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News from London:
Family planning doctor 'told patient she needed exorcism'
By Russell Jenkins
A doctor at a family planning clinic told a patient that she needed an exorcism because there was something sinister moving around inside her stomach, a medical tribunal was told yesterday.
Joyce Pratt, 44, allegedly told the patient, who was seeking contraceptive advice, that she might be possessed by an evil spirit and needed religious rather than medical help.
She gave the woman crosses and trinkets to ward off black magic, allegedly told her that her mother was a witch, that she and her husband were trying to kill her, and suggested that she visit a Roman Catholic priest at Westminster Cathedral in London.
During the consultation at the Westside Contraceptive Clinic in Central London the doctor was said to have told the patient that she had black magic powers that could help to alleviate the problem.
The patient, identified only as Mrs K, was said to have left the clinic “very shaken and intimidated”.
The General Medical Council’s fitness-to-practise panel in Manchester was due to start a three-day hearing yesterday but Dr Pratt failed to appear...
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