Nurse tried to sell cannabis oil to cancer patient at QMC
STRUCK OFF FOR GIVING ‘POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS’ ADVICE
AN NHS nurse, who had been working at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, has been struck off after she tried to make money by persuading a vulnerable cancer patient to buy cannabis oil from a company she worked for.
Eliska Neuzilova encouraged the “vulnerable” woman to buy the oil so she could profit from the sale and even tracked her down to deliver a leaflet advertising it, a tribunal heard.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council tribunal heard that Neuzilova worked at the neuro-spinal post operative unit at the Queen’s Medical Centre.
Neuzilova allegedly tried to tell the patient cannabis oil and said that cutting out sugar would cure her cancer.
She was cleared of this allegation at a tribunal after it heard that there was a lack of evidence as the patient had died and so was unable to give evidence on whether Neuzilova encouraged her to take it to treat her cancer.
However, Neuzilova was still struck off for trying to sell the cancer patient cannabis oil, also known as CBD oil.
The tribunal said that, regardless of Neuzilova’s personal beliefs about CBD oil, a nurse giving advice on treatments that were not supported by medical evidence ws “inappropriate” and “potentially dangerous”.
The tribunal heard that the patient was chatty and likely to have discussed CBD oil if brought up in conversation, but there was not enough evidence to find that Neuzilova instructed the patient to take it as a cure.
However, the tribunal did find Neuzilova posted a leaflet through the patient’s door with the details of the company she was involved with.
Neuzilova admitted she did this in a statement: “I knew her address from her records... So I decided to drop a leaflet through her door.”
Neuzilova was employed by or had a business interest in a company which profited from the sale of cannabis oil and she would have made money if the patient had bought any of the products.
A tribunal report said: “Miss Neuzilova had given the patient the opportunity and some persuasion to purchase cannabis oil products.”
The Nursing and Midwifery Council struck Neuzilova off after finding
her actions were “incompatible” with her remaining on the register.
It said: “The panel was cognisant that cannabis oil is not a gold-standard medical treatment in the patient’s circumstances, and, regardless of Miss Neuzilova’s personal beliefs, it was satisfied that a health care professional giving advice on supplements or treatments that are not supported by medical evidence is inappropriate and potentially dangerous.
“This therefore represents a serious departure from professional standards.
“Further, the panel determined that the patient was highly vulnerable, and Miss Neuzilova was in a position of trust.
“Miss Neuzilova’s use of the patient’s address, which she admits having obtained in the course of her duties as a registered nurse, in order to target her for financial gain was, an abuse of that trust.”
Neuzilova also failed to record information properly on another patient’s chart and did not make sure a spinal fluid drain was working, leaving the patient needing urgent medical attention and at risk of serious harm.