Table 4.

Reasons for negative Google reviews on alternative cancer treatment providers by characterization, frequency and example.

Reasons	Characterizations	Frequency	Example
Perception clinic in pursuit of money, not healing	False hope; scam; ineffective treatments; financial exploitation; services to people who can’t be helped.	98	“My friend had stage 3 colon cancer; she did the 30 day stay for $30 k. She died weeks later after coming back home. My opinion, this place is a scam job with scam artist.”
Treatment worsened Patient’s condition or cancer progressed	Weakened patient; specific injuries; complications; opted out conventional treatment and disease progressed; death or near death.	72	“Not only was their treatment useless, it made matters worse. They essentially let her starve to death and chastised her for seeking help at the local hospital when her symptoms became unbearable.”
Quality of non-intervention care	Communication issues; rudeness; cold; staff availability; poor training; disorganization; related issues.	41	“When my wife was there they didn’t even have a registered nurse available during the night!”
Misrepresented impact of received treatment on cancer	False, unsubstantiated claims of patients’ treatment impact; fabricated or exaggerated testimonials	23	“Classic alternative medicine type stuff, mostly a scam. Tests can come back negative and show no evidence of disease, etc., but get a CT scan back in the U.S. and it shows spreading of cancer.”
Facility	Underequipped; dirty; unsafe; dated.	8	“They performed port surgeries in an extremely unhygienic environment.”
Time away from loved one’s while receiving treatment	Time lost for family, friends, other items due to receiving treatment	7	“My mom is home now in the final stage of her cancer. She spent a precious month in Arizona away from her home and family.”
Difficulty accessing treatment	Issues related to scheduling, initial consultations	3	“They do not answer the phone and their website does not exist.”