This article is from page 13 of the 2008-07-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
PASCHAL Carmody insisted that he never promised any of his patients that he would cure them of cancer.
‘“T never use the word ‘cure’ in any care, with any patient,’ he told the trial, during cross-examination on Friday morning.
He disputed evidence given earlier in the trial by the widow of one of his former patients.
Bernadette Gallagher, from Mullin- gar, County Westmeath, lost her hus- band JJ through cancer of the liver in September 2002.
He underwent photodynamic treat-
ment at Paschal Carmody’s East Clinic in Killaloe in February of that year.
Mrs Gallagher said Mr Carmody told her husband the treatment was ‘just like magic’ and they thought it was too good to be true.
However, Mr Carmody told the court he didn’t say this and also de- nied that he had promised to cure Mr Gallagher.
He also denied saying to the Gal- laghers that when people found out about the treatment for cancer that it would be “like the days of Lazu- rus, they will be banging down the doors.”
He said that his recollection of events relating to Mr Gallagher were very fresh in his mind, as Mrs Gal- lagher went public on the issue in 2002 on RTE’s Prime Time.
“My recollection of events are ex- actly as I describe,” he said.
Referring to another of his former patients, John Sheridan, Mr Carmo- dy was asked had he promised to get him through his illness, as had been claimed previously.
“T don’t recall those words,’ he Cr HOR
Asked by Prosecutor Denis Vaughan-Buckley had he promised a cure for Mr Sheridan, he replied,
“There was no question of a cure. I did not promise a cure for John. I do not use that word in communica- nto) ei
He denied that he had led the Sheridans to believe he would cure John.
Mr Carmody also denied that he had promised to cure Conor O’Sullivan – a 15-year-old boy from Wexford who died from cancer in November 2002 – or at worst, keep him alive.
This was the claim made by Conor’s mother Christina, earlier in the trial.
“No. I didn’t use the word ‘cure.’ I may have put my hand on his shoul- der to reassure the young man and say
‘Pll do my best for him’,” he said.
When it was put to him that he had made a lot of money from pho- todynamic treatment, he said to the Prosecutor, “Since you have started your examination, you’ve repeatedly referred to income without outlay. I want the jury to know the substantial outlay involved was far greater than the income.”
Mr Vaughan-Buckley then asked Paschal Carmody was he telling the jury that he had lost money on the photodynamic treatment (PDT), to which Carmody replied, “I’m telling the jury there was substantial outlay in setting up the PDT centre.”