At the heart of the debate surrounding the illegal performance of medical procedures in unlicensed facilities and the use of unapproved practices is the fact that they are publicly advertised, without undergoing any oversight.
Speaking on the Alpha News program, Dr. Christos Petrou, Professor of Pharmacy in the Department of Health Sciences at University of Nicosia, stated that the biggest problem is the lack of oversight mechanisms.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
“The biggest problem is that public health authorities, at the end of the day, view things in a piecemeal manner, or intervene in a piecemeal way only when a problem arises. They went to inspect a machine at a facility, perhaps one that was operating without a license. What is the supervisory role of the Ministry of Health and public health authorities in this case, in all cases where they see advertisements on the streets or online?”
He wonders, given their scientific expertise, why they cannot conduct an ex officio inspection.
“Who granted the license for this product? What is the labeling? What are the warnings? Who assumes responsibility for the risks involved?”
When asked to comment on the fact that illegal practices are being publicly advertised, Mr. Petrou wonders who is conducting the inspections.
He refers to other irregular methods that promise treatment through unapproved practices.
“These are the so-called colonic hydrotherapy treatments, and all of these are part of a very large group of quack methods that are once again being used under strange names, based on the logic that ‘we’ll remove the toxins from your blood; we’ll remove the evil from your body.”
He points out that regulatory authorities need to act promptly to identify these illegal practices in a timely manner.
“The science of longevity is a vast field of research; there is some evidence regarding certain products, and the first clinical trials to determine whether certain age-related diseases can be improved have now begun in the United States; the issue of longevity is not a single injection, or a cocktail that will make you younger; in 5, 10, or 20 years, it will be a set of health interventions that can be personalized and fully measurable in terms of what will be needed.”
Earlier, speaking on the Alpha Kalimera show, Michalis Anastasiadis, Chairman of the PIS Ethics Committee,
Unfortunately, it took a tragic event—a tragic incident involving a well-known individual—to spark all this mobilization, I would say, which, however, should have taken place regardless of who the tragic victim of this whole situation was.
“We have pointed out in the past, we have denounced the phenomenon of quackery and the use of pseudo-therapies, which are essentially exploited by unscrupulous individuals precisely to take advantage of the anxiety and pain of some of our fellow citizens, who often—whether unsuspecting or, at times, even suspicious—fall prey to such practices.”
Dr. Anastasiades notes that in many cases, complaints have been filed with the police regarding non-members, and in isolated instances, doctors who are members of the Cyprus Medical Association (PIS) have also been reported for questionable practices.
He also clarifies that neither the Medical Association nor the Medical Council has any authority or the legal means to oversee the environment in which any physician practices medicine, whether in a private practice, a small clinic, or a larger one.
“There is a gap that we have identified concerning the operation of small facilities or private practices, I would say, which are not licensed by any authority. There may be some permits issued in certain cases by local authorities, such as municipalities, etc. but there is no Ministry or Supervisory Authority to inspect these individual small clinics, which make up the overwhelming majority.”
He also notes that doctors should be able to substantiate the practices they follow, based on the literature and guidelines.
“Plasmapheresis is a very serious therapeutic procedure that has been performed for many, many years, but only for specific serious conditions— that is, with specific medical indications, and it must be performed with absolute safety in fully equipped centers under the supervision of appropriately trained personnel.”
