MS doctor who did 'lasting harm' to his patients is struck off

Multiple sclerosis sufferers today spoke of their anger after receiving "pointless" treatment costing thousands of pounds.

Dr Robert Trossel was struck off by the General Medical Council and told his actions had done "lasting harm" to MS patients who sought his help in "desperation".

Karen Galley, a former City worker, was among those accusing the Dutch-trained doctor of exploiting their vulnerability and desperation. The 45-year-old from Hadleigh, Essex, visited Trossel's clinic in August 2006 in the hope that her son Sam, now aged 10, might see her walk.

She was charged about £10,500 for the treatment, receiving one injection in the arm and six in the neck. Her friends and colleagues had helped her raise the money.

The GMC found Dr Trossel, 56, who had consulting rooms in London, had injected five MS patients between August 2004 and August 2006 at his clinic in Rotterdam with a substance said to contain stem cells, a move described as medically unjustifiable and "inappropriate".

Ms Galley had been injected without her knowledge with a substance containing bovine brain and spinal cord cells. She said: "His QC has described him as a compassionate doctor - but that is rubbish, no compassionate person treats people like that. I am angry and scared because of the risk of CJD which there is no test for and can lie dormant for many, many years.

"It makes me feel sick that somebody could exploit vulnerable people in this way."

Stephen Murphy, 42, from Greater Manchester, paid £7,000 to be injected by Dr Trossel. He said: "There is no cure for MS, that is the bottom line. It is malign and insidious. When you are in what I call the 'MS Alcatraz' and somebody comes along with a boat, you are going to jump in it and you are not going to pay too much attention to the seaworthiness of that vessel."