Results of care given by Carmody were ‘exceptional’

A SENIOR medic agreed the results of the care given by former GP Paschal Carmody to nine terminally ill cancer patients were “exceptional”.

At Ennis Circuit Court, the jury also heard Carmody treated his brother, Peter, with the photodynamic therapy (PDT) treatment to treat his cancer.

Carmody denies defrauding family relatives of two terminally ill cancer patients of €16,554 at the East Clinic in Killaloe in 2001-02 concerning PDT treatment given to the two.

Seven of the nine charges relate to the late Co Wexford teenager, Conor O’Sullivan, aged 15, who died from bone cancer in November 2002.

The remaining charges relate to John Sheridan, aged 58, of Kells, Co Kilkenny, who died from liver cancer in November 2002.

In court yesterday, retired professor of medicine Dr Neville Krasner confirmed he was employed by the Irish Medical Council in 2003 to review 10 files of terminally ill cancer patients under the care of Carmody.

Patrick Marrinan, defending, told the jury Carmody was struck off the medical register after a Medical Council’s fitness to practice inquiry.

Mr Marrinan said Prof Krasner was highly critical of Carmody’s note-taking in his report to the inquiry.

Counsel said that many of the 10 patients reviewed “were given a very short period in which to live”.

He said the patients were treated by Carmody with three forms of treatment: PDT, hypertherapy and immunotherapy.

Prof Krasner agreed with Mr Marrinan that in nine of the cases, he found “exceptionally good results”.

Mr Marrinan said: “These were all people who had effectively abandoned normal treatment such as chemotherapy and rejected it and were taking these three treatments. I’m not suggesting that PDT alone produced these results, but many of these people in 2003 were still alive, healthy and well and you found that quite exceptional.”

Prof Krasner said: “I did.”

Mr Marrinan quoted a statement made by Prof Krasner to the fitness to practice inquiry in 2003 where he said: “I am impressed with the results, I would like to know what components helped in the treatment for my own patients to allow patients to survive in this way.”

Lorcan Staines, counsel for Carmody, put it to a former nurse at the East Clinic, Aileen McKeogh, that the state’s case that Carmody is some form of charlatan and a con man. Ms McKeogh said that this was not consistent with her experience.

“Certainly not. He was a very good employer.”

The trial continues.