A German doctor said to be “exercising functions in the Algarve” has seen his appeal against compulsory internment in a mental asylum turned down.
Évora judges have decided the man poses an “unacceptable risk” to his patients who, they say, are being misled “by the exercise of his mystical powers”.
Working from a private clinic in an unspecified area of the region, the doctor has allegedly told patients that he can cure diabetes in 10 days using huge doses of insulin, writes Público – and he claims to “have a strength that he learnt from God” that can be put to many other uses, including curing cancers.
But what happens next is unclear. The doctor should, as a result of this latest ruling, be committed forthwith to a mental hospital.
But as Público explains, this looks unlikely.
In fact, he could still just go on practising, as the Doctors Association (Ordem dos Médicos) has not taken any action.
“For now, the Doctors Association has done nothing more than publish a résumé of the judgement,” writes Público.
Association leader José Manuel da Silva suggests it should act as a warning to doctors, as well as to patients.
“We hope that citizens realise that they shouldn’t believe in miracles, but in science,” Silva said – adding that “doctors are, unfortunately, inhibited from getting sick or suffering from delusional ideas”.
Interesting is that neither Público nor the Doctors Association seem to be aware of any complaints by the German doctor’s patients.
Évora judges nonetheless decided that reports by psychiatrists should be taken on board.
Psychiatric evaluation did stress that the doctor was “unaware” that he was suffering from any kind of delusions – and that is one of the aspects that they claimed makes him so potentially dangerous.
But according to Público, the German national believes he could be in line for a Nobel Prize for his work.
The doctor is understood to have set himself up in the Algarve in 2006. As far as we can gather, he is still practising today.
