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Celibate pornography addict ‘went through hell after Harley Street doctor gave him unlicensed hallucinogenic drug’

Australian-trained physician had claimed he would float in a ‘dreamlike state’ after taking Ibogaine
Man, 25, suffered paranoia, psychosis and insomnia
By Nick Enoch
Last updated at 7:14 PM on 12th October 2011

A Harley Street doctor who put a porn addict through ‘total hell’ by prescribing him an unlicensed hallucinogenic drug failed to fully explain the risks of the experimental treatment to him, a tribunal ruled.

Dr Peter Brackenridge gave the drug, Ibogaine, to the 25-year-old man who was obsessed with internet pornography.

The patient paid more than £1,900 for the treatment, which was administered in Brackenridge’s bedroom at his home in north London.

Dr Peter Brackenridge (above) gave Ibogaine, an unlicensed hallucinogenic drug (right), to a 25-year-old porn addict
The Australian-trained doctor claimed effects would be like ‘floating on a river’ and that he would spend 36 hours in a ‘waking but dreamlike state’, the General Medical Council heard.

But the celibate addict, known as patient A, said it was a ‘horrendous treatment’, and within minutes of taking the drug he felt ‘everything had changed’.

He went on to experience months of mental health problems, including insomnia, paranoia and psychosis.

Brackenridge now faces being banned from the profession after being found guilty of failing to properly explain the risks of the drug and gain his patient’s informed consent.

His website ‘failed to set out a single risk’ associated with the drug, which is banned in a number of countries, said panel chairman Dr Jack Crane.

‘The panel considered there to be an obligation upon you, as a registered medical practitioner, to set out a balanced view of the risks and benefits associated with the use of Ibogaine,’ he said.

‘This is particularly important because the drug is unlicensed.’

Brackenridge ran a website offering the controversial medicine and promised it could cure drug and alcohol addiction, the hearing has been told.

Patient A first visited Dr Brackenridge at his Harley Street Clinic in February 2009 and paid £100 per counselling session and £1,900 for the Ibogaine
But the medicine, which is derived from the root of an African plant, has been banned in a number of countries (see box below) after being linked to patient deaths and has a worrying catalogue of side effects.

Patient A first visited Dr Brackenridge at his Harley Street Clinic in February 2009 for a porn addiction, and paid £100 per counselling session and £1,900 for the Ibogaine.

The addict would watch hours and hours of internet pornography every night and could not stop himself from doing so despite knowing it was unhealthy and that he was ‘hooked’.

He was not told of risks including insomnia, vomiting, cardiac arrest and serious allergic reactions before being given the drug in Brackenridge’s home.

The medic only gave him a consent form listing previously unmentioned side effects just before administering the drug on August 1, 2009.

Patient A said: ‘I was hallucinating, seeing things inside the eye of my mind and then I didn’t know where I was and didn’t know what time it was.

‘It was horrible, I was panicking. I started having convulsions.

‘My chest was all over the place, I couldn’t control it. After a while, it felt like my heart was slowing down. It was total hell really.’

Giving evidence, Brackenridge claimed the treatment is ‘actually very safe’, and could provide patients with a ‘deeper experience’ and a ‘window of freedom from that addiction’.

IBOGAINE EXPLAINED

Ibogaine (seen above in powdered form) is an extract of the African shrub Tabernanthe iboga, a relative of the coffee plant.

In West Africa, it is a well-known hallucinogen used in male rites of passage.

The drug is also used as a tool by hunters to increase awareness and allows them to remain very still for long periods.

Its current legal status in the UK, and much of the rest of the world, is that of an unlicensed, experimental medication, and it is not therefore an offence to possess it, though to act as a distributor may be breaking the law.

Ibogaine is a restricted substance (possession is illegal) in some countries, including the U.S., Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Belgium.

The medic said he had been prescribing the drug for about a year and insisted that ‘practically all’ of 19 deaths associated with it had been caused by other medical ailments.

He said: ‘It has been used for centuries by traditional people who tend to avoid poisonous things that are harmful.

‘Also, it has been used by French and German workers in Africa, and it has been prescribed in Europe since the early part of the last century as a neuromuscular stimulant.

‘There isn’t a licensed alternative for this.’

Brackenridge was found to have failed to state that Ibogaine was an unlicensed drug and to set out possible risks in a website advertising treatment with the drug.

The medic admitted that he did not discuss alternative treatments that were licensed in the UK, and did not inform the patient’s GP about the treatment.

He further failed to explain the risks adequately to Patient A before handing him a consent form to sign on August 1, just before treatment began.

It meant Brackenridge did not ensure that the addict understood the risks involved in the treatment prior to prescribing the drug, and did not obtain his informed consent, the panel ruled.

‘The panel notes that the risks set out on the consent form are almost exclusively physical in nature,’ said Dr Crane.

‘The panel noted from the documentation provided that there may be psychological risks associated with treatment with Ibogaine.

‘Patient A denied being made aware of some of these risks, both physical and psychological.

‘The panel found that you had failed to ensure that patient A understood these risks.

Brackenridge also inappropriately treated patient A at his home address on 1 August 2009, as it did not have facilities for a ‘medical or psychiatric emergency which could have arisen’ the panel ruled.

The medic was cleared of ‘acting inappropriately’ by ‘laughing at and belittling’ the patient and dismissing his concerns he might lose his job, as the panel said there was not enough evidence to support the charges.

He was also cleared of refusing to allow his mother to attend a session, which the panel accepted would not be good practice.

But Brackenridge was found to have inappropriately refused to meet with Patient A’s parents, who were waiting outside his house, after a consultation on October 12, 2009.

‘By October 12, 2009, there had been a clear deterioration in Patient A’s mental health of which you were aware,’ said Dr Crane.

‘The parents had serious concerns regarding their son’s wellbeing to which you should have listened.’ The panel must now decide if the doctor is fit to continue practising unrestricted.

The hearing continues.

9/22/2011 12:43:00 PM
Beal gets prison, extended supervision

J. Patrick Reilly
Editor/Co-Publisher

Those who came to the Iowa County courthouse Tuesday to testify on Irvin (Dana) Beal’s behalf would not be shocked if he walked on water. Beal has that affect on those he has helped.

But the fact the 64 year old Beal was transporting 180 pounds of medium grade marijuana through Wisconsin when his 1997 Chevrolet Astro van was stopped last January 6 for expired registration, missing bumper and cracked tail light couldn’t let him walk out of the courthouse a free man.

Instead, Circuit Judge Robert P. Van De Hey sentenced Beal to five years in prison, 2 1/2 under incarceration and 2 1/2 under extended supervision.

Van De Hey also gave Beal credit for time served (267 days) and granted eligibility for early release. That is a better deal than the four years prison and four years extended supervision asked for by assistant DA Timothy Helmberger. It is a way better deal than the 15 years and $50,000 fine that is the maximum allowed by law.

Van De Hey reminded the crowded courtroom that while the passionate testimony offered by people from as far away as New Zealand, California, New York and Minnesota made valid points, he was forced to make a ruling that includes prison time.

“We are a country of laws,” he said. “People have acknowledged his deeds but it is not fair to give him a free pass especially with that much marijuana on board. He has committed the offense and now must be held accountable.”

“I have no problem with medical marijuana,” Van De Hey said. “But I have to keep in mind the 180 pounds he had in his vehicle.”

“I don’t make the laws but I have to enforce the laws as they are written,” he said.

This will be Beals’s sixth conviction. He was convicted of drug related offenses in 1971, 1987, 1993 and 2006. He was on probation for an arrest in Nebraska when his vehicle was stopped in Iowa County.

Beal testified prior to sentencing and told the judge he would not do that particular thing again.

“I am too old,” he said. “I need a different job.”

He said he was taking the marijuana to be used for medical purposes in Michigan, New York and Washington, DC where it is legal.

“Would law enforcement be upset if I was moving medical marijuana to where it was legal?” he asked.

A woman from New Zealand told the court how Beal had come to her country to help set up clinics and with the use of ibogaine, a drug that cures heroin addiction. Ibogaine is not legal in the United States.

“If you put Dana away his work will stop,” she said. “He has helped a lot of human beings in New Zealand and was planning to do the same in Australia. He is an expert and has paid for those who need treatment. This will all stop if he goes away. Help save our people from drug abuse.”

Ed Rosenthal came from California to testify.
“I have known Dana for 30 plus years,” he said. “Dana saves lives. He is not a drug dealer. You talk community service? Dana has put in 30 years of community service. Don’t be part of a system where a person is jailed for his efforts.”
Rabbi Issac Freese from Brooklyn said he has known Beal for 20 years and only knows good about him.

“He helped us open a medical co-op. He sacrificed himself. He lost money. He went ahead and did it anyway, not for himself but so people could get the help they need.”
“Dana is needed today by the people he has helped. He has given them shelter, relief and a trusting heart.”

A former meth addict credited Beal with getting her sober.
“Dana helped me get treatment,” she said. “Now I am sober and have a beautiful four year old daughter.”

Manhattan attorney Doug Green called Beal a champion of medical marijuana and ibogaine.
Dennis Brennen, formerly of New York and now of Wisconsin, turned to Dana when he couldn’t afford medical marijuana at $30 to $40 per gram.
“He could get it for me at $10 per gram. He has helped many get affordable medical marijuana.”

Jackie Rickard testified from her wheelchair and credited Beal with helping her get medical marijuana for her condition.

Paul DeReinzo, a school teacher in New York, compared Beal to Galileo who was eventually proven right in his theories after 300 years.

“Let’s not take 300 years to prove Dana right,” he said. “Dana’s been right all along. We can do the right thing here for future generations.”

Beal may eventually answer charges against him in other states.

IBORadio
IBORadio is a broadcast organization with a lofty goal, expose the world to the power of Iboga and Ibogaine one listener at a time! Hosted by Damon Matthew Smith.

http://www.ibo-radio.com

http://www.twitter.com/@iboradio

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July 17th, 2011 9:44 AM by Hilton Hater

It took being snapped with pot on the sidewalk, followed by an embarrassing confrontation with a stewardess on an airplane, but Brooke Mueller is headed back to rehab.

Sources tell TMZ that Charlie Sheen’s ex-wife is trying something unique this time around: she’ll spend seven days in a facility in Mexico. The reason? It offers a drug that is meant to help her kick her drug habit.

Will the 16th rehab trip be the charm for Brooke Mueller?

Illegal in America, Ibogaine is a substance extracted from an iboga plant. Some experts believe it rewires one’s addictions to alcohol, cocaine, methadone and heroin.

Brooke is reportedly referring to the program as “extreme” and she’s confident it will work. Sounds a bit loony and desperate to us, but those descriptions also apply Mueller. And, hey, it could be worse.

She could be seeing Dr. Drew instead.