The nun Teresa Forcades, disabled for 18 months as a doctor for talking about sodium chlorite

Teresa Forcades, in a file photo.albert Garcia

The nun and doctor Teresa Forcades has received, a few days apart, good news and bad news.

The good news is that the judge in Manresa (Barcelona) who was investigating her for prescribing illegal substances to patients has filed her case against her as she did not see evidence of a crime.

The bad news is that the Barcelona College of Physicians (COMB) has agreed to disqualify her for 18 months from practicing the profession for publicly defending the use of sodium chlorite, a compound whose supposed therapeutic properties do not enjoy any scientific evidence.

Last Saturday, in an interview with the

program on TV3, Forcades stated that the collegiate body had sanctioned her.

But he did not give more details about the scope of that sanction, whose file EL PAÍS has accessed.

The Benedictine nun, according to the resolution, publicly defended the antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties of sodium chlorite —also known by the acronym MMS— and propose it for the treatment of infections.

To defend herself against it, Forcades provided studies that in her opinion support the use of this compound.

But the governing board of the institution headed by Jaume Padrós has rejected her arguments.

The College has imposed two sanctions of nine months of disqualification each for serious infractions;

the first, for publicly disclosing the use of sodium chlorite;

the second, for having maintained a "manifestly contrary, continuous and reiterated conduct with respect to the requirements" to stop doing so.

The resolution alludes especially to an interview granted by the nun to the digital newspaper

.

The nun took advantage of "the authority that her status as a doctor attributes to her" and with this "misled and generated false expectations" to the people who heard and read it, especially those who suffer from an illness and are in a situation of greater vulnerability.

Forcades has appealed the sanction, as sources close to him have explained to this newspaper, although a spokeswoman for the College of Physicians qualifies that the appeal has not yet been filed.

She considers that it is necessary to delve into the studies to know the benefits of sodium chlorite.

The College of Physicians, on the other hand, concludes that the nun's conduct poses "a serious risk to the health of citizens", and recalls that the Spanish Medicines Agency does not grant any value to clinical studies.

The sanction derives from a file that was opened for the first time in 2018, when the collegiate body warned her that, as a doctor, she could not "indicate, recommend or disclose theories or treatments (products or procedures) prohibited for human use or without scientific evidence.

It was also the College of Physicians that also took Forcades' conduct to the Prosecutor's Office for having allegedly prescribed illegal substances to patients with serious illnesses such as cancer.

The public ministry picked up the gauntlet and inquired whether this access to false remedies caused patients to abandon conventional treatments endorsed by the scientific community.

That is the investigation that, now, has been archived.

lightning file

The head of the investigating court number 3 of Manresa (Barcelona) has reached the conclusion that there is insufficient evidence to attribute a crime against public health to the nun.

The Prosecutor's Office initially concluded that there were indications of a crime and brought the facts to the attention of the court.

Now, without mebargo, she has not now opposed the filing of the case, which is already final.

The criminal process has been closed with hardly any proceedings being carried out.

As confirmed by judicial sources, the nun has not even been summoned to testify as an investigated.

Asked a few months ago about this investigation, the nun limited herself to "categorically" denying the facts or having "violated" the deontological norm and she denounced being the victim of persecution by the College of Physicians.

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