Australian Doctor Deregistered after Helping Cancer Patient

http://www.vaccination.inoz.com:80/deregistration.html

Doctors around the world are being deregistered in droves by their respective medical boards for doing nothing more than helping their patients with nutritional and naturally based treatments.

Recent de-registrants include notable pioneers in natural treatments including Dr. Durrant-Peatfield a UK doctor specializing in natural therapies for thyroid, adrenal and chronic fatigue conditions, and Dr. Serafina Corsello a respected holistic physician.  Among those relentlessly harassed by their medical boards were: Dr. Revici, an internationally respected pioneer in the treatment of cancer by nutritional and natural means; Dr. Warren Levine, who founded the first Holistic Health Center in New York having helped thousands of patients during the nearly 30 years he was in practice; Dr. Nicholas Gonzales, who had been granted a sizeable sum by the National Cancer Institute to conduct testing on alternative cancer therapy. The medical board of New Jersey deregistered Dr. Eric R. Braverman MD, clinician and author, after authorities noted his unique research and his success in treating serious conditions with holistic therapies.

In Australia Dr. Eckard Roehrich, was deregistered on 21 September 2004 after he gave testimony in court on behalf of a family whose 11 year old daughter was forced to have chemotherapy against her wishes and those of her parents. The child’s treating oncologist at the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle contacted the department of community services which instigated the forced treatment by way of a court order.

Dr. Roehrich, the family’s primary physician, practiced integrative medicine, a combination of orthodox, complementary and evidence-based alternative approaches to medicine. He had made several attempts to gain humanitarian concessions for the child who was incarcerated in the hospital without privileges such as a familiar diet, nutritional supplements, regular walks out doors and visits from friends. The hospital oncologist however, would not allow these concessions. On one occasion, when her parents’ visiting hours were severely restricted by the welfare department, the girl tried to escape the hospital and was returned to the ward and put on 24 hour watch.

Not long after his court appearance on behalf of the child and her family, Dr. Roehrich began to receive letters from the New South Wales Medical Board.  The Board notified him that its delegates intended entering the doctor’s clinic to inspect his records and premises.  When the doctor required the Board to provide him with a reason for its intended entry into his clinic without his consent, he was hauled up before a special committee.  After a short deliberation the 3 member New South Wales Medical Board Committee revoked his licence to practice medicine on 21 September 2004. The Board allotted 3 days for Dr. Roehrich to wind up his practice leaving his over 1000 patients without medical care.  The doctor’s clinic was located in an area of acute doctor shortage. Many of his seriously ill patients were in the middle of treatments which had started to improve their health. 

The doctor’s deregistration has caused a community backlash against the Medical Board.  Already hundreds of patients have contacted the doctor’s clinic vowing their support for him. 

The NSW Medical Board’s action against Dr. Roehrich comes after its decision earlier in the year to clear four doctors who were investigated for poor practice after 14 deaths occurred at the Campbelltown and Camden Hospitals west of Sydney.   According to a Sydney Morning Herald article on 23/1/04 the Medical Board cleared the doctors even before a special inquiry could complete its investigations into the deaths.

Dr. Roehrich maintains he was intensively targeted by the Medical Board shortly after he testified for the family that was besieged by the department of community services. He maintains when the welfare department forced the child to have chemotherapy, he felt it was his duty to help the family to reclaim their right to choose any valid treatment options for their child. 

The Medical Board has not provided Dr. Roehrich with specific reasons for its suspension of his licence.  He has written to the Board and telephoned them to request this information.

Click here* to read the common law Notice of Demand served by Dr Roehrich on the NSW Medical Board on 28th July 2004 after it expressed its intention to subject him to a Performance Assessment.

Click here* to read the common law Notice of Default served by Dr Roehrich on the NSW Medical Board on 7th September 2004 after it failed to respond to the Notice of Demand.

Click here* to read a letter sent by Dr Roehrich to the NSW Medical Board on the traumatic impact on his patients of his being illegally forced by the Board to discontinue his practice. It is anticipated that some patients will most likely DIE as a result of this action by the NSW Medical Board.

(*NB. These documents are in .pdf format, for which you need Adobe Acrobat reader.

This can be downloaded for free from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html)


Interviews are available on request. Contact: evehillary@smartchat.net.au  

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More Information about the War against Holistic doctors and non drug prescribing psychiatrists:

http://www.corsello.com/politics/WarAgainstMedicine.pdf   
http://askwaltstollmd.com/body_sitemap.html  
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_2002_August-Sept/ai_90794483
http://www.corsello.com/politics.htm
http://www.thefinchleyclinic.co.uk/nojavascript/therapies/pioneers.htm  

Click here* to read the story of the 11 year old girl, Sarah Westley (written about until now under a false name "Lisa" as per a court order), who was stolen from her parents by DoCS and forced to undergo chemotherapy against their (and her) wishes.

UPDATE: Through the support of U.P.M.A.R.T. founder, Malcolm McClure assisting the parents to stand up for their and their daughter's rights, and an admission by DoCS that conventional medicine was doing and could do nothing for her, due to a recurrence of the tumour, her parents succeeded in getting her out of the hospital and last month custody was finally restored to the parents by the NSW Supreme Court.

After leaving the hospital she was on a regime of nutritional therapy under the care of Dr Roehrich. She improved with this therapy, and was looking well and vibrant up to August/September, after which she urgently needed a port fitted to enable the intravenous administration of nutrients to continue. Her parents also wanted an operation performed to remove the tumour to complement the nutritional therapy. The hospital refused to do any of this, including even the scan that would have to be done before the operation. No reason was provided for this refusal. The only thing the hospital was willing to do was administer "pain-killing" drugs (such as morphine) which are known to be toxic and speed the deterioration of the body (morphine gradually shuts down the whole system).

Without being able to receive the nutrients her body badly needed, she weakened and lost weight, and then of course could not receive assistance from Dr Roehrich even if she got the needed cooperation from the hospital. Prominent people in the community who have given support informed the father that they were threatened with serious repercussions if they did not stay out of the matter (but they said that they were not deterred by this threat). Did the NSW Department of Health decide that this innocent young girl must die so as not to show up the power of alternative therapies in contrast to the ineffectiveness of conventional treatment? If this is "the lucky country", God help the rest of the world.

Her parents were forced to search interstate for a similar treatment but her condition meanwhile rapidly deteriorated. On the night of Monday 25th October, 2004, Sarah Westley, by then 13, breathed her last breath.

Sarah touched the hearts of thousands during her short life. Her parent's intention is to carry out one of Sarah's last wishes, to prevent other children from having to endure what she had to endure at the hands of the "welfare" authorities who prevented her, at the very least, from spending her last years in carefree comfort at home on the farm with her family. Her last weeks were spent in another state instead of her familiar surroundings. Sarah was completely aware of this injustice and the cause of it, throughout her ordeal, and she made many forthright references about what she thought should be done about it.

The courage and strength of spirit of her parents, Mark and Dianne, has been an inspiring and humbling experience for all who have had the privilege of knowing them.  

If you live in Australia you have the opportunity right NOW to attend workshops in which you can
learn more about common law so you can stand up for your (and others') rights in any situation