Acupuncture GP suspended

A DOCTOR practising an unorthodox form of acupuncture has been suspended by the General Medical Council after an NHS inquiry linked the treatment to the infection of 60 of his patients with Hepatitis B, writes Mark Rowe.

Earlier this year, the Independent on Sunday revealed that Dr Madhusan Shivadikar, who runs the Alternative Medical Centre in Finchley, north London, may have infected up to 20 patients. Now the figure has trebled. The case highlights the risks of the lack of regulation of complementary medicine, medical experts said yesterday. Dr Shivadikar used a form of acupuncture called autohaemotherapy, in which a small amount of the patient's blood is mixed with saline and re-injected through acupuncture points.