Doctor suspended for administering unapproved drugs

Doctor suspended for administering unapproved drugs
A Georgia based doctor of Indian origin was suspended on the charge of injecting cancer patients with a weed killer. On the other hand many of his patients have backed him saying that he saved their lives when nothing else worked.

The Georgia Board of Medical Examiners suspended the license of a 70-year-old cancer specialist Dr. Totada Shanthaveerappa or TR Shantha on Thursday after a 30-minute meeting. The board said that his practice “poses a threat to the public health, safety and welfare” and “requires emergency action.”

The board alluded to a case of a cancer patient treated by Dr. TR Shantha who died in 2001. The doctor had allegedly given him high dose of a chemotherapy medicine methotrexate which had caused “an unreasonable and significant risk to the patient.”

The Doctor and his 63-year-old assistant Dan Bartoli face indictment from a federal grand jury on counts of money laundering, insurance and health care fraud, administering unapproved drugs and misbranding drugs that he used. The accused have been indicted for 87 counts in total. The defense lawyer Don Samuel said that the doctor is going to plead not guilty. The defense has obtained statements from the patients of Dr. Shantha who have been cured by his treatment. “These are patients who are told, `There's nothing more we can do for you go home.' They come to Dr. Shantha as a last resort,” said Mr. Samuel.

Dr. Shantha has been charged of injecting his patients with a drug called Dinitrophenol which is a weed-killer and is banned in the US. His lawyer defended him saying, “It happens to have the same chemicals you use to treat lawns. But so does water. There's probably something in the cookies you eat that is used in weed killers, too.”

Dr. Shantha claims that he uses alternative medicine to cure cancer.