THE MEDICAL Association has reported an acupuncturist to police as an alleged charlatan, in its latest move against practitioners of alternative medicine it says are frauds.
According to a complaint made by an anonymous woman, the man is really a car mechanic, who vanished for a few months only to return as an acupuncturist.
However, sources told the Cyprus Mail that the acupuncturist was a fully trained, registered practitioner, with six years experience. The acupuncturist himself, who wished to remain anonymous, denied he had ever been a “car mechanic,” saying he owned the largest breakdown service in Cyprus.
But he had put his business on hold, he told the Cyprus Mail, and paid thousands of pounds to study at the College of Oriental Medicine in London, an institution recognised by the European Union.
He has all the necessary diplomas and regularly attends seminars all over the world, to update his knowledge. He went to China on a scholarship from the government in 1995 and has furthered his studies with a professor in Cyprus.
Pharmacist George Ktenas considers him one of his best friends and the acupuncturist treats his wife. “He is a wonderful and dedicated man who has been working in this field for seven years. He is an acupuncturist, a doctor of Chinese medicine, a homeopath and carries the title of naturalopath. I go to all his seminars,” Ktenas told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.
The woman’s complaint that the acupuncturist promised to cure a patient with a skin disease, which got worse and was subsequently diagnosed as skin cancer, were passed on to the police by the President of the Medical Association, Antonis Vassiliou.
But the divisional commander responsible for police investigations into similar cases involving alternative healers told the Cyprus Mail he knew nothing about the matter. Vassiliou said he had consulted a different police officer when he came to collect evidence from him on another matter.
The acupuncturist himself cannot remember the case and told the Cyprus Mail he had never treated skin cancer. Vassiliou said the MA could only approve acupuncture practised by medical doctors.
But the acupuncturist said UK colleagues who were medical doctors worked together with naturalopaths. “Why not here? I always know what I do. I always seek medical advice from doctors and send patients back to their specialists.
Natural medicine works in conjunction with medical medicine,” he added. The Medical Association is pursuing a series of cases against alternative healers it claims are practicing illegally in Cyprus. Police have yet to make any arrests.
