A successful cancer doctor in Reno comes under federal scrutiny for New Age practices. Here’s the story from his point of view.

Dr. James Forsythe practices a type of medicine called “integrative oncology” because it uses aspects of both homeopathic (use of vitamins and supplements) and conventional medicine. He has his conventional degrees in medicine and cancer specialty from the University of California, San Francisco. He studied with the British Institute of Homeopathy before passing his oral and written boards in 1995. He’s been practicing in Reno since 1974, taught at the University of Nevada, Reno medical school, started the cancer wards at Sparks Family Hospital, St. Mary’s, and Washoe Med (now called Renown) and was also head of the Veterans Administration oncology department. He built an impressive practice over those years—and then the Food and Drug Administration came calling, which resulted in one of Reno’s biggest criminal trials of 2007, generating massive media attention, dragging Forsythe’s reputation through the mud and hurting his practice. He was found not guilty in U.S. District Court on Nov. 1. This is an abridged interview, which was conducted in the doctor’s office, 521 Hammill Lane, on Nov. 14, in which he talks about his trial and why the FDA attacks alternative medicine