Dodgy chiropractor struck off for two years for misconduct Dr Malcolm Hooper has been found guilty of misconduct and struck off the register for two years. A CHIROPRACTOR who gave an Essendon player hyperbaric treatment has been struck off for two years after he was found guilty of misconduct. According to findings by VCAT, South Yarra chiropractor Dr Malcolm Hooper also charged a "vulnerable" cerebral palsy patient $50,000 for unproven treatments. Dr Hooper who claims hyperbaric chambers can be used to "upregulate peptide use," was accused of using questionable and expensive oxygen therapies on 30 different conditions including cerebral palsy, cancer, multiple sclerosis, infertility and autism. He was found guilty of six different counts of misconduct and his registration was cancelled. He will not be able to reapply for his certificate for two years, unless he successfully appeals the decision. The Chiropractic Board of Australia will also hold Dr Hooper to an undertaking that he will not use hyperbaric chamber treatment on patients with 10 conditions, including adult cerebral palsy. The VCAT panel ruled that due to Dr Hooper's "zealotry and unfaulting belief" in the healing powers of oxygen therapy only a lengthy period of cancellation would protect the public. VCAT and the Australian Chiropractic Board will also hold Dr Hooper to an undertaking that he will provide patients with medical research that discredits the effectiveness of oxygen therapy on 20 conditions. In his judgment, presiding member Robert Davis said at no point did Dr Hooper acknowledge he was wrong. "It is almost impossible to envisage that Dr Hooper would concede that his method of carrying out the treatment had faults in any way," he said. Dr Hooper deserves a severe sanction and it is only after a lengthy period with a severe sanction that he may realise the error of his ways. In our view, nothing less than cancellation is sufficient to drive that message home to Dr Hooper. The public cannot be protected with anything less than cancellation. The Chiropractic Board of Australia who lodged the case said the decision showed the length the board would go to protect the public. "The VCAT decision sends a clear message: the Board will not tolerate chiropractors who provide treatment that puts the public at risk and is not in their patients' best interests," said chairman Dr Phillip Donato.