By ELIZABETH BINNING
The spiritual healing and homeopathic treatments a Hamilton doctor used would be unacceptable to most other alternative practitioners, a medical tribunal heard.
Dr Wendy Isbell, a general practitioner who also practises classical homeopathy, yesterday told the Hamilton-based tribunal she had real concerns about Dr Richard Gorringe's standard of
care and the treatments he sold to his patients.
"His theories are of concern and at a variance with both accepted medical practice and complementary/alternative/integrative practice."
Few alternative practitioners and virtually no medical practitioners would accept his methods of treatment, she said.
Dr Gorringe faces two charges of professional misconduct and one of disgraceful conduct in relation to two patients he treated in 1998.
He has denied all charges, claiming his alternative methods are harmless, non-invasive and used successfully overseas.
The treatments he prescribed and used on his patients included paraquat injections, drainage drops, laser treatment and prayer.
Dr Gorringe administered the treatments after using an alternative diagnostic technique called peak muscle resistance testing.
Dr Isbell said it was an unreliable way to diagnose patients, because the results could be significantly changed by lots of variables.
"Muscle testing is a subjective testing form, best used for minor testing where there are no real clinical or diagnostic issues."
Dr Gorringe's diagnoses, which included brucellosis and paraquat poisoning, were not supported by his patients' physical presentation or medical history, she said.
Nor were they backed up with conventional methods such as blood or culture testing.
"It appears Dr Gorringe did not arrange for confirmatory blood tests, which, in my view, is extraordinary given the nature of the diagnosis."
It was important medical practitioners who practised homeopathy fully informed their patients about what they were doing and got consent before using alternative techniques.
Dr Gorringe's overall diagnostic techniques, care and treatment in the two cases before the tribunal, were unacceptable, she said.
"I do not think that Dr Gorringe has upheld accepted guidelines and standards of practice."
