Struck off: Rogue doctor who sold quack MS remedies

• Robert Trossel arriving at the GMC yesterday

The move could trigger legal action by hundreds of patients throughout the UK who were treated by Dr Robert Trossel.

The 56-year-old was told his actions had done "lasting harm" after a long-running GMC disciplinary hearing into his involvement with nine MS patients who sought his help in "desperation" to find a cure for the disease.

Among them was James McCorrisken, 50, from Clydebank, who he paid 6,000 for "cutting edge" stem cell therapy which did not work.

Solicitors Leigh Day & Co said it was looking into the possibility of seeking compensation for potentially "hundreds" of MS and spinal cord injury patients who travelled to Rotterdam to receive stem cell treatment.

The Dutch-trained doctor, who has been removed from the medical register, was found to have given false hope to patients desperate for a cure.

Prof Brian Gomes da Costa, chairman of the GMC fitness to practise panel, said: "You have exploited vulnerable patients and their families.

"You have given false hope and made unsubstantiated and exaggerated claims to patients suffering from degenerative and devastating illnesses.

"Your conduct has unquestionably done lasting harm, if not physically, then mentally and financially, to these patients and also to their families and supporters. It is, therefore, undeniable that you have abused the position of trust afforded to you.

"You continue to advocate untested and unproved treatments, using your status as a registered doctor to reinforce your personal beliefs."

Five of the patients in the GMC case were injected between August 2004 and August 2006 at his Rotterdam clinic with a substance said to contain stem cells, in a move described as medically unjustifiable, "inappropriate" and exploitative of vulnerable patients. Two of the patients, along with another MS patient, were advised by Dr Trossel to undergo a treatment called Aqua Tilis therapy (AQT) - described by one as "completely bizarre" - involving "antioxidant steam" with "magnetic fields made from generators".

There was "scant", if any, prospect of alleviation of the MS symptoms by stem cell therapy and AQT, the GMC ruled.

The patients, the majority of whom were suffering from the "progressive and aggressive" form of the disabling neurological disease, raised thousands of pounds to fund the therapy.

The GMC has heard that none of the patients he treated has received even a partial refund from the doctor, who was ordered by the Dutch authorities to cease stem cell treatment in October 2006.He continues to be a "successful and sought-after practitioner" in Rotterdam.

Andrew Sandford, 46, from Guildford, Surrey, whose wife Deborah was also part of the GMC proceedings, said she was "very pleased and very happy" with the outcome.

A statement issued on Trossel's behalf said: "Clearly I am disappointed that the GMC has decided to remove me from the UK register."

'THE BEST NEWS'

Karen Galley, 45, from Hadleigh, Essex, one of the patients who gave evidence against Dr Trossel at the GMC hearing, welcomed the decision to strike him off.

She said: "It is the best news I have heard in a long time. It has been an awful few months. I think it is fantastic that they have struck him off. In my eyes, it is not enough, but we are getting somewhere."

Stephen Murphy, 42, from Timperley, Greater Manchester, also one of the MS patients named in the GMC action, said: "The GMC have acted on their mandate which is to protect the public from the actions and omissions of people that are not fit to practise."

James Logan, 47, from Edinburgh, who had a consultation with Dr Trossel but was not treated by him following the action of the Dutch authorities, said the decision was "brilliant".