GP 'used crystal pendant to treat sick child'

A GP interested in alternative medicine tried to treat a baby's gastroenteritis by swinging a crystal pendant over her stomach, the General Medical Council was told yesterday.

Dr Michelle Langdon also told the mother of 11-month-old Kira Jinkinson her home was built on "geopathic stress lines", which could cause ME, cancer and cot death.

Dr Langdon, 43, a partner at Brunswick Medical Centre, London, was appearing before a disciplinary hearing charged with serious professional misconduct by refusing to prescribe patients with orthodox drugs. She denies her treat-ment of three patients fell below the standard of care expected of a registered doctor.

The hearing was told that while Dr Langdon practised conventional medicine, she was known to have an "evangelical zeal" for alternative and natural cures.

Opening the case for the GMC, Jeremy Donne said: "This case is not about the merits or otherwise of complementary medicine but about the enthusiasm of Dr Langdon for it, which compromised the interests of her patients."

Bethan Jinkinson, a BBC journalist, took Kira to the GP in October 2000 after the baby suffered severe vomiting. She was allegedly sent away without a diagnosis and returned when the condition worsened. Mr Donne said: "She [Dr Langdon] started to talk about the geopathic stress lines."

The GP allegedly tried to arrange for a spiritual doctor to lay down copper pipes in the home to "disrupt the flow" and prevent deadly illnesses.

Dr Langdon, who has practised for 24 years, used her dowsing chain to treat the toddler, who was later diagnosed with gastroenteritis at University College Hospital, London, the hearing was told.

In June, the GP allegedly refused to prescribe antibiotics to a patient who was later diagnosed with a stomach infection. The hearing continues.