Judge Bars El Toro Doctor From Solo Medical Practice

A Superior Court judge has ordered that Dr. Glen C. Mahoney, an El Toro doctor, must work under the supervision of another physician and stop administering vitamins and hydrogen peroxide intravenously in his therapies.

But Judge William F. Rylaarsdaam rejected the Medical Board of California’s request that Mahoney be immediately barred from practicing medicine. The state had sought the order as part of a civil suit that accuses Mahoney of negligence.

“We won this one,” said Mahoney’s attorney, Russell Read. C

The attorney said Mahoney’s “constitutional right” to practice medicine was upheld in the ruling. He noted that the order, made in court chambers Tuesday, won’t be in effect for at least seven days because the medical board’s lawyer still must write it up and both parties must sign it.

Heidi R. Weisbaum, the deputy attorney general who represents the medical board, said the case was not a victory for Mahoney. She noted that Rylaarsdaam upheld part of her request for a preliminary injunction against Mahoney by placing restrictions on his medical practice.

Mahoney can no longer work in solo practice, and he is specifically barred from infusing patients with hydrogen peroxide, vitamins and several other agents, Weisbaum said.

The Medical Board filed suit against Mahoney on May 31, alleging that he was negligent in caring for several patients, including one who died after an intravenous infusion of hydrogen peroxide. The board is seeking to suspend or revoke Mahoney’s license.

Mahoney also faces criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter and fraud stemming from that death. Cancer patient Kenneth Simms, 39, died at UCI Medical Center on Nov. 7, 1988.

Mahoney’s attorneys say Simms was already gravely ill from cancer and died of that. The medical board and the district attorney’s office contend the peroxide treatment caused Simms’ death.

The preliminary hearing in the criminal case is to be continued on Aug. 7, Weisbaum said, but a date for an administrative hearing on the medical board charges still has to be set.