Iridologist ‘acted compassionately’
AN IRIDOLOGIST has been partially cleared of the inappropriate treatment of a cancer sufferer after a tribunal ruled she acted out of compassion for a ‘‘manipulative’’ patient.
Te Horo natural health practitioner Ruth Nelson, 72, was alleged to have failed to provide proper care in her treatment of Yvonne Maine, who died from skin cancer in 2010.
A 20cm lesion on Mrs Maine’s head was oozing pus, and had eaten away skin and bone to reveal her pulsating brain when she finally sought mainstream medical treatment in July 2009. She had palliative surgery, but died 10 months later.
In a case brought by the Office of the Health and Disability Commissioner, Mrs Nelson was defending allegations her treatment breached eight provisions in the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights.
Mrs Maine’s two daughters say that Mrs Nelson fed their mother’s long-held fear of hospitals, and made promises to cure the cyst.
But the Human Rights Review Tribunal has upheld just one breach – that Mrs Nelson ‘‘did not comply with her duty to provide services to Mrs Maine with reasonable care and skill’’.
They said the elderly iridologist should have refused to treat Mrs Maine when first faced with the rotting, oozing lump on the Feilding grandmother’s head in February 2008.
They accepted that Mrs Nelson had been disgusted upon first seeing the cyst, and told Mrs Maine it was ‘‘way out of my league,’’ and she needed surgery and should go to hospital.
‘‘Her failure lay in refusing to have anything to do with Mrs Maine’s cyst from the time it was first shown to her. That failure was not the result of indifference, carelessness or negligence.
‘‘We accept Mrs Nelson’s evidence that this occurred, ironically, because Mrs Nelson acted compassionately and with good intention towards a stubborn, difficult and manipulative individual.’’
The cyst, then 8cm in diameter, was ‘‘weepy and smelly,’’ and had eaten through Mrs Maine’s hair and skin. It was to double in size over the next two years.
Both Mrs Nelson and her daughter, Megan Nelson-Latu, had tried numerous times to convince Mrs Maine to go to hospital, but she steadfastly refused.
The tribunal did not accept the version of events given by Mrs Maine’s daughters, Carla Taylor and Julieta Williams.
In their testimonies, the daughters said Mrs Nelson told their mother she could cure her cyst, and had warned her off going to hospital.
It may be that Mrs Maine lied to her daughters to avoid them pursuing further medical treatment, the report said.
A tearful Mrs Taylor yesterday
Yvonne Maine’s daughter, Carla Taylor, on the tribunal ruling. expressed her shock at the result.
‘‘I am disappointed that the tribunal has chosen to believe her evidence and I feel they have taken sympathy particularly towards an elderly woman,’’ she said.
‘‘I’m just trying to come to grips with the idea that this has actually happened after this case, I’m absolutely floored. I’m struggling a wee bit.’’
She said she had hoped the in- quiry into her mother’s treatment before her death would lead to the formation of a naturopathy body with binding codes and standards, to which registration should be compulsory.
Dr Phillipa Malpas, a senior lecturer in clinical medical ethics at the University of Auckland, said during the hearing that she believed Mrs Nelson was a wellintentioned person who had acted with integrity and empathy.