This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Las Vegas fundraiser earned $500,000 for soldiers and emergency responders who say chemicals sickened them and earned Utah's attorney general coveted photographs posing with celebrities.
Sandra Lucas, a Salt Lake City resident who recently became president of the nationwide Heroes Health Fund, said she and a board must decide how to split the proceeds, but Utah residents will see a share.
Actor John Travolta was the headline speaker at the fundraiser Saturday at the Wynn Las Vegas. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff posted a picture on Twitter of him and Travolta.
The money will be used to pay for treatments like those that have been offered to the so-called Utah Meth Cops who say they were poisoned by the methamphetamine labs they investigated and dismantled. The treatment — consisting largely of exercise, time in a sauna and a diet of antioxidants — has its roots in the Church of Scientology, of which Travolta is a well-known member.
The treatment has been criticized by toxicologists and health professionals who say there is no medical evidence the regimen is effective or necessary. Lucas and other supporters counter that the treatment isn't meant to supplant conventional medicine and they have a litany of patients who say the treatment made them feel better.
Twitter: @natecarlisle —
Lawman, dancing man
See a photograph of Mark Shurtleff and John Travolta: