Dr Ian Raddatz.

The Sunshine Coast Daily

A SUNSHINE Coast doctor who has recommended unconventional treatments, including shark cartilage and diets high in offal, has faced disciplinary action a second time but is still free to treat patients.

Ian Raddatz, 60, faced a disciplinary hearing at the Health Practitioners Tribunal over concerns including prescribing unusual diets to patients, unusual pathology ordering, unnecessary B12 injections and providing unsolicited nutritional advice to most or all patients.

A psychiatrist also raised concerns about one of his patients being advised by Dr Raddatz to change medications.

The patient had a complex psychiatric history and suffered from bipolar disorder, but Dr Raddatz told him to cease using anti-depressants, take shark cartilage and Maca Powder and begin complementary treatment for arthritis.

Dr Raddatz was banned from practising medicine in March 2000 for “unsatisfactory conduct”. He made unsubstantiated claims to patients that Mannatech products, from which he stood to gain financially, were effective against cancer, infertility and an iron disease.

Dr Raddatz was given permission to practise medicine again, with conditions, in 2005, but the Medical Board of Queensland argued during a hearing this year that the doctor's registration should again be cancelled.

Dr Raddatz, who works at Maroochy Seven-day Medical Centre under supervision, submitted that such a response would be excessive.

In an affidavit filed for the hearing, Dr Raddatz said “whilst I was enthusiastic in my use of nutritional medicine, I never had a policy of replacing orthodox practice, including the use of pharmaceuticals, with nutritional medicine”.

“I was always endeavouring to scientifically back up my nutritional advice...with blood tests,” he wrote.

The tribunal found in October that Dr Raddatz had “behaved in a way that constitutes unsatisfactory professional conduct”.

But it decided conditional registration was a “more appropriate disciplinary response” than cancellation.

Dr Raddatz, who saw almost 20,000 patients between 2005 and 2008, must not adopt or advocate unconventional investigations or treatments while practising his profession, must be supervised and will be subject to regular patient file audits.

He must attend psychiatric treatment at his own expense.