KATHMANDU, JUNE 14

Dr Diljan Mansoor Kurt who runs FDH clinic in Kathmandu faces accusation of charging his patients exorbitantly high consultation fees and recommending risky low carb diet.

Some patients whose symptoms worsened or those who developed other health problems have made TikTok video narrating their tales warning people of the risk they could face after visiting Dr Kurt's clinic.

Shrishu Acharya who suffers from diabetes and takes insulin shots three times daily, said she followed Dr Kurt's low carb diet suggestions after paying Rs 10,000 consultation fee and initially made TikTok video praising the line of treatment.

She soon realised she was risking her life.

'Dr Kurt told me that he would cure my diabetes if I used low carb diet and ate fish. However, as I am a vegetarian, he told me he would cure 90 per cent of my symptoms,' Acharya said.

'My cholesterol was so high that my doctor told me if I had overlooked my symptoms for another two or three days, I would have suffered a heart attack,' she said.

Acharya said the doctors prescribed high dose of insulin as the ketogenic diet suggested by Dr Kurt worsened her diabetes symptoms. She also suffers from internal bleeding for which she is now taking medicine.

Acharya said Dr Kurt makes groups of almost 30 patients and in each group, he keeps some people who praise his treatment and persuade new patients to blindly follow the doctor's advice.

Another patient Priya Manadhar, who wanted to lose weight, paid Rs 16,000 to the doctor 10,000 for consultation (group class) and Rs 6,000 for lab tests.

Both Acharya and Manandhar said they bought food items - muffins and ghee from a restaurant run by the same doctor at Kamal Pokhari. After following keto diet suggested by Dr Kurt, Manandhar suffered from gastritis. 'My stomach swelled and I had breathing problem.

'When I contacted FDH staff, they said my turn would come the next day, but when I said I am a mediaperson, they told me that I could come right away,' Manandhar said and added that the doctor chided her. The staff dismissed her problems saying she might not have properly followed the doctor's advice.

'The only advice I did not follow was that I did not eat pork or other animal fat. I followed all other suggestions,' She said and added there were many other people who visited Dr Kurt's clinic, who either saw their symptoms worsen or developed other health problems. 'If this doctor is a physician, why is working as a dietician?' She wondered.

Manandhar has lodged a complaint with Nepal Medical Council seeking action against Dr Kurt. NMC Registrar Dr Krishna Adhikari said his office had received a complaint and his office was looking into the matter. He said his office did not want to comment on the matter before probing the accusation against Dr Kurt.

'If Dr Kurt has charged patients Rs 10,000, that's wrong. If the doctor is found to have recommended keto diet to patients without requiring them to undergo certain checkup, then that is violation of professional norms,' he said and added that many people had followed others' suggestions and visited FDH.

THT repeatedly called the doctor's phone number and left a message for him seeking his side of the story related to patients' complaints, but he did not respond.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 15, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.