Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

By: Mary Agnes Welch and Melissa Martin

Posted: 01/18/2015 10:42 PM | Comments:

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Enlarge Image

Medical researcher Doug Broeksas firm, Regenetek, is located at 1213 Chevrier Blvd. in Winnipeg. A family physician who worked with him says she is shocked by revelations he inflated his credentials. Photo Store

The Winnipeg physician who worked closely with a now-discredited medical researcher says she was "duped" by Doug Broeska and is shocked by recent revelations.

"Scammed, yes. Duped, yes," said Susan Hauch, a physician and associate professor at the University of Manitoba medical school. "Weve all been duped."

She said shes shocked by news Broeska inflated his credentials, overstated the effects of the stem cell treatment and was asked recently by an Indian ethics committee to resign as the studys principal investigator because he put patient safety at risk. "Its very unfortunate things had to come out this way because its shattered a lot of lives," Hauch said by phone Sunday. "This has been a very shocking situation."

For the last three years, patients with multiple sclerosis and, more recently, Lou Gehrigs disease, have paid Broeskas Winnipeg company, Regenetek Research, as much as $45,000 to travel to Pune, India, for stem cell treatment. Thats despite ethics rules that bar doctors from charging patients to be part of clinical trials.

While many Regenetek patients saw their MS symptoms shrink, many others did not, and began raising questions about Broeska and his treatment.

Read the original here:
I've been 'scammed': doctor