CyMA to audit doctors working in unlicensed medical centres

Larnaca, Cyprus. The Cyprus medical association (CyMA) said on Wednesday it is ready to audit doctors working in unlicensed medical centres, while police in Larnaca continue investigating two centres offering plasmapheresis treatment.

CyMA president Petros Agathangelou said the association would begin mapping doctors operating at such centres and called for action against what he described as charlatanism and social media misinformation.

Scientific standards and patient safety

Agathangelou said treatments were increasingly marketed as “regenerative” or “anti-ageing”, while injectable products were being sold online with therapeutic claims.

He said the issue was not the name or novelty of a treatment, but whether it was supported by sufficient scientific documentation, provided by trained professionals, used appropriate equipment and was administered under safe conditions.

Agathangelou described plasmapheresis as an established therapeutic method for specific indications, adding that concerns related to its use outside those indications.

Public awareness campaign

He said CyMA would conduct an information campaign with the pharmaceutical services to increase public awareness and urged people to submit complaints directly to the association.

CyMA secretary Michalis Anastasiades called for a coordinated and synchronised response to what he described as illegal activity by people seeking to profit at the expense of unsuspecting citizens.

Licensing requirements

George Miltiadou, president of the CyMA scientific committee, said plasmapheresis saves lives when used for pathological and neurological conditions.

He said every medical centre should publicly display its operating licence and certificates so patients can verify them.