TREATMENT OF KING

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30406, 3 April 1964, Page 11

TREATMENT OF KING

Delays Cause Disquiet (Special Crspdt. N.Z.P.A.) LONDON, April 2. The publication of a report by the Greek royal physician, Dr. Thomas Doxiases, about the course of King Paul's fatal illness and its treatment has apparently closed a controversial issue so far as the Greek Government and the palace are concerned, says the “Scotsman’s” commentator on foreign affairs. For the public, however, the report is inadequate. There is a continuing outcry in serious Greek papers, reflecting apparently responsible medical as well as lay opinion, regarding several gaps and omissions in the report, which lend weight to the suspicions about King Paul’s treatment by his medical advisers. “There have been no satisfactory answers, especially to questions concerning the delay in diagnosing a fatally advanced case of cancer, the delay in carrying out the operation, the palpable effort of the palace and the Government of the time to conceal the gravity of the King’s condition in order to avoid any postponement of the General Elections, and the subjection of the King to public appearances in order to maintain the myth of his improving health at a time when he was known to be a dying man. The implications of this outcry are both humanitarian and political. It is not a subject which the public is likely to relinquish quickly.