Kidney Failure - Detox program led to kidney patient's death

Author

Detox program led to kidney patient's death

Mick

2005-04-26, 5:53 pm

Three articles on this inquest -

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitem...04/s1353733.htm
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/s...storyid=3027834
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National...l?oneclick=true

The last is the longest and most informative, but the SMH site has a
habit of asking you to register in order to view their pages after one
or two views. You'll get it if it's the first time you've accessed the
site in a while, but you probably won't be able to go back to it.

Umm, therefore, I'll cut'n'paste between the lines of asterisks (for
educational purposes):

*************************************************************
Detox program led to kidney patient's death, court told
By Natasha Wallace
April 27, 2005

Vecko Krsteski was suffering kidney disease when he stopped going to
hospital and turned to alternative medicine at a live-in clinic.

But within two weeks of starting a detoxification program with Jeffrey
Dummett, a naturopath, Mr Krsteski, 37, was dead, a court was told
yesterday.

His death from a heart attack while staying at the clinic in Oatley in
February, 2002, was a "direct result" of being on the $5000 two-week
program run by Mr Dummett and his wife, June, Detective Senior
Constable David Miller told Westmead Coroner's Court.

Mr Miller said Mr Krsteski had no solid foods for more than a week,
and lost 11 kilograms in 10 days.

He had also stopped his dialysis - critical in keeping him alive - six
days before his death, he said.

"The program … appears to have ignored the majority of Mr Krsteski's
prescribed medical needs which assisted in managing his illness. It is
also apparent that Mr Krsteski was starved/deprived of solid
foodstuffs … [he] was allowed to waste away and was not provided with
any professional traditional medical care," he said.

Mr Krsteski's renal specialist, Cathie Lane, said she expected him to
live for at least 10 years, and possibly more than 20. She said he was
being considered for a kidney transplant.

Dr Lane said there was no explanation for his sudden death, and he
should have been taken to hospital when he started experiencing chest
pains, numbness in his fingers and body aches.

Mr Dummett, who advertised on a website called Findacure.com and in
alternative lifestyle magazines and at shopping centre booths, was
prosecuted in 2002 for several breaches of the Fair Trading Act in
relation to making false claims. He was ordered to pay $33,950 in
fines and costs.

Some of his qualifications appeared to have come from "dubious
operators", many of which police could not verify existed, the court
heard yesterday.

Mr Dummett asked the deputy state coroner, Jacqueline Milledge, for an
immediate adjournment to seek legal advice, but the coroner said she
was not prepared to delay the matter for more than one day. "This is a
matter of significant public interest … this isn't the first time
you've come under notice," Ms Milledge said.

"There is a great deal of evidence that can discredit you."
*************************************************************

I've seen spam about naturopathic help for renal problems, and I've
occasionally encountered people on the net telling me that if I quit
dialysis and just think positive my kidney function will return. But
for someone actually trying to pass himself off as a naturopathic
doctor to put a dialysis patient on 'detox' - including no dialysis
and lots of fruit juice - is mind-boggling. Lucrative way to tell
someone to commit suicide.

Mick.

Spot

2005-05-01, 5:58 pm

This is awful. It's no wonder the guy died he was on dialysis not going for
treatment and drinking fruit & vegetable juices. My god his potassium
levels had to be out the roof it's no wonder he had a heart attack. The
number one thing they pounded into me from the start was that fresh fruits,
vegetables, nuts & chocolate could kill you really quick if you ate them and
your potassium shot up over 5.0.

People just don't understand what's great for a healthy person can kill
someone on dialysis.

Celeste

"Mick" <mick___@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:dae1aa52.0504261205.67fd0669@posting.google.com...
> Three articles on this inquest -
>
> http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitem...04/s1353733.htm
> http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/s...storyid=3027834
>
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National...l?oneclick=true
>
> The last is the longest and most informative, but the SMH site has a
> habit of asking you to register in order to view their pages after one
> or two views. You'll get it if it's the first time you've accessed the
> site in a while, but you probably won't be able to go back to it.
>
> Umm, therefore, I'll cut'n'paste between the lines of asterisks (for
> educational purposes):
>
> *************************************************************
> Detox program led to kidney patient's death, court told
> By Natasha Wallace
> April 27, 2005
>
> Vecko Krsteski was suffering kidney disease when he stopped going to
> hospital and turned to alternative medicine at a live-in clinic.
>
> But within two weeks of starting a detoxification program with Jeffrey
> Dummett, a naturopath, Mr Krsteski, 37, was dead, a court was told
> yesterday.
>
> His death from a heart attack while staying at the clinic in Oatley in
> February, 2002, was a "direct result" of being on the $5000 two-week
> program run by Mr Dummett and his wife, June, Detective Senior
> Constable David Miller told Westmead Coroner's Court.
>
> Mr Miller said Mr Krsteski had no solid foods for more than a week,
> and lost 11 kilograms in 10 days.
>
> He had also stopped his dialysis - critical in keeping him alive - six
> days before his death, he said.
>
> "The program . appears to have ignored the majority of Mr Krsteski's
> prescribed medical needs which assisted in managing his illness. It is
> also apparent that Mr Krsteski was starved/deprived of solid
> foodstuffs . [he] was allowed to waste away and was not provided with
> any professional traditional medical care," he said.
>
> Mr Krsteski's renal specialist, Cathie Lane, said she expected him to
> live for at least 10 years, and possibly more than 20. She said he was
> being considered for a kidney transplant.
>
> Dr Lane said there was no explanation for his sudden death, and he
> should have been taken to hospital when he started experiencing chest
> pains, numbness in his fingers and body aches.
>
> Mr Dummett, who advertised on a website called Findacure.com and in
> alternative lifestyle magazines and at shopping centre booths, was
> prosecuted in 2002 for several breaches of the Fair Trading Act in
> relation to making false claims. He was ordered to pay $33,950 in
> fines and costs.
>
> Some of his qualifications appeared to have come from "dubious
> operators", many of which police could not verify existed, the court
> heard yesterday.
>
> Mr Dummett asked the deputy state coroner, Jacqueline Milledge, for an
> immediate adjournment to seek legal advice, but the coroner said she
> was not prepared to delay the matter for more than one day. "This is a
> matter of significant public interest . this isn't the first time
> you've come under notice," Ms Milledge said.
>
> "There is a great deal of evidence that can discredit you."
> *************************************************************
>
> I've seen spam about naturopathic help for renal problems, and I've
> occasionally encountered people on the net telling me that if I quit
> dialysis and just think positive my kidney function will return. But
> for someone actually trying to pass himself off as a naturopathic
> doctor to put a dialysis patient on 'detox' - including no dialysis
> and lots of fruit juice - is mind-boggling. Lucrative way to tell
> someone to commit suicide.
>
> Mick.

mick___@hotmail.com

2005-05-01, 5:58 pm

Spot wrote:
> This is awful. It's no wonder the guy died he was on dialysis not
going for
> treatment and drinking fruit & vegetable juices. My god his
potassium
> levels had to be out the roof it's no wonder he had a heart attack.

Yes. I was a little surprised that his kidney specialist said there was
'no explanation' for his death, given that the cirsumstances scream
"heart attack from high potassium" but I expect she doesn't want to
pre-empt the coroner.

The
> number one th ing they pounded into me from the start was that fresh
fruits,
> vegetables, nuts & chocolate could kill you really quick if you ate
them and
> your potassium shot up over 5.0.

I aim to keep mine just under 5.0 (this is my specialist's preference)
on the basis that I need as much nutrition as I can get without it
becoming dangerous. But I rarely drink fruit juice

> People just don't understand what's great for a healthy person can
kill
> someone on dialysis.

Absolutely. The simplistic idea of "If you're unwell then do healthy
things to deal with it" doesn't work for kidney failure (and many other
illnesses) because simple ideas of what's healthy don't apply. Eat lots
of fruit and veg, with little protein? A low carb diet? Detox your
system by flushing with lots of fluid and no solids? No, you have to
move to a more complex level.

I think cases like this are interesting because I wonder where the law
will apportion responsibility. The patient was very irresponsible to
accept the course of 'treatment' but the naturopath was irresponsible
to offer it and then carry it out. It will be interesting to see if the
naturopath is charged. I hope he will be.

> Celeste

Mick.