A naturopath, who illegally passed himself off as a doctor, was sentenced Friday, October 15, to two years in prison, after the death of two people suffering from cancer who had followed his recommendations.
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Found guilty of usurping the quality of doctor and illegal practice of medicine, he is also banned from practicing as a naturopath, magnetizer or dowser.
The Paris Criminal Court notably considered that Miguel Barthéléry had deliberately maintained the confusion over his diplomas, by presenting himself as a doctor on the internet and in text messages with the two victims.
His lawyer, Me Guillaume Martine, considered that "
it is a heavy decision for my client (...) and which more generally questions the appreciation that we now have of alternative therapeutic practices, which now seem to be very good. that not prohibited by law, be able to be condemned by the courts
”.
He plans to appeal.
New jurisprudence?
His client, absent on Friday when the judgment was announced, will have to pay 5,000 euros in damages for non-pecuniary damage to the companion of one of the victims and publish his conviction in three newspapers.
"
If he continues to make people with cancer believe that they can be cured by stopping eating, justice will sanction him again,
" warned the lawyer for the civil parties, Me Manuel Abitbol.
Such a judgment "
has the consequence of dissuading all people who would like to indulge in the same abuses, now warned that we cannot do anything with people's health
," added Me Abitbol.
At the hearing of September 10, the prosecution had requested two years in prison, one of which was closed, considering that "
by choosing the practices of Miguel Barthéléry rather than conventional medicine
", the two patients had been deprived of "
a chance survival
”.
The case began with the complaint in February 2019 of the companion of a man who had died two months earlier from testicular cancer which had become widespread.
Diagnosed in 2016, the patient had not gone to see a surgeon but had preferred to follow a "
health plan
" developed by the naturopath, based on fasts and cures, raw food and essential oils.
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The family of a Belgian physiotherapist, who died of uterine cancer at the age of 39, joined the case.
At the hearing, the defendant claimed to have in particular a doctorate and a post-doctorate in the United States.
He also assured that he had not promised to "
cure
" but "
to help the body to cleanse itself
".
