The Medical Council has asked the Garda to investigate a doctor providing alternative therapy for cancer patients in Co Clare after a review found 17 of 48 patients were dead within six months.
The publication of the review in a US medical journal has prompted the council to report Dr William Porter, who was providing the therapy in Killaloe, to gardaí.
The therapy administered to the patients was cytoluminescent therapy (CLT). It involves the use of lasers at the clinic, and medicine and infra-red lamps at the patient's home. Dr Porter has promoted it as effective for treating all tumours, even in patients with advanced cancers.
He continues to treat patients using CLT. The cost per patient is €20,000, and his website yesterday said his CLT centre was "fully booked for the foreseeable future" due to the "overwhelming response to our CLT treatment programme".
The Irish Times was unable to contact Dr Porter yesterday, and he did not respond to messages.
Dr Ralph Moss, a widely respected figure in the world of alternative cancer therapies, conducted the review of 48 patients treated with CLT in Killaloe in late 2002 and early 2003. His report is published in the US medical journal Integrative Cancer Therapies.
The patients, who were mainly from the US but also included a number of Canadians and Britons, were first treated with the illumination therapy at the East Clinic, Killaloe, or at a nearby hotel, and then told to continue to administer the treatment at home for a number of weeks. Six months after the treatment no patient reported "an objective response", the study found.
A small number believed they had benefited from the therapy, but a larger number complained that their condition had deteriorated and believed the treatment had accelerated the growth of their tumours.
"There have been 17 deaths among the 48, with a mean survival after initial treatment among decedents of 4.2 months," the study said. It did point out that it was not possible at this time "to categorically attribute any deaths to CLT". However, it said CLT in this group was "a qualified failure with a high incidence of after-effects".