Pierre Dukan censured by French medical body

French doctor and international diet guru Pierre Dukan has been censured for failing to observe medical ethics in prescribing to a patient who wanted to lose weight the amphetamine-derivative drug Mediator, which is now believed to have killed hundreds.

The ruling is the latest controversy to hit the former general practitioner who created the high-protein, low-fat, low-carbohydrate Dukan diet.

Since his first weight-loss book was published in France in 2000, 11 million copies of his books have been sold worldwide. The Dukan group behind diet-coach websites and a range of products registered a turnover of €38 million (HK$378 million) last year.

Dukan, 72, who has retired as a doctor, received a week-long ban from practising medicine and was ordered to pay €6,000 in legal costs to the complainant. The medical body found that he prescribed the drug outside its principal recommended use for a significant period and without sufficient tests or follow-up.

It said he lied about the time frame of the prescription and the medical history of his patient.