Laurence Dollimore
A SPANISH father is suing a homeopath for allegedly telling his son he could cure his leukemia with ‘fungi and alcohol.’
Julian Rodriguez’s son, Mario Rodriguez, lost his battle to cancer after favouring alternative remedies over conventional medicine.
Julian wants the landmark case to result in tougher regulation on homeopathic practitioners, and it is expected to put pressure on Spain’s growing alternative remedies industry.
The Provincial Court of Valencia decided that medically untrained Jose Ramon Llorente should be held accountable for his claims that he could cure cancer, and that a case could be brought against him on the grounds of ‘professional intrusion’.
If convicted, Mr Llorente could face two years in prison.
Doctors had recommended a bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy for Mario, who was a 21-years-old physics student when he was diagnosed.
But according to his father, he feared the effects of chemotherapy and was “convinced” by Mr Llorente, president of the Spanish Association of Orthomolecular Nutrition, into a homeopathic ‘orthomolecular treatment’.
Mr Llorente prescribed €4,000 worth of alternative medicines, including vitamins, fungi and alcohol.
As Mario was later dying from an intestinal infection, he said to his father: “Dad, I was wrong”.
Mr Llorente denies that he claimed to cure diseases, but said “we train the body to enhance recovery and if cancer is cured, then perfect.”
He said of Mario’s decision: “If he was wrong, he was wrong.”
Julian hopes to shine a light on the dangers of alternative medicine and hopes to initiate legislative change.
Homeopathy has no grounding in scientific evidence, but is worth an estimated €60 million a year in Spain.
Every one of these lying witch-doctors ought to be bundled off to prison, for even offering this mumbo-jumbo nonsense to the general public. Whilst locked up, they should only receive the medical care they sell to others.
Doctors had recommended a bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy for Mario. So if the bone marrow and chemo hadn’t worked, should those doctors be prosecuted? This article is pure propaganda from the Pharmaceutical industry which is trying to suppress homeopathy and other forms of natural healing which compete with Pharma’s profits. The give away is the last line: “Homeopathy has no grounding in scientific evidence, in Spain.” That’s a blatant lie. Homeopathy is used in 80 countries by board certified physicians. It is backed by 200 years of clinical practice and volumes of research on people, animals and in the laboratory.
Oh Please! Read “Bad Science and Bad Pharma” By Ben Goldacre. Then check Edzard Ernst. md. Phd FMedSci. FSB. Frcp. Frcped. edzardernst.com. Current article on his site, “Celebrating Homeopathy Awareness Week” When you gullible people have taken all that in, come back and say you still believe in Homeopethy.
At its best it’s a placebo, at it’s worst, it’s a life-endangering (expensive) con . Current turnover in Spain alone? Sixty million euros. Costs? Very little. Plastic bottles to contain virtually nothing.
Wake up!
Homeopathy was Steve Job’s choice and he died because he waited too long for medical treatment.
‘Medically untrained’ is the important point of the article. Competent homeopaths are also trained in medicine. While ‘big pharma’ and medical associations have their own self-interests’, that does not mean that scientifically based medicine doesn’t work. Indian medical physicians I know understand ayurvedic medicine, but also know when to use each or how to combine them. More education is better than little education.
Either medicine is O.K. I would try first allopathic complemented with alternative to address the inmune system then check ´for results with standard medicine since alternative has no means. The point is, being a GP graduate doesnt prevent him from being sued nor diminish his sentence.