THE DOCUMENTED CAMPAIGN
The Suppression
In November 1931, forty-four of America's most respected doctors gathered to toast "The End to All Diseases." By 1939, almost every one of them denied ever meeting Royal Raymond Rife. What happened in those eight years — and the decades that followed — is a documented pattern of legal harassment, institutional bans, laboratory destruction, and the systematic erasure of research that had reportedly cured terminal cancer patients.
Morris Fishbein and the AMA
The Man Who Never Practiced Medicine
Morris Fishbein served as editor of JAMA from 1924 to 1950. During his tenure, the AMA became one of the most powerful forces in American medicine — and one of the most aggressive in suppressing alternative treatments.
- • Admitted under oath in 1938: "never practiced medicine a day in his life"
- • AMA convicted of Sherman Anti-Trust Act violations (1937-1938)
- • Lost libel lawsuit to Harry Hoxsey (1949); admitted Hoxsey's salve was effective
- • Forced to resign from AMA in early 1950s following Fitzgerald Report
According to multiple accounts, Fishbein sent representatives to negotiate a buyout of Rife's technology. When Rife refused terms that would have given him no control over the technology's distribution, the suppression began in earnest.
The Hoxsey Connection
Rife was not Fishbein's only target. Harry Hoxsey, whose herbal cancer treatment faced decades of AMA persecution, won a libel lawsuit against Fishbein in 1949. During the trial, over 50 cured cancer patients testified. Fishbein was forced to admit under oath that Hoxsey's external cancer salve was effective.
The pattern was the same: offer to buy out the treatment, and if refused, destroy the practitioner.
The 1939 Beam Ray Lawsuit
In 1938, Beam Rays, Inc. was producing frequency instruments for California physicians. Approximately 14 machines had been built and distributed — 12 to American doctors, 2 to British physicians.
On January 28, 1939, Philip Hoyland — an engineer who had helped build the machines — filed a civil lawsuit against Beam Rays, Inc. He claimed to have discovered the frequencies himself and demanded a greater stake in the company.
The Hoyland Admission
During the trial, Hoyland admitted under questioning that he had been offered money to file the lawsuit.
Pro-Rife sources identify the source as AMA representatives. The trial record documents the offer; the source identification comes from participant testimony.
On December 6, 1939, Judge Edward Kelley ruled for the defendants, stating he was "not convinced of [Hoyland's] blameless character." But the damage was done: legal costs bankrupted Beam Rays, Inc. The company was suspended on January 6, 1940.
Rife, who had never been in court before and "became a nervous wreck," fell into alcoholism that would plague him for the rest of his life.
The San Diego Medical Society Ban
Six months after the San Diego Evening Tribune published front-page coverage of Rife's work, the San Diego Medical Society banned the use of all Rife instruments. Doctors who continued to use the technology faced threats of license revocation and criminal prosecution.
"Fishbein bribed a partner in the company... we were kicked into court — operating without a license. I was broke after a year." — Dr. Richard Hamer
The Disappearances
Dr. Arthur Kendall
The Northwestern University bacteriologist who had validated Rife's microscope observations suddenly retired to Mexico, reportedly accepting nearly $250,000 — an extraordinary sum during the Great Depression (equivalent to over $5 million today).
Dr. Milbank Johnson
The physician who headed the 1934 clinical trial quarreled with Rife in 1938 and distanced himself from the work. He died on October 3, 1944, reportedly of a heart attack at age 73.
After his death, all USC Special Medical Research Committee records mysteriously disappeared. The documentation that should prove or disprove the 1934 trial results — gone.
The 44 Doctors
Of the 44 distinguished physicians who attended the 1931 "End to All Diseases" banquet, almost every one denied ever meeting Rife by 1939. The recantation was total and coordinated.
What could make 44 respected physicians simultaneously deny documented events? The threats must have been credible. The consequences must have been clear.
Laboratory Destruction
The physical destruction of Rife's work occurred in stages:
- 1939: Beam Ray Corporation bankrupted by legal costs
- 1944: The quartz prism from the Universal Microscope was stolen by a laboratory technician, rendering the instrument inoperable
- 1946: Rife, broken by alcoholism, was forced to sell his laboratory piece by piece
The Burnett Laboratory Fire
On March 12, 1939, the Burnett Laboratory in Alpine, New Jersey — operated by Dr. John Burnett, a Rife colleague connected to the Timken family — was destroyed by fire. Pro-Rife sources claim scientists there were preparing to announce validation of Rife's technology.
Dr. Nemes
A researcher who allegedly duplicated Rife's experiments 40 miles from San Diego was killed in a fire that also destroyed all his research papers.
Note: The arson claims come primarily from alternative medicine sources. No independent investigation records have been located confirming arson.
Timeline: 1939-1971
The Destruction Begins
Philip Hoyland files lawsuit against Beam Ray Corporation after allegedly being bribed. Though the case is won, legal costs bankrupt the company. The San Diego Medical Society bans all Rife instruments. Almost every doctor from the 1931 banquet denies ever meeting Rife.
Records Disappear
Dr. Milbank Johnson dies. All USC Special Medical Research Committee records mysteriously disappear. The quartz prism from the Universal Microscope is stolen, rendering it inoperable.
Fitzgerald Report
A Congressional investigation concludes that organized medicine "conspired" to suppress alternative cancer treatments. The report is entered into the Congressional Record and ignored.
The Raid
John Crane's laboratory is raided without a warrant. $40,000 in equipment is confiscated. Ten years of research records are destroyed. Rife, now 72, flees to Mexico.
John Crane Imprisoned
Crane is tried for "practicing medicine without a license." His defense is barred from presenting scientific evidence. The jury foreman is an AMA doctor. Crane is sentenced to 10 years; serves three. Two of three convictions are later overturned.
Aug 5, 1971
Death
Royal Raymond Rife dies at age 83 at Grossmont Hospital in San Diego — penniless, broken by alcoholism, forgotten by the medical establishment. He is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery beside his first wife Mamie.
The 1960 Raid
By the 1950s, John Crane had partnered with Rife to revive frequency therapy research. By 1960, they had developed new instruments and distributed 90 devices for testing under notarized contracts.
In 1960, authorities raided John Crane's laboratory without a search warrant.
Confiscated Material
- • ~$40,000 worth of frequency instruments (equivalent to ~$400,000 today)
- • One large Rife ray tube instrument
- • Engineering data and research records
- • Photographs, private letters, invoices
- • Tape recordings and electronic parts
Ten years of accumulated research was destroyed.
Rife, now 72 years old, fled to Mexico to avoid prosecution. He filed an affidavit stating:
"The AMA has suppressed all effort and research knowledge of my developments." — Royal Raymond Rife, 1960 affidavit
The 1961 Trial
John Crane was tried in spring 1961 on charges of practicing medicine without a license. The trial lasted 24 days.
Trial Irregularities
- • The judge prohibited use of seized materials in defense
- • Royal Rife's 137-question deposition (taken in Tijuana) was not allowed as evidence
- • Medical reports and historical documentation were excluded
- • No frequency instruments were demonstrated in court
- • The jury foreman was an AMA physician
- • Jurors were screened to eliminate those with medical or electronic expertise
John Crane was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He served 3 years and 1 month.
Two of three convictions were overturned by the California State Supreme Court, which ruled that "no specific criminal intent had been proven."
Rife's Deposition
Though excluded from the trial, Rife's sworn deposition survives. In 137 questions answered in Tijuana, Mexico on March 7, 1961, he documented his work and the campaign against it.
The Fitzgerald Report
In 1953, investigator Benedict Fitzgerald of the Interstate Commerce Commission conducted a Congressional investigation into the suppression of cancer treatments.
Fitzgerald Report Findings (1953)
"There is reason to believe that the AMA has been hasty, capricious, arbitrary, and outright dishonest."
"A conspiracy does exist to stop the free flow and use of drugs in interstate commerce which allegedly has solid therapeutic value."
"Public and private funds have been thrown around like confetti at a country fair to close up and destroy clinics, hospitals and scientific research laboratories which do not conform to the viewpoint of medical associations."
The report was entered into the Congressional Record on August 3, 1953 — and ignored. Available on Internet Archive.
The Evidence
Documentary Evidence
- • Smithsonian Institution Annual Report (1944)
- • San Diego Tribune articles (1929-1938)
- • 1939 Beam Ray trial transcripts
- • 1961 Rife deposition (137 questions)
- • Fitzgerald Report, Congressional Record (1953)
- • AMA antitrust convictions (1937-1938)
- • Hoxsey v. Fishbein libel judgment (1949)
What Is Missing
- • USC Special Medical Research Committee records
- • 1934 clinical trial documentation
- • Independent verification of arson claims
- • Police records confirming equipment theft
The absence of these records is itself part of the story.
The Pattern
The suppression of Rife's work follows a documented pattern that recurred throughout the mid-20th century: identify a threatening treatment, offer to buy it out, and if refused, destroy the practitioner through legal attacks, institutional pressure, and if necessary, physical destruction of equipment and records.
Harry Hoxsey. Wilhelm Reich. Gaston Naessens. Royal Raymond Rife. Different treatments, same pattern.