The proposal, widely referred to as the "charlatan law," would allow the patient rights ombudsman to issue public warnings, ban pseudo-medical practices, and impose fines of up to PLN 1 million (EUR 240,000, USD 280,000) when such practices may endanger patients’ health or lives.
The government adopted the draft amendment to the Act on the Patient Rights Ombudsman on Tuesday.
Bartłomiej Chmielowiec, who heads the office, said at a press conference at the health ministry in Warsaw on Wednesday that the bill was intended to stop “fraudsters and charlatans” from exploiting vulnerable patients.
"The existing regulations do not allow the patient rights ombudsman to deal with fraudsters and charlatans,” Chmielowiec said.
He explained that his office can take action only against medical entities, while in other cases it may merely notify law enforcement authorities of a possible crime.
“Unfortunately, this is not fully effective,” he added.
The new rules are aimed at people without medical training who offer therapies unsupported by scientific evidence, especially when they present them as alternatives to proper diagnosis or treatment.
Chmielowiec said the bill responded to “very aggressive manipulation of patients’ emotions.”
“Patients, often in a very difficult situation, cling to a last resort, mistakenly thinking that this last resort is precisely the fraudster and charlatan who cynically exploits the patient’s trust,” he said.
Officials said the ombudsman’s office would base its decisions on current medical knowledge and consult experts, including national and regional medical consultants, the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariff System, the health ministry, and other institutions linked to the healthcare system.
Doctors backing the proposal warned that misinformation can have fatal consequences, particularly in cancer treatment.
Prof. Anna Raciborska, an oncologist, said misinformation in pediatric oncology leads families to lose precious time on ineffective therapies that offer false hope.
“In pediatric oncology, time is crucial, because children become ill and die quickly,” Raciborska said. “Misinformation takes away time that we could have used to introduce adequate therapy.”
Dr. Małgorzata Chlabicz of the Medical University of Białystok in the east of the countryt cited research indicating that 80 percent of Poles have encountered misinformation.
She said false health claims make it harder for patients to reach reliable, evidence-based medical information, increase fear, and reduce trust in health institutions.
This can lead people to delay diagnosis and treatment, or reject them altogether.
Prof. Jacek Jassem, an oncologist and head of the Polish League Against Cancer, said some patients had paid with their lives after turning to nonmedical therapies.
The health ministry said the proposal would not ban herbalism, yoga or acupuncture as such.
Those practices would fall under the new rules only if they were presented as ways to treat serious diseases such as cancer, schizophrenia, diabetes or severe depression, or as substitutes for treatment based on current scientific knowledge.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP