MS doctor 'could face legal claims'

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Solicitors Leigh Day & Co said it was looking into the possibility of seeking compensation for potentially "hundreds" of MS and spinal cord injury patients who travelled to Rotterdam to receive stem cell treatment from Dr Robert Trossel.

Jill Paterson, solicitor at the firm, said: "We support the GMC's findings that Dr Trossel is no longer fit to practise in the UK.

"We are actively investigating the pursuit of legal proceedings against him to right the wrongs caused to these vulnerable people."

The news of the possible legal action comes after Dr Trossel, 56, was struck off the medical register at the conclusion a long-running disciplinary hearing in central London into his involvement with MS sufferers.

The Dutch-trained doctor was found to have given false hope to vulnerable patients desperate for a cure, charging them thousands of pounds for "pointless" and "unjustifiable" stem cell treatments.

Prof Brian Gomes da Costa, chairman of the GMC fitness to practise panel, told Dr Trossel he had done "lasting harm" to patients and had "abused the position of trust" afforded to him as a doctor

He said: "You have exploited vulnerable patients and their families. You have given false hope and made unsubstantiated and exaggerated claims to patients suffering from degenerative and devastating illnesses."

Five of the patients in the GMC case were injected between August 2004 and August 2006 at his Rotterdam clinic with a substance said to contain stem cells, in a move described as medically unjustifiable, "inappropriate" and exploitative of vulnerable patients.

The GMC heard that Dr Trossel had no background in neurology or haematology and that he was not an expert in stem cell research. He was also found to have used stem cells that were not designed for human use.