| “ | Tell me, Mr. McCoy, does the AMA have you on retainer? Those frauds go to conventions in Barbados to discuss how the IRS is closing down their tax shelters while I'm trying to save people's lives! | „ |
| ~ Haas accusing Jack McCoy of persecuting her. |
Nancy Haas is the main antagonist of the Law & Order episode "Second Opinion". She is a quack "alternative medicine" practitioner who peddles a fraudulent cure for breast cancer to desperate women, resulting in the death of several of her patients.
She was portrayed by the late Jan Maxwell, who also played Baroness Bomburst in the Broadway production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Biography[]
Haas graduated from Columbia and Stanford Universities with a PhD in molecular biology and a Master's Degree in organic chemistry, also studying at Oxford on a Fulbright scholarship. Initially well-respected for her scientific research, she later opened the Haas Institute, a "nutritional counselling" practice which offered an "alternative treatment" designed to slow down cancer and relieve pain. Haas marketed her treatment towards women suffering from breast cancer who were afraid of getting a mastectomy or chemotherapy and were desperate for a treatment that would preserve their dignity.
Unbeknownst to her patients, her nutritional supplement, for which she charged $75,000, consisted of apricot seeds and a few other vitamins that could be found in any kitchen and was completely ineffective. The State Medical Board's Cancer Society tried to shut the Haas Institute down, but were unable to because, as Haas was not technically practicing as a doctor, she was not subject to the same regulations as a licensed medical practitioner. A number of Haas' patients eventually died of cancer after failing to seek proper treatment.
"Second Opinion"[]
One of Haas' patients, Ann Bennett, dies of cancer after seeing her for nine months. Her death is investigated by the NYPD after what appears to be cyanide (actually amygdaline, produced as a side-effect of the apricot seeds in her medication) is found in her body. The police initially assume that she was poisoned, but Lieutenant Anita Van Buren realizes that the cyanide may have been a result of alternative cancer treatments after hearing that Bennett had breast cancer, as cyanide is an ingredient in Laetrile, a banned alternative treatment for cancer.
Detectives Lennie Briscoe and Mike Logan talk to Haas about Bennett's treatment. She tells them that she was not giving Bennett Laetrile and explains that her patients do not want to undergo procedures such as mastectomy. Still suspecting that Bennett might have died as a result of the medication, Briscoe and Logan speak to her previous doctor, who tells them that several of his patients have chosen Haas' treatment over getting a mastectomy or chemotherapy, which would have kept them alive for longer; all of them died of cancer. The detectives also talk to a representative of the Cancer Society, who tells them that she is careful never to explicitly promise her patients a cure, but only an "alternative", meaning she is not technically defrauding them.
An autopsy reveals that Bennett died of cancer, not poison, but newly appointed Executive Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy orders Haas' office searched anyway in order to establish whether or not she is selling Laetrile. Haas' nutritional supplement is analysed, revealing that, although it is not Laetrile, it is very similar, consisting of nothing but a few fruit products available in any health store, and is equally ineffective against cancer. McCoy threatens to charge Haas with larceny, but he is unable to prosecute her without proof that she explicitly promised her patients that she could cure them.
Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid interviews Haas' surviving patients, but she finds that most of them still believe Haas is helping them and refuse to testify against her. However, she eventually manages to find around a dozen former patients willing to say that Haas falsely claimed that she could cure them. Kincaid also gets a statement from a doctor that Ann Bennett would have lived at least five more years if she had undergone surgery. McCoy charges Haas with murder on the grounds that she caused Bennett's death by lying about being able to cure her and stopping her from getting proper treatment.
Haas' lawyer, Gwen Young, manages to persuade the judge to bar any of Haas' previous victims from testifying, as their testimony is the strongest evidence that Haas deliberately lied that her "alternative" could cure cancer. Young also gets Bennett's doctor to admit that he cannot say for certain if she would have survived with proper treatment. McCoy tries to present evidence of Haas' scam by calling the husband of one of her surviving patients, who testifies that Haas continued billing them for thousands of dollars even after he persuaded his wife to stop taking her supplements and get proper treatment. He also calls Ann's husband Nicholas to testify that his wife believed Haas was going to cure her; however, Young is able to get him to admit that she never actually told him if Haas said that.
Although an acquittal seems certain, McCoy is determined to continue the case. He finds it strange that Young never asked Nicholas if Haas herself told him she could cure his wife, suspecting that she may not want the jury to know the answer. Sure enough, when McCoy talks to Nicholas, he eventually admits that Haas told them she could cure Ann's illness; he did not want to tell them because he blames himself for believing her and encouraging his wife to go through with the treatment. McCoy then confronts Haas, telling her Nicholas is willing to testify about her lies, and offers her a plea deal for first-degree manslaughter. After ranting about how the medical establishment has given up on women, Haas agrees to take the deal and is sentenced to 15 years in prison.
External links[]
- Nancy Haas on the Law & Order Wiki
