Chiropractor Nicholas LeRoy has a funny idea of what “closed” means.
Note: This article has been revised to remove direct quotations from the Inspire site (in the Evidence and Response sections). A representative of the Inspire website complained that quoting from their forum was a violation of their guidelines, even though no names were mentioned and there was no violation of privacy.
A year ago, I wrote about Nicholas LeRoy, a chiropractor who calls himself a gynecologist and uses a potentially dangerous escharotic compound to treat cervical dysplasia (and also offers a lot of other questionable treatments and misinformation). I was not aware at the time that he had lost his license.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has taken disciplinary action against LeRoy three times:
- In 2008, he was reprimanded and fined for violations of the medical practice act
- In 2010, he was reprimanded and fined for placing advertising without indicating that he was a chiropractor
- On Feb 24, 2016, his license was permanently revoked for conviction of armed robbery
Here is a screenshot listing those disciplinary actions.
The revocation is also reported here.
His website
LeRoy maintains an active website with a tab to schedule appointments. According to the website, he offers a number of questionable diagnostic tests and treatments.
He offers breast thermography, claiming that “infrared breast thermography identifies cancers not detected by mammography, assists in earlier detection, and improves survival rates by up to 61%.” Our own breast cancer expert, Dr. Gorski, tells us that thermography “has not been validated as a diagnostic modality to detect breast cancer.” LeRoy is doing his patients a disservice by steering them away from mammography.
In addition to cervical dysplasia, his list of the conditions he treats includes other things chiropractors have no business treating, such as breast cancer, uterine fibroids, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, adrenal gland disturbances, and asthma. The list also includes bogus conditions like “weak immune system” and “leaky gut.” He offers acupuncture and “detoxification” and bioSET therapy. He diagnoses allergies with a simple blood test that he claims can detect sensitivities to 154 foods. He prescribes “nutraceuticals,” herbs, and supplements. Oh, and almost as an afterthought, he offers chiropractic services.
He specializes in treating cervical dysplasia, but he doesn’t recommend the most effective way to prevent it; he discourages the HPV vaccine, saying it “Turns Girls into Guinea Pigs” and citing misinformation based on VAERS reports.
Evidence that he continues to practice
One might argue that the existence of a website does not constitute solid evidence that he continues to practice, but there is plenty of solid evidence from patients he has continued to treat. A patient who is a regular on a message board on the Inspire website informed me about discussions there of Dr. LeRoy in which it was quite clear from numerous patient reports that he didn’t stop practicing after he lost his license, and that he continues to practice today. Patients reported visiting him and getting escharotic treatments right along from the date his license was revoked in 2016 and continuing through at least September of 2017.
Responses to adverse information about LeRoy
Listmembers discussed the loss of his license, but made excuses for him and continued to support and praise him. They read my earlier article https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/chiropractic-gynecologist-offers-dange rous-treatments-and-misinformation/ but were not persuaded, because it was the only negative article they could find, and they found many other articles that were positive.
Why?
Why has this man continued to practice after his license was revoked? Why has he not been stopped? This violation has been reported to the professional board and to the Cook County state attorney, but no action has been taken. What good are professional boards if their disciplinary actions can be ignored with impunity?
Addendum:
I submitted a news tip that resulted in an article about him in today’s Chicago Tribune. Unfortunately it does not include information from the message board or from patients showing that he is still treating patients with escharotics. He lied to the Tribune, saying he is only giving advice, like health coaching.