Premier denies Brych’s claim

Press, 5 April 1983, Page 20

Premier denies Brych’s claim

NZPA Brisbane The Queensland Premier, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, has denied being treated by cancer therapist, Milan Brych, for a non-malignant pancreatic condition. Mr Bjelke-Petersen said he had never been treated by any doctor for that type of condition. “He must be confusing me with someone else,” he said.

Mr Bjelke-Petersen also denied he said he was available to testify at the American trial of the cancer therapist. “I feel my duties as Premier would not allow the time,” he said. Brych, who is on trial in the Los Angeles Superior Court on charges of medical malpractice and fraud, told the Court he had once treated Mr Bjelke-Petersen for a non-malignant ailment of the pancreas. Brych, aged 43, also told a jury that he once treated a former Cook Islands Premier, Sir Albert Henry, for lung cancer. His statements about Mr Bjelke-Petersen and Sir

Albert were in response to questions by the prosecutor, Lee Harris, who asked him about the testimony of Dr Gerald Giordano, an oncologist from the University of Arizona. Dr Giordano, a prosecution witness, said that Brych, now an Arizona resident, told him last year that he treated Mr Bjelke-Peter-sen for a cancerous pancreas and Sir Albert for lung cancer. When Mr Harris questioned Brych about the statement, he claimed that such inquiries violated his patient-doctor privilege of confidentiality. However, Judge Davis Aisenson overruled the defendant and ordered him to answer. “I said I treated BjelkePetersen for a pancreatic problem, but I did not say it was malignant,” Brych said. He did not dispute Giordano’s testimony about Sir Albert Henry. Mr Harris did not ask Brych when the two political figures were treated and how successful the therapies were. The trial is continuing.