Paschal Carmody's quest for alternative treatments and therapies drew patients to him from all over the country and beyond, writes Eithne DonnellanHealth Correspondent
KERRY NATIVE Paschal Carmody treated thousands of patients over the years at his East Clinic in Killaloe, Co Clare, for everyday complaints like any other family doctor, but he also had a penchant for seeking out alternative or complementary treatments which might work for patients.
It was this quest for alternatives that drew patients to him from all over the country. His clinic was "overwhelmed by patients for five years" after patients he had successfully treated for ME appeared on the Late Late Show in 1989.
But his interest in alternative therapies didn't confine themselves to ME. His trial heard he attended numerous seminars and exhibitions in relation to Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) in the 1980s. However, it was when he began offering this therapy to patients at his clinic that his medical career became unstuck.
A father of five children - two of whom are now studying medicine - his trial heard he was struck off the medical register in April 2004 after a Medical Council Fitness to Practise hearing investigated his use of PDT and his treatment for chronic fatigue. A number of experts expressed reservations at his trial about PDT treatment as provided at his clinic. Dr Colin Hopper, a consultant surgeon at University College London Hospitals, said the laser treatment used on cancer patients at Mr Carmody's clinic was "unproven". He also said: "Patients must be protected from people experimenting on them. We do not like to see patients used as guinea pigs."
Prof Frank Sullivan, consultant radiation oncologist at Galway University Hospital, said he would not rely on PDT to reach deep-seated tumours, as Mr Carmody was doing.
However, the families of three former cancer patients with deep-seated cancers, now all deceased, gave evidence that Mr Carmody had said the PDT treatment would either cure them or at least keep them alive. They paid thousands for the treatment.
These included the families of JJ Gallagher from Kingswood, Mullingar; Conor O'Sullivan (15), Granite Lodge, Gorey; and John Sheridan (58) from Kells, Co Kilkenny.
The court heard Mr Gallagher was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2000 and had his stomach, spleen, pancreas and a third of his liver removed. Mr Gallagher's son Tecwen said when he asked Mr Carmody in February 2002, "Are you going to be able to hold the cancer at bay?", Mr Carmody replied: "Not only are we are going to hold it at bay, we are going to destroy it."
Mr Gallagher underwent the PDT treatment, but died in September 2002.
Christina O'Sullivan told the trial that Mr Carmody told her terminally ill son Conor in 2002 that his PDT would "work a treat" on Conor's deep-seated cancer. She said he told Conor he would cure him of cancer, or at worst keep him alive. Four months after the treatment, which had cost over €9,000, he was dead.
Mr Sheridan's brother-in-law Martin Smith told the trial that at a meeting with Mr Carmody in 2001, Mr Carmody briefly touched him by the elbow and told him: "We'll cure John's cancer."
Mr Carmody denied ever promising to cure anyone. He specifically claimed he had not recommended PDT for Mr Gallagher, but that it was administered to him by another former doctor who worked with him in Killaloe, Bill Porter, without his knowledge. Mr Porter, a surgeon who was struck off in California over abandoning a patient, has left the country and is now believed to be in China, the court heard.
During his 17-day trial, Mr Carmody also denied the treatment he was offering was bogus or that he was only involved in the treatment for the money that could be made out of it.
The court heard the cost of undergoing the PDT treatment programme at the East Clinic trebled in 2002, going up from €6,500 in January to €20,000 in November of that year.
Asked to explain the rise in costs, Mr Carmody said the clinic had more staff, more lasers and the facilities were improved. Most of the money, the court heard, went to Mr Porter and his wife.
Mr Carmody gave examples of patients he said PDT had worked for. He told the jury he used the same treatment numerous times on his brother, Peter, who was diagnosed with cancer in 1992 but lived for another 14 years. Two years ago, he said, his brother believed he was clear after hospital tests and stopped treatments, but died soon after.
He told the jury the first cancer patient that came to him said he had only one month to live and he wanted two. He treated him and he survived for another two years.
Dublin nun Sr Theresa Healy also backed up his story. She told the jury his PDT treatment "zapped" her cancer during two treatment sessions in 2001. She said she had been given a 5 per cent chance of survival.
From a family of 13, Mr Carmody grew up in Tarbert, Co Kerry, and studied medicine at University College Galway. He practised at the East Clinic for nearly 25 years but has been unable to practise since 2004 when he was struck off.
Theresa Malone, a Co Clare mother of three, told the jury she was "heartbroken" when he, her GP, was struck off. "If you weren't able to pay, he would say 'Pay whenever you can'."
Dr Hopper agreed with Mr Carmody's counsel that doctors who develop new treatments are often rejected by the medical establishment. "I agree with you. The man who thought up radiology as a treatment was struck off," he said.