Patient 'looked like the stuff of horror movies'

By ELIZABETH BINNING

When Dr Richard Gorringe promised Yvonne Short she would have "skin like a baby" within 12 weeks, it seemed like a dream come true.

No other doctor or specialist had been able to offer the Ngaruawahia woman a cure for her ongoing skin problems, let alone within a guaranteed time.

Yet by the end of 12 weeks, Mrs Short's skin had deteriorated into an oozing, peeling mess. "I was in a worse condition than when I started.

"I would wake up in the morning and there would be skin in the bed and all over the floor. I looked like the stuff of horror movies."

Mrs Short is one of two women who complained about the treatment she received from Dr Gorringe in 1998. Yesterday the medical practitioners disciplinary tribunal found the Hamilton-based "dual practitioner" guilty of two counts of professional misconduct and one of disgraceful conduct.

Dr Gorringe could be struck from the medical register, ending a 13-year career in what he described as a successful combination of alternative and mainstream medicine.

Like most of Dr Gorringe's patients, Mrs Short was referred to his clinic through a friend, in March 1998.

The 43-year-old farmer was desperate for a cure for her ongoing skin problems, which specialists had diagnosed as eczema. They had prescribed steroids with little success.

Dr Gorringe used an alternative and untested technique to diagnose Mrs Short with paraquat poisoning. He sent her away with homeopathic remedies - the 12-week cure.

During that time she deteriorated to the stage where normal household chores such as cooking dinner or washing her hair became impossible.

Her hands and face swelled up, eyes and various body parts started "oozing" and her skin went lumpy, dry, itchy and eventually peeled.

"I looked revolting," she remembers. In June the grey-haired doctor admitted "something had gone wrong" but a desperate Mrs Short continued to seek his help for seven months.

"He kept reassuring me that if I stuck things out I would be cured.

"As time wore on I remained desperate, but had also invested so much into the treatment."

Mrs Short was not the only vulnerable patient seeking help from the doctor, who has a devoted following as far away as Australia.

Early in 1998 Hamilton counsellor Ravaani Ghaemmaghamy felt fatigued, weak and sore.

Her vision was blurry and she suffered from a lack of concentration.

An Anglican minister recommended Dr Gorringe as a man who had prevented amputations, stopped debilitating illnesses and changed hundreds of lives with his alternative methods.

He diagnosed her with a rare condition called brucellosis, said a prayer to kill the rare bug, then charged her for medicine to remove the "dead" bug from her system.

To make his diagnosis Dr Gorringe used "peak muscle resistance testing" - a technique he also used on Mrs Short.

This involved Ms Ghaemmaghamy placing one arm on an aluminium plate while holding a metal rod in her other hand.

With the rod she touched dozens of small vials that were filled with various body tissues, toxins, chemicals and pathogens.

When she touched a "brucellosis vial" and her muscle flexed, Dr Gorringe diagnosed her with what he said was a rare condition which could not be detected by blood tests.

She was also diagnosed with maldesen poisoning.

Ms Ghaemmaghamy was sent away with homeopathic remedies after being told she would "definitely be feeling better in a week".

On her return to Dr Gorringe, more than a month later, she asked about antibiotics because the condition had not improved.

"Dr Gorringe advised me there was no need for me to undergo antibiotic treatment as the prayer had killed the brucellosis bug."

She told the tribunal: "I felt Dr Gorringe exploited my vulnerability."

Tribunal findings

Dr Richard Gorringe:

* Relied unduly on an untested alternative method to diagnose and treat patients.

* Failed to undertake adequate clinical examinations.

* Did not back his finding with conventional methods such as blood tests.

* Did not get consent before using spiritual healing and alternative diagnostic tools.

* Exploited patients for financial gain.