Nevada Assemblywoman
Michele Fiore (R)

By Elaine Magliaro

Steve Benen (MSNBC) wrote today that “the relationship between Republicans and modern science has become strained lately. In recent months, we’ve seen GOP officials – including senators, governors, and presidential candidates – balk at climate science, contraception, vaccinations, post-bathroom hand-washing, and even evolutionary biology.” He noted that this week, it was “becoming especially egregious on this front” because we “were introduced to a Republican state lawmaker in Idaho who seemed quite confused about women’s anatomy, and Jon Ralston added a new addition to the collection yesterday, highlighting the latest from Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore (R), who has a proposal to change existing rules on end-of-life care.”

Let me tell you about Michele Fiore: Fiore is the CEO of a healthcare company called Always There Personal Care of Nevada and Always There 4 You. Last December, the Las Vegas Sun reported that there were “more than $1 million in tax liens against Fiore. Liens dating back to 2003 show that she has unpaid payroll taxes from her home health care businesses…” Fiore has reportedly been stripped of her position as Chairman of the Tax Committee because of the tax lien allegations.

Josh Israel (ThinkProgress) said that Fiore “told listeners to her weekly radio show on Saturday, that she will soon introduce a ‘terminally ill bill,’ to allow more non-FDA-approved treatments for those diagnosed as having terminal illnesses.”

Jon Ralston (Ralston Reports) provided information regarding what Fiore told listeners: “I call it my terminally ill bill…basically changing some provisions of our health care system.” Fiore also told listeners that “she knew of friends who left the country to find end-of-life treatments that are not FDA-approved.”

Ralston:

“If you have cancer, which I believe is a fungus,” she began, citing a widely debunked theory that the American Cancer Society warns about, “and we can put a pic line into your body and we’re flushing with, say, salt water, sodium cardonate (I think she means bicarbonate), through that line and flushing out the fungus. These are some procedures that are not FDA-approved in America that are very inexpensive, cost-effective.”

Holy crap on a cracker!

Israel said that the American Cancer Society “warns that while cancer patients whose immune systems are weakened by high doses of chemotherapy can sometimes contract fungal infections, ‘there is no evidence that antifungal treatment causes the patients’ tumors to shrink.’ Cancer Research UK dismisses the claim that sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) can cure cancer as a debunked “persistent cancer myth.”

Israel continued by saying that Fiore also made news last week “for her assertion that ‘young, hot little girls on campus’ need to be armed with guns to prevent themselves from being raped, saying that every citizen should “have the right to defend him or herself from sexual assault.”

According to Israel, Fiore “proposed arming school officials and college students as a way of combating school shootings” in 2012.

Israel:

Although Fiore’s views on cancer are particularly fringe, the bill she is backing is gaining traction in a number of states. At least five states have now passed similar legislation that allows patients to use drugs not cleared by the FDA, dubbed so-called “right to try” bills. The campaign to pass these bills has been led by the libertarian Goldwater Institute.

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes Interviews Cliven Bundy Sympathizer Michele Fiore at Scene in Nevada

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SOURCES

Nevada Lawmaker Says Cancer Is A Fungus, Recommends Simply Washing It Out (ThinkProgress)

Dr. Fiore is in: Cancer is a fungus that can be flushed out! (Ralston Reports)

GOP lawmaker sees cancer as a ‘fungus’ (MSNBC)

Fiore retains leadership position amid more turmoil among Assembly Republicans (Las Vegas Sun)

Fiore loses leadership of Taxation Committee; alleges ‘war on women’ (Las Vegas Review-Journal)