On Sept. 21, 1960, FDA officials announced the last remaining major source of the discredited Hoxsey cancer treatment had been eliminated by a federal court order. Today, the treatment remains available in Mexico.

The Hoxsey treatment, begun in the 1920’s by Harry Hoxsey, includes pokeweed, burdock root, licorice, barberry, buckthorn bark, stillingia root, red clover, prickly ash bark, potassium iodide, and cascara. Available scientific evidence does not support claims that the Hoxsey herbal treatment is effective in treating cancer, and there have been no clinical trials of the treatment published in conventional medical journals.

In 1967, Hoxsey was diagnosed with prostate cancer. When he did not respond to his own treatment, Hoxsey underwent conventional surgery. He died in 1974.