situation?

14) Do you think I don’t have enough to do and I was looking to spend some leisure time researching random things that are vaguely about cancer?

15) Can you please send a case of wine and masseuse to my home?