Patients defend doctor on trial for deception

A CO Clare mother of three told a court yesterday that she was "heartbroken" when her GP, Paschal Carmody, was struck off as a doctor by the Medical Council.

On the 15th day of the trial of Mr Carmody at Ennis Circuit Court, Theresa Malone (58) told the jury that she would "love to see him back" as her GP.

Mrs Malone said money was not an issue for Mr Carmody. "If you weren't able to pay, he would say 'pay whenever you can' and he would never ask for the money, ever." She described Mr Carmody as "kind, caring and professional in every way".

Mr Carmody (60), Ballycuggeran, Killaloe, denies 25 separate charges of obtaining money from six terminally ill cancer patients and their families by deception between September 2001 and October 2002.

Judge Rory McCabe has told the jury that he will be directing that they return a "not guilty" verdict on eight of the charges relating to three of the patients.

The sums involved in the remaining charges total more than €40,000. Former mayor of Clare, Fianna Fáil councillor Flan Garvey, said that Mr Carmody had been the Garvey family doctor for 20 years. "I regret number one that he can't act as my doctor anymore, and that goes for thousands more," he said.

The jury has already been told that Mr Carmody was struck off in April 2004.

Mr Garvey described Mr Carmody as "very caring and very considerate" and said "he told you things as they were".

He said Mr Carmody "never took chances". When there was a suspicion that he might have had prostate cancer in 2003, Mr Carmody referred him straight away to a higher authority, Mr Garvey added.

The jury was also told yesterday, by a top cancer specialist, that laser treatment administered at Mr Carmody's clinic to a terminally ill 14-year-old boy, Conor O'Sullivan, "wouldn't be appropriate".

The jury has already heard that the boy, from Co Wexford, underwent Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) treatment at the East Clinic in Killaloe in July 2002. He was given six months to live in May 2002 as the cancer in his bone was deemed inoperable, and he died in November of that year.

The boy's mother, Christina, has already told the jury that Mr Carmody told Conor in July 2002 that he would cure his cancer, or at worst keep him alive. Mr Carmody denies that he said this.

In evidence yesterday, the chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology and consultant radiation oncologist at Galway University Hospital (GUH), Prof Frank Sullivan, said: "I can't see how light could be expected to get into the bone. It doesn't absorb light to any degree and the treatment wouldn't be appropriate."

He said he would not rely on PDT to reach deep-seated tumours. He said the primary use of the technology was for super-ficial tumours, but accepted that advances were being made all the time. He said the treatment was a minor agent in cancer treatment, and not a mainstay like chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery.

However, Netherlands-based Dr Engelbert Valstar said that PDT could penetrate to a depth of between 4cm and 23cm.

The closing speeches are to be made in the trial today and Judge McCabe told the jury that he expects to make his charge to them tomorrow.