Thai cancer cure 'preposterous'

A New Zealand cancer sufferer became seriously ill after being treated by an unlicensed doctor in Thailand who said he could cure her.

Relatives have told how Melissa Judith Taylor became unconscious after Austrian-born Hellfried Sartori, 67, known as Dr Ozone, injected a "liquid ozone" into her chest and neck in the city of Chiang Mai on June 22. She was then rushed to hospital.

Ms Taylor reportedly payed 900,000 baht ($39,000) for the treatment.

On Sunday Ciang Mai police arrested Sartori following the death of an Australian patient allegedly given the same treatment. Police said he was charged with fraud as well as practising medicine without a licence.

They told Bangkok's the Nation newspaper they were investigating the deaths of several Australasian cancer patients, who flew to Chiang Mai to receive the treatment - usually in hotel rooms, at a cost of up to $60,000.

Sartori served two prison terms in the United States after administering his so-called "ozone treatments", police said.

The newspaper said Ms Taylor's relatives told Thai police that they flew with her from New Zealand to Chiang Mai after reading an online advertisement in which Sartori was portrayed as a qualified practitioner of the "liquid ozone" treatment.

They said Sartori used a syringe to withdraw liquid from a small metal cylinder, then injected three doses into Ms Taylor, in veins in her chest and neck. She passed out and had to be rushed to the intensive-care unit of Chiang Mai-Ram Hospital.

Hospital officials said Ms Taylor checked out on July 4 and New Zealand embassy officials in Bangkok said she had returned to New Zealand.

Websites claim the treatment cures everything from Aids and cancer to allergies and hardening of the arteries.

Dr Phattharawin Attasara, a senior physician with the National Cancer Institute of Thailand, described Sartori's "cure" as preposterous and potentially fatal.

- NZPA