Sandeep Gupta is a general practitioner in Queensland, Australia who founded the Lotus Institute of Holistic Health “to provide training in integrative medicine”. Integrative medicine is a marketing term frequently used by quacks.
Gupta was a founding board member of the quackery-promoting Australian Chronic Infectious and Inflammatory Disease Society (ACIIDS). He also was a founding diplomate member of the pseudoscience group International Society of Environmentally Acquired Illness (ISEAI).
ACIIDS advocates for unrecognized conditions like “chronic Lyme disease” and “Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome” (CIRS). Interestingly, there is no scientific evidence that Lyme disease can be transmitted to humans in Australia.
Gupta is also affiliated with Ritchie Shoemaker, an American doctor who stopped practicing medicine after being disciplined by the Maryland Board of Physicians.
A biography of Gupta states “He currently is completing physician training with the International Lyme and Associated Disease Society. [ILADS]”
In 2010, the Healthcare Protection Agency of UK–after noting the vulnerability of patients “desperate for an explanation and possible cure for their illnesses”– issued scathing conclusions about guidelines issued by ILADS:
- The ILADS guidelines are not evidence-based and are poorly constructed.
- Application of the ILADS guidelines’ poorly defined case definitions will result in a very high risk of misdiagnosis.
- Use of ILADS guidelines’ vague treatment recommendations, including prolonged use of antibiotics, has potentially serious consequences.
- Patients misdiagnosed with Lyme disease risk losing opportunities for diagnosis and treatment of other conditions. They also risk serious physical, psychological social and financial adverse events.
The Health Ombudsman acts
In October 2018, the Health Ombudsman of Queensland took action to protect the public by imposing conditions on his registration to practice medicine.
According to the Ombudsman:
As a result of the conditions, Dr Gupta is prohibited from promoting, prescribing or administering hyperthermia treatment, referring patients to other practitioners providing hyperthermia treatment, or participating in any patient consultation with other health practitioners about hyperthermia treatment; and must only prescribe, possess, supply, administer, handle, dispense, access, direct and supervise the administration of Vitamin C intravenous infusions of no more than 25 grams per patient to adults only.
Gupta also was required to practise with a supervisor and to complete an education program.
The full list of imposed conditions can be viewed on the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency website.
Resources:
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency: Conditions imposed
updated 2022-11-30