Two healthy women died suddenly: studies against alternative doctors from Appenzell

The Ausserrhoden public prosecutor’s office is investigating alternative medicine doctor Thomas Rau and a medical employee of the Biomed Center Sonnenberg for two counts of negligent homicide. The public prosecutor confirmed this to Tagblatt on Tuesday. The Biomed Center Sonnenberg, where the two deceased patients were treated, is located in Schwellbrunn, Ausserrhoden.

The two doctors deny any guilt. The canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden has not yet taken any action against the clinic or Rau. Thomas Rau is internationally known as a doctor of alternative medicine and has treated royals, managers and Hollywood actors. The Ausserrhoden Public Health Office told the “NZZ am Sonntag” that administrative proceedings would generally only be opened if there was a legally binding judgment against a doctor in the relevant criminal proceedings.

In one of the two cases now being investigated, an actually healthy woman came to the Biomed Center Sonnenberg because of digestive problems and headaches. There she received infusions, initially only with vitamin C and homeopathic remedies. Afterwards she also received artesunate, a medicine against malaria. Finally, she was given an injection of a mixture of alpha lipoic acid prescribed by the doctor who was also accused. The substance is mainly used to treat the diabetes disease diabetes.

Just hours later, the woman complained of severe abdominal cramps and eventually pain throughout her body. The accused Thomas Rau took the patient to the hospital in a private car. Neither in Herisau nor in the cantonal hospital of St. Gallen could anyone help the woman; she died of the serious blood clotting disorder. The forensic-medical report places a heavy burden on the Biomed Center Sonnenberg: The woman was given a drug that was not approved in Switzerland at the time and died from the side effects.

The use of the drug was approved in Germany at the time for diabetes patients with nerve damage, but the patient was not affected by this. Moreover, she had not been informed of the risks and had not given written consent. The report asks “whether the medical treatment in the Biomed Center Sonnenberg was carried out with the necessary medical care”. The two suspects deny any guilt and doubt the report.

In a second case, other experts accused Thomas Rau of serious dereliction of duty, as the “NZZ am Sonntag” revealed. In concrete terms, this concerns the death of a 77-year-old who was previously a patient at the Biomed Center Sonnenberg. She was at the clinic for treatment and as she was about to leave, she started shaking violently and had extreme abdominal pain. Thomas Rau performed ultrasound on the woman and gave her painkillers, including morphine. When she felt better, she went home and fell into a coma-like state overnight. She was admitted to the University Hospital of Zurich as an emergency, but died there of cardiovascular failure and septic shock.

In their report, the forensic doctors from Zurich mention intestinal paralysis as the cause. From a forensic medical perspective, it is incomprehensible that Thomas Rau, as the treating physician, did not perform appropriate diagnostics. His behavior corresponds to “a violation of the duty of medical care”. Rau also denied any guilt in this case: the 77-year-old left in “good condition” and there was no causal link between her hospital stay and the death.

This is not the first time Rau has been in negative headlines. In 2003, a report concluded that Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, had died as a result of an infection he contracted at the Paracelsus Clinic. Rau was medical director and partner there at the time. Despite years of litigation, there was never a verdict: the case was closed.

(rbu)