Judge Awards $2.1 Million in Chelation Case (1995)
In December 1995, the Houston Chronicle reported that State District Judge Mark Davidson had found Mohammed Kakvan, M.D. negligent in the 1992 death of 61-year-old Frank Vecchio. Testimony in the case indicated: Vecchio underwent quadruple bypass at age 46 but experienced no other major health problems until 1992 when he began experiencing chronic chest pains. Veccho began chelation with Kakvan on October 20, 1992 but died of a heart attack on November 20th. Chelation had been condemned by major health organizations. Kakvan should have recognized the severity of Vecchio’s symptoms and referred him for hospitalization under the care of a heart specialist. The judge awarded $600,000 in actual damages and $1.5 million in punitive damages to Vecchio’s widow and his estate.
Continue Reading >Georgia Court Rules That Physician Has No Duty to Inform Patients about Chelation Therapy
In 1991. a federal judge in Georgia dismissed a claim asserted by a woman who suffered a stroke following surgery in 1989 for partial blockage of her left carotid artery. The woman had charged that her neurosurgeon had committed malpractice by failing to inform her that a chelation therapy was a possible alternative to the surgery. Georgia’s informed consent law requires physicians, before performing surgery, to inform their patients of the risks and of “practical alternatives . . . which are generally recognized and accepted by reasonably prudent physicians.” The judge ruled that the plaintiff had failed to prove that this standard had been violated. Chelation therapy is not a legitimate alternative to vascular surgery. In explaining his reasoning, the judge noted that chelation therapy …
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