Doctor told Dingles three times to get operation
Prominent Perth toxicologist Peter Dingle and his dying wife Penelope were told by a doctor on three separate occasions to have her tumour surgically removed and that she would not cure her rectal cancer "through juices and meditation", an inquest was told today.
Dr Igor Tabrizian said he first saw the Dingles on April 5, 2003 when they advised him of a colonoscopy report giving details of the 8.5cm doughnut shaped tumour in her rectum.
"I asked them about the operation. At that point things froze," Dr Tabrizian said.
He said that they had advised him that she would not be having the operation but would be using alternative therapies, including the use of nutrition to fight the disease.
"I tried to understand the logic. I said to them 'You're not going to get rid of this thing through juices and meditation.'"
He said that he advised her that it would eventually obstruct her bowels and would cause her much pain. When the Dingles refused to consider an operation, Dr Tabrizian told the couple he would give his own sister the same advice.
In her diary, Mrs Dingle wrote: "I really do not like hearing things like that. In the car Pete said I'm lucky I'm not his (Dr Tabrizian's) sister."
Dr Tabrizian said that on all three occasions the Dingle's came to see him, he advised her to have an operation and described the successive visits as "another head banging consultation".
He said he was not aware that she was receiving homeopathic treatment from Francine Scrayen, but assumed that she was consulting with other medical practitioners.
Asked if he would have handled the situation differently, he said: "I'm beginning to wonder whether I should have filled out a form and got a court order to force her to have an operation."
The inquest will examine whether the advice and treatment of homeopath Francine Scrayen contributed to her death. It will also investigate Dr Dingle's role.
Mrs Dingle was developed rectal bleeding in October 2001 and was diagnosed with rectal cancer in February 2003. She chose to treat her cancer with alternative medicine and almost two years after the emergency surgery she died aged 45.
The inquest continues.
