Recommending CBD-Based Treatment To Terminally Ill Cancer Patient Cost This UK Doctor His License

A recommendation to a terminal cancer patient regarding a treatment that included CBD has cost a UK physician his medical license.

According to a disciplinary panel at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) in Manchester, Dr Julian Kenyon, 77 tried to “exploit” a patient’s suffering from stage-four metastatic prostate cancer and charge him £33,000 ($41,650) for a cannabis-based treatment program that was unlicensed, as reported by Daily Mail.

Dr. Kenyon was a surgeon in a private practice The Dove Clinic in Twyford, Hampshire, which was closed last year. He recommended a treatment plan to an unnamed patient that included CBD, the vitamin Claricell and the digestive enzyme Similase, in addition to sound and light therapy. He told the patient at the time that “all the standard treatments” were already tried and that he was “running out of treatment options”.

See also: Five Years Later, Young Man Diagnosed With Stage 4 Brain Cancer Shares How Cannabis Helped His Recovery And What The Best Medicine Really Is

Originally reported to the General Medical Council, Dr. Kenyon told the patient he had as little as six months to live. The patient, who opted not to undergo the treatment recommended by Kenyon, had already been receiving conventional therapy on the ​National Health Service (NHS). The patient died 12 months later.

Dr. Kenyon reportedly told the patient "I am not claiming we can cure you, but there is a strong possibility that we would be able to increase your median survival time with the relatively low-risk approaches described here," an investigation presented during the hearing before the MPTS panel suggested.

A disciplinary panel found Dr. Kenyon's conduct “wholly unacceptable, morally culpable and disgraceful.”

While Kenyon's conduct remains questionable, cannabis has been gaining popularity among cancer patients and survivors as a means of managing symptoms related to the disease and its treatment. A growing body of scientific research is proof the stigma on cannabis is fading as numerous studies have confirmed it is useful in the treatment of melanoma, breast cancer and even deadly brain tumors.

Now read: Breast Cancer Survivor Enjoys Remission After Doctors Supported Using Cannabis With Chemotherapy

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