Last year I wrote an article about
vagina steaming which was being offered at Healing Galing clinics. The very thought of a woman steaming her private bits for some health benefit was ridiculous to me so I riffed on that and their taint bath service. To round out the article I examined the qualifications of Dr. Edinell Calvario who is the owner of Healing Galing. Recently I received an email informing me that Edinell Calvario was not happy with my article, wanted to find out my identity, and requesting that I please delete the article in question. I replied that Edinell Calvario should email me detailing her concerns about the article in question. I have yet to hear from her.
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| DR. EDINELL CALVARIO IS NOT A LICENSED MEDICAL DOCTOR! |
Researching further into Miss Calvario and Healing Galing I have stumbled across the most unsurprising revelation: Dr. Edinell Calvario is a liar and Healing Galing sells products with outrageous and dangerously fraudulent claims. Shocking, right? Not really when you know that she received a Phd in Alternative Medicine from what is essentially
a diploma mill in Sri Lanka. She might balk at that accusation but I ask her: what was your dissertation thesis, where can I access and read your dissertation, who was your doctoral advisor, how many years of schooling did you attend in Sri Lanka? Even if she did legitimately earn her Phd it is still a Phd and not an MD. Edinell Calvario is not a licensed medical doctor.
Calling someone a liar, as I have called Edinell Calvario is a charge which requires proof and I will lay it all out for you now. I will do this by looking at two of her products which seem to be the most popular: the EC27 Guava Soap and the Healing Oil.
Let's start by looking at her
products page. Specifically let us look at the product details for the EC27 Guava Plus Soap. This is what we see.
No therapeutic claims. Every single one of her products has this disclaimer. No therapeutic claims. Now this is a lie because Edinell Calvario makes 27 therapeutic claims for this soap she invented. That is why 27 is in the name of the product. In fact you can see that claim on the box in the picture. The picture of the product contradicts the statement "No Therapeutic Claims" because the box itself makes therapeutic claims for the product! Here is the same product listing from 2016.
Look at all those therapeutic claims!
Benefits
For 27 skin conditions. Best for hair loss, dandruff, pimple/acne, psoriasis, skin asthma, body odor/excessive sweating, dermatitis, allergy, bed sore, dry skin, insect bite, warts and skin tag prevention, masculine and feminine hygiene, skin rash, itching, wounds, scaly rough skin, jock itch space (had-had), boils (pigsa), blister (mamaso), papule (butlig), pityriasis versicolor (an-an), prickly heat (bungang-araw), ringworm (buni), scabies (galis-aso), athletes foot (alipunga).
How about the product EC Healing Oil? Surely it must have curative properties. It's in the name.
No therapeutic claims. Though it's writ large on the bottle in the picture, "Effectively Controls Ailments and Diseases." Again the picture of the product contradicts the statement "No Therapeutic Claims" because the bottle itself makes therapeutic claims for the product! Now let's take a look at this same page as it appeared in 2015.
What a difference. There are quite a few therapeutic claims being made for this oil. 46 of them in fact.
Benefits
Best for aches and pains, cough, colds, swelling/inflammation, eye condition, sinusitis, sore throat, tonsillitis, asthma, tuberculosis, stomach condition, vomiting, ear condition, constipation, painful menstruation, paralysis, poor blood circulation, heart condition, lung ailment, kidney disorder, liver problem, stiff neck, atrophy, frozen shoulder, hematoma, mayoma, high blood pressure, dizziness, diarrhea, lump, diabetes, itching, boils (pigsa), anemia, falling hair, dead fingers/toe nails, wound, massage, arthritis, gout, rheumatism, insomnia, burns, insect bites, cramps, numbness, palpitation. For topical use only.
Why would Edinell Calvario list all these benefits for both the soap and the oil and then suddenly retract them? Most likely because
the FDA came breathing down her neck. Does this mean those products never produced the benefits listed? If so that means she was lying to her customers. But wait. She still lists all those benefits as applying to both the soap and the oil as well as all her other products. In fact the EC27 Guava Soap and the Healing Oil both come packaged with a little sheet listing all the benefits.
Sadly the soap I bought was missing the sheet listing what it's best used for but I did receive a large packet of information which contained all the uses and benefits of the soap.
This means Edinell Calvario is deceiving the FDA by continuing to make unfounded therapeutic claims about her products. Just not on the Healing Galing website. In official Healing Galing literature she still informs her customers that all Healing Galing products have therapeutic benefits.
Let's step back a bit and look more at the EC27 Guava Soap which Edinell Calvario lists as her invention on
her bio page. If we go to the Philippine patent office website and do a search we find the following:
We see she has a patent for "a novel guava soap" composition. Under the abstract we read:
A novel composition for guava soap comprising the following: The said composition is made from natural guava extract from fresh young guava leaves, calamansi and dayap. The bar soap is specifically used as antibacterial and germicidal soap.
Notice that in this patent the only ingredients are guava leaves, calamansi, and dyap which is key lime. On her webpage she lists the ingredients as guava extract and special oils. What are these oils? They are not listed in the patent. Maybe there is more information in the papers she filed which is not displayed on this page. What we do know is that her soap is listed as being "specifically used as an antibacterial and germicidal soap."
How does she get from these two benefits, antibacterial and germicidal, to 27 benefits? One of the 27 benefits is that it controls your ringworm. That would mean the soap would also have to be an anti-fungal soap containing
ketoconazole or some other medication to kill the fungus. Also for the soap to be an antibacterial and germicidal soap it would have to contain the ingredient
triclosan. Then again it could simply be made with tea tree oil which has been traditionally used as an anti-fungal and antibacterial but why would she omit that from the list of ingredients? There is nothing special or secretive about tea tree oil. It is a very common oil used in many products. Of course the soap does not smell at all like it has tea tree oil in it so there might not be any.
Did Edinell Calvario carry out any tests with her soap to find out what skin ailments it would help control? That word control is very important. Note on the box it does not say the soap will cure anything. It merely "effectively controls 27 skin ailments." It's a way to wiggle out of any legal responsibility should someone sue her because the soap did not cure their skin aliment.
But who wants to merely control their ringworm? Or scabies? Scabies!? This soap may alleviate the itching associated with scabies but it won't kill the mites or the eggs they have buried in the skin nor does the soap make that claim. Medical treatment is needed to eradicate scabies. The claim that this soap can control scabies is an outright lie. If you don't treat your scabies infestation with more than this soap they will definitely get out of control!
The soap is also best for mamaso, also known as impetigo, which is a highly infectious skin disease. An antibacterial soap might be good to use on the skin but you will need antibiotics to cure the disease.
There is one more benefit to this soap and it is listed on the back of the box.
It also whitens the skin! So now the soap has glutathione?
From being specifically an antibacterial and germicidal soap to being able to control 27 skin ailments to being also a skin whitener! It appears she lied on her patent application by indicating that this soap is to be "specifically used as an antibacterial and germicidal soap."
On what basis are these claims made for this soap? Did Edinell Calvario carry out any tests? Is there any research, controlled trials, to back up her claims that this soap is beneficial for anyone with one or more of the listed skin ailments? Or is she making these claims based solely on the ingredients? Did she figure if the soap is antibacterial and germicidal it would be a cure-all or rather a control-all? But how does she know it is antibacterial and germicidal? Based on the ingredients or based on tests?
Let's take a closer look at the claims of the Healing Oil. Here is a close-up of the sheet that comes packaged with the Healing Oil.
There are 46 benefits listed here and not all of these are benefits one would expect from an oil that is for topical use only. Of course that caveat, while present on her old webpage product listing, is not listed on her current webpage or anywhere on the bottle or the paper which accompanies it. Nor is it in the huge packet of information I received when I bought the product. These 46 uses for the oil are the same as on her old webpage listing which begs the questions: Why are internal ailments which can only be treated by ingesting something on this list of uses if the oil is for topical use only? Is this oil still for topical use only? If not then why not? What changed about the oil? If so then why is there no indication that it is?
Now perhaps I am just unaware about the proper procedure to apply the oil so I ask how and where does one apply the Healing Oil topically in order to alleviate the following internal problems:
2. Cough
3. Cold
7. Sore throat
8. Tonsilitis
9. Asthma
10. Tuberculosis!!!
11. Stomach condition
12. Vomiting
13. Ear condition
14. Constipation
15. Painful menstruation
18. Heart condition
19. Lung ailment
20. Kidney disorder
21. Liver problem
26. Myoma
27. High blood pressure
29. Diarrhoea
31. Diabetes!!!!!
34. Anemia
All of these ailments require a medicine going into the body to alleviate them. Where are you supposed to rub the oil to help with your diarrhoea or constipation or vomiting? What exactly does this oil do for one who has diabetes? Diabetics have to inject insulin. How about myomas? A myoma is a noncancerous fibroid growth in the uterus or cervix. If the oil is for topical use only how is it supposed to offer any benefit to those suffering from myomas when they are inside the vagina? Is the oil rubbed into the skin whereby it can soak down into the myoma?
The outside of the bottle reads "Effectively controls ailments and diseases." How? She doesn't tell us and just from what's on the list you know it's a lie. Tuberculosis? Diabetes!? Those are serious diseases which require medical attention from a medical doctor. This oil won't help you.
These nondescript and nonspecific claims of controlling diseases are a real danger because people look to Edinell Calvario and Healing Galing for medical advice even though she is not a medical doctor, not licensed to practice medicine in the Philippines, and has no business offering medical advice or selling products with outrageous therapeutic claims. Here is the experience of one person who visited Edinell Calvario's clinic in Quezon City.
I've been ill for quite sometime reason why I've been focus lately on getting better. A friend of mine told me she's been listening to Healing Galing every weekend and the show mentioned something about my illness so she wanted me to at least give it a try.
Healing Galing is a show in Aksyon TV 5, aired in FM radio 92.3 every Saturday at 6-8am and every Sunday at 11-12noon hosted by Dr. Edinell Calvario that mainly works on naturopathy or naturopathic medicine, a form of alternative medicine which is based on natural healing power of nature. I think it is also being aired in cable tv and maybe in TV5 as well, just that we don't have cable and we have a bad network connection of TV5 (maybe they should focus on getting this fix first, i think this is one of the reason why most people were not able to watch their shows).
As I enter the site, I asked the reception area if I could get a number for check up. I was given a form with a list of products and it has a number. I went few minutes before break time that I had to wait until after lunch.
As soon as my number was called, the lady in the reception asked what is my problem and asked to open my mouth to check my tongue. I've seen this tongue reading before from Dr. Tan of Binondo so I wasn't surprised at all. Anyway, she also checked my fingertips/nails saying how pale my nails were saying I'm anemic (which is true). She discussed further and explained everything I need to know, especially maintaining a healthy diet. She checked all the things I need for a week, and to be honest, it cost a lot. I was able to buy her recommendations good for only three days.
http://www.adventurousfeet.com/2013/06/healing-galing-office-in-novaliches.html
The woman is ill. She goes to Healing Galing under the impression they will offer her medical help. She is given a list with all the products for sale and she is made to wait until after the lunch break before anyone sees her. Then the receptionist recommends a lot of products that the lady cannot afford so she only buys few things which will last for three days. Does that sound like any experience you have ever had at a medical clinic? Have you ever gone to a clinic and then had to wait because it's lunch time? Have you ever been given a list of products to buy when you go to a medical clinic?
This building is still the location of Healing Galing but it now also houses the Stem Cell and Longevity Clinic.
To my utter shock and surprise neither this clinic nor Edinell Calvario is on the
List of Accredited Medical Clinics and Registered Physicians. That is because, of course, Edinell Calvario is not a medical doctor and is not licensed to practice medicine in the Philippines. So why is she allowed to continue to present herself as one? Why does she have a TV show which reaches millions? Why is she being
assisted by TV5 in disseminating her frauds, lies, and deceits?
Hopefully it is clear to you just from these two products, the EC27 Guava Soap and Healing Oil, that Edinell Calvario is being less than honest with her customers and the FDA.
At this point those who swear by alternative medicine and naturopathy might think I am against both and that government only wants regulated, evidence based western medicine to be practised in the Philippines. You would be wrong. There is actually a 1997 law which establishes
The Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC). According to the Guiding Principles of this law:
Section 2. Declaration of Policy. – It is hereby declared the policy of the State to improve the quality and delivery of health care services to the Filipino people through the development of traditional and alternative health care and its integration into the national health care delivery system.
It shall also be the policy of the State to seek a legally workable basis by which indigenous societies would own their knowledge of traditional medicine.
Further in the law under Article IV we read:
Section 12. Traditional and Alternative Health Care Advocacy and Research Program. – The Institute shall promulgate a nationwide campaign to boost support for the realization of the objectives of this Act. It shall encourage the participation of non-government organizations in traditional and alternative health care and health-related projects. The Institute shall also formulate and implement a research program on the indigenous Philippine traditional health care practices performed by “traditional healers” using scientific research methodologies.
According to the COA:
The Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC) was created under Republic Act (RA) 8423 otherwise known as the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act (TAMA) of 1997 authored by Senator Juan Flavier and approved on December 9, 1997. It became a turning point in the history of the Philippine Traditional Medicine that the herbal plants became a priority. Henceforth, the ten priority plants namely: Lagundi, Ulasimang Bato, Bayabas, Bawang, Yerba Buena, Sambong, Ampalaya, Niyug-niyogan, Tsaang-gubat and Akapulko are now being promoted.
The PITAHC is a government owned and controlled corporation attached to the Department of Health (DOH). Its mission is to uphold the right of every Filipino for better health through the provision of safe, effective and affordable traditional and alternative health care products, services and technologies.
https://www.coa.gov.ph/phocadownloadpap/userupload/annual_audit_report/GOCCs/2016/Corporate-Government-Sector/Philippine-Institute-of-Traditional-and-Alternative-Health-Care/PITAHC_ES2016.pdf
Is Edinell Calvario in any way associated with the PITAHC? From the looks of it she is not. Her webpage does not mention them nor does an internet search turn up with both her name and PITAHC
except for this programme for a conference on medical pluralism at Cavite State University. The PITAHC is utilising the practises of "traditional healers" in an effort to integrate them into the national health care system. The PITAHC is also, according to the COA, promoting or researching ten traditional healing plants.
Are any of those plants or derivatives of those plants listed on the Healing Galing product page? Is Edinell Calvario promoting the healing techniques of the Philippines' "traditional healers" which have been practiced and handed down for centuries? No. Edinell Calvario is selling people a soap she invented in 2002 and patented in 2006 as well as an oil of unknown provenance. Healing Galing is a marketing gimmick and is not in anyway associated with real bonafide traditional medicine as practiced in the Philippines or anywhere else for that matter. The same kind of inutile herbal junk being peddled by Healing Galing is also being sold by
Dynapharm and
USANA. Here is a secret that Edinell Calvario and the rest do not want you to know: none of the products they sell are all natural or herbal. They are manufactured in factories and packaged in plastic bottles or plastic wrapping.
Furthermore the PITAHC is under the auspices of the DOH. Would the DOH partner or associate with Healing Galing and Edinell Calvario when her products are blacklisted by the FDA? Of course not. Therefore it is very likely Edinell Calvario and Healing Galing have nothing whatsoever to do with the PITAHC.
I want to end with some pictures of a packet I received when I visited my local Healing Galing dealer and bought the guava soap and the Healing Oil.
This packet contains health claims, therapeutic claims, for all of her products.
Drinking tawa-tawa tea is best for leukaemia. Best how? As a cure? That is the implication here and if anyone took this advice seriously and drank tawa-tawa tea instead of going in for medical treatment they would end up dead.
Rhizome pills will help reverse kidney failure. What a claim! What an outrageous and fraudulent claim. If this were true imagine how easy it would be to heal your kidneys and stop needing dialysis. But it's not true. It's a lie and Edinell Calvario is
a liar for ever making it which is why she
removed that claim from her website. But the claim is still being made in the literature her organisation hands out to customers. The USA's National Kidney Foundation says people with kidney failure
should not take rhizome because it contains potassium and that is actually bad for people with kidney disease.
This is the proper position to steam your vagina. Lying down with your legs up against the wall. Actually the lying down position is what you do after your vagina has been steamed and you insert a few drops of the Healing Oil. Is that safe? Putting Healing Oil in your vagina when it's supposed to be for topical use only?
Finally here is the stupidest advice of all. I laughed for a good while when I read it.
Drink warm shaken water because it breaks up the clustering of water molecules and keeps you hydrated longer. It's hilarious that Edinell Calvario had to add a rationale for this practice because its so obviously dumb. Not just dumb but unscientific and absurd. Your body will absorb all the water you drink in the same way whether shaken, stirred, or still and no amount of shaking is going to uncluster the water molecules.
There is a lot more that could be said about Edinell Calvario and Healing Galing but this should suffice for now. If you are researching Edinell Calvario and Healing Galing products and have stumbled upon this article I hope this has been helpful. Do yourself a favour and do not listen to her health advice. And remember...Edinell Calvario is not and never has been a medical doctor, is not licensed to practice medicine in the Philippines, nor are Healing Galing or the Stem Cell and Longevity Clinic approved and registered medical clinics.
