Nikolaus Klehr

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Nikolaus-Walther Klehr (born November 7, 1944 in Breslau ; † May 2016 in Traunstein ) was a dermatologist with practices in Traunstein, Munich and Salzburg . Klehr was controversial because of a questionable form of therapy for cancer , the effectiveness of which has not been proven.

Life

Klehr was born in Breslau in 1944 as the son of the married couple Walter and Agnes Klehr. He completed a degree in human medicine and biology at the universities of Heidelberg and Frankfurt am Main and specialized in dermatology . In the late 1970s he opened a practice in Traunstein and worked there as a dermatologist for about ten years; he lived there until the end of the 1980s, first in Schmidham near Traunstein, then in the city itself.

Klehr was married twice and had several children.

Klehr achieved a certain regional fame in the mid-1970s, when he repeatedly pointed out the dangers of the contaminated soil in relation to the former St. Georgen Army Munitions Plant in the Traunstein district, from which the town of Traunreut emerged.

Propagated therapy

In 1991, Klehr patented an autologous blood therapy under the name Autologe Target Cytokine , or ATC for short . The cellular components of the patient's blood should be changed in such a way that the immune-active cytokines released , including interleukins and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), should stimulate the activity of various immune cells , such as NK cells , after reinjection . In addition to these therapies, Klehr also offered test procedures for cancer.

costs

Treatment in Klehr's Salzburg practice with daily infusions cost, according to patient relatives, between 13,000 and 35,000 euros. The assumption of the costs for the autologous target cytokine treatment according to Klehr by the German statutory health insurances is excluded in Annex II of the guideline methods in medical care of the Federal Joint Committee .

Scientific evaluation

The autologous target cytokine therapy (ATC) according to Dr. Klehr is not eligible for public service employees because it is rated as a "scientifically not generally recognized" method.

Klehr has not published on his therapy in any scientifically recognized journal. "None of the of oncologists patients observed the fatal course was a drug-resistant cancer be averted." The consignment across the Bavarian television found during research in 2011 "not a single [by Klehr] cured patients". Hans Hege , then President of the Bavarian State Medical Association, said in 1998 that Klehr was either a “work-driven monster” if he actually had an effective method at his disposal, or, and this was his (Heges) conviction, “a charlatan who with the hope of Makes money for cancer patients ”. In a self-experiment in which an employee of the television magazine Panorama sent autologous blood by post as an alleged skin cancer patient (that he had no skin cancer was previously proven in a medical examination), Klehr's treatment methods were examined. Klehr confirmed the incorrect diagnosis given, and the alleged patient was sent an alleged anti-cancer drug from Klehr's practice. During the investigation of the alleged anti-cancer drug at the Großhadern Clinic , it was found that the amount of anti-cancer active ingredients was lower than in normal blood. The University Hospital Erlangen had previously come to similar results. At the Großhadern Clinic, it was also proven that the ampoules contained endotoxins (toxins). The detection of endotoxin is not compatible with the freedom from pyrogens required for blood products for injection.

Criticism and investigation

In 1995, the Bavarian Medical Association accused Klehr of violating the Drugs Act and fraud in 90 cases, and the Upper Bavarian government then ordered his medical license to be suspended. After more than a year, his lawyer, the then Munich CSU chairman Peter Gauweiler , had the suspension lifted and Klehr's preparations approved as medicinal products. He threatened the German Cancer Aid with claims for damages worth millions if a study was published that found the lack of any proof of effectiveness for Klehr's methods.

After a ruling by the Munich Regional Court, he was no longer allowed to use his professor title, which was awarded by a Peruvian university.

In 1995 Klehr was convicted of unlawful enrichment and had to reimburse the widow of a deceased patient for the costs of the ATC treatment, since the court found that the treatment contract was directed “from the beginning on an impossible performance” and was therefore void.

Due to legal violations in processing, the permission to manufacture autologous blood preparations in his laboratory was revoked by the health authorities in 2000. It had been established that “suspected infectious blood was processed in a work process with uncontaminated blood from other donors over a longer period of time.” Klehr has continued to practice in his practices in Munich and Salzburg since then. After deaths among his Slovenian patients in Salzburg, he came under strong criticism again in 2008.

In Klehr's practice in Bad Heilbrunn, oncologist Eike Rauchfuss also applied Galavit as a supposed cancer drug. The Munich II public prosecutor's office started investigating in 2000. The actor Ivan Desny advertised Rauchfuss as a supposedly cured cancer victim . Of a total of 132 victims of the scandal, it is known that they paid around 10,000 euros for the treatment. A number of sentences were served in 2008, including five years and eight months for Rauchfuss. Klehr himself was sentenced to a fine of € 7,000 for violating the Medicines Act because he had tried to import several hundred ampoules of Galavit (Munich Regional Court, Az. 7 NS 66 Js 20973/00).

literature

  • Steven A. Rosenberg , From the National Cancer Institute: Shedding Light on Immunotherapy for Cancer. In: The New England Journal of Medicine April 1, 2004; 350 (14): 1461-1463. PMID 15070799 .
  • SP Hauser: Autologous tumor therapy according to Klehr. In: Switzerland Rundsch Med Prax. Volume 82, 1993, pp. 1072-1076. PMID 8210872 .
  • E. Christophers and G. Rassner: Statement on the therapy method Dr. Klehr. In: dermatologist. Volume 44, 1993, No. 6, pp. 410-1. PMID 8335469 .
  • Gedeon among others: autologous blood therapy and other autologous procedures, a textbook for medical practice. HAUG-Verlag, 2000, ISBN 3-8304-7021-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b See also Ärzte Zeitung online ( Memento from November 19, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) in the Internet Archive
  2. ↑ a b Outsider Methods in Oncology: A Permanent Challenge. In: Der Arzneimittelbrief , accessed June 11, 2008.
  3. ↑ a b Christoph Fasel, Theodor von Keudell: Cancer therapy: "An employment-driven monster". In: The star . April 18, 1994, archived from the original on November 19, 2011 ; accessed on January 6, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Patent DE 3923848 C 2 (German Patent Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, filing date: July 19, 1989, date of publication: January 24, 1991, patent granted: August 27, 1998)
  5. ^ Nikolaus W. Klehr: Therapeutic possibilities for the utilization of autologous tumor tissue. In: Medical journal for naturopathic treatment. 33rd volume, (10), October 1992, pp. 820-826.
  6. ^ A b c Heinrich Breidenbach: Scandal about Salzburg "cancer doctor" in Slovenia. In: Salzburg Window. August 26, 2008, archived from the original on April 11, 2010 ; Retrieved December 14, 2012 .
  7. ↑ Guideline Methods in Medical Care. online (PDF; 270 kB); version valid at the time here online (PDF)
  8. ↑ Information sheet on the eligibility of scientifically not generally recognized methods. (PDF) Accessed December 28, 2015.
  9. ↑ Karsten Münstedt: Complementary and alternative cancer therapies . Hüthig Jehle Rehm, 2012, p. 214 f.
  10. ↑ Bayerisches Fernsehen : quer , broadcast on November 10, 2011 ( online on YouTube ; accessed on January 2, 2012), video now offline
  11. ↑ a b Amigos in Bavaria - The million dollar business of a seedy "miracle healer". In: Panorama NDR, December 10, 1998.
  12. ↑ Arznei-Telegram 1993
  13. ↑ Autologous blood preparations: Manufacturing permission is suspended. In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt. Volume 98, 2001, A-4 / B-4 / C-4 ( online )
  14. ↑ Proti salzburškemu zdravniku tečejo disciplinski in kazenski postopki. ( Memento of April 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (criminal and disciplinary proceedings against the Salzburg doctor). Delo August 28, 2008
  15. ↑ Cancer from lies. In: Der Stern , No. 38/2001
  16. ↑ Bad game with the doomed. In: Die Zeit July 15, 2008 ( online )
  17. ^ Prison for Galavit Fraudsters. In: Münchner Merkur July 15, 2008 ( online )
personal data
SURNAME Klehr, Nikolaus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Klehr, Nikolaus-Walther (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German doctor and alternative medicine
DATE OF BIRTH November 7, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Wroclaw
DATE OF DEATH May 2016
Place of death Traunstein