Homeopath and doctor injected cortisone

Allegation: Instead of homeopathic treatments, the doctor should have injected Cortision

08/07/2012

A doctor from Paderborn is said to have not only cheated patients but also massively injured patients. The doctor, who is said to be working with homeopathy, is accused of administering cortisone to patients without the consent and knowledge. The patients were assumed to be treated purely homeopathically for allergies. Now it is determined against the doctor, who denies the charge, however.

Instead of homeopathy a cortisone syringe
Patients in the majority were looking for an alternative treatment for hay fever, allergy and atopic dermatitis. But obviously they were cheated: Instead of homeopathic agents cortisone was injected. Some 190 patients had severe side effects after administration. According to the prosecutor, up to 1700 patients were cheated and partially injured in this way.

Alternative treatments are rightly booming. Allergy sufferers confidently turn to the hands of a health practitioner or a homeopathic doctor, not to expose themselves to the sometimes severe changes and side effects of pharmaceutical drugs. An isolated case, as now known, terrifies both patients and therapists alike. Patients sought help from a supposedly homeopathic doctor. Meanwhile, the 42-year-old physician had made a name and was gladly recommended, although the treatments were not funded by the statutory health insurance, but had to be paid by the patients themselves out of pocket.

Over 1700 people harmed
At least 190 patients suffered severe side effects such as bone loss, hair loss and growth disorders after cortisone treatment, reports the prosecutor in North Rhine-Westphalia. The investigative authority has now initiated criminal proceedings against the doctor. The accused will have committed dangerous bodily harm, attempted dangerous bodily harm and commercial fraud in at least 1700 cases.

Patients lined up to get help
Overall, the alleged perpetrator should have taken more than 30,000 euros from the victims, a spokesman for the prosecutor. The doctor has made with her purported homeopathic treatment of patients "with allergies a name," reported the chief prosecutor Horst Rürup on Monday. In the boom of pollen allergy and hay fever, the patients in the hallway had even queued to get a soothing syringe, reported Rürup.

Serious side effects in many patients
Many patients with hay fever and atopic dermatitis have just because of the side effects of cortisone the help of the doctor used to be treated alternatively. The case was revealed when a mother, who herself is a doctor, had noticed typical features of cortisone injections after administering a syringe to her daughter. On the skin of her child had formed resorptions of fatty tissue at the injection site, suggesting the treatment of cortisone. In addition, the doctor became suspicious because success started very quickly. In a laboratory investigation residues of a drug with cortisone were found.

Female doctor denies allegations
Since the beginning of the investigation, the accused no longer practice her profession as a doctor. At a first hearing, the doctor had informed her that she had informed patients about the addition of cortisone. Accordingly, she denies the allegations. In the event of a conviction, the woman is threatened with the revocation of the license to practice, a prison sentence or suspended sentence of several years, as well as civil compensation for pain and suffering. According to the Central Association of Homeopathic Doctors (DZVhÄ), it is still unknown whether the accused leads "an additional name Homeopathy awarded by the Medical Association". When the trial takes place in the district court, is still unclear. (Sb)

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Instead of homeopathy cortisone administered