Clinic told to repay $700,000 to patients (Monte Kline)
Monday, October 3, 2005
Clinic told to repay $700,000 to patients
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF
A Bellevue man and his clinic have been ordered to repay customers $700,000 for using a technique called "electrodermal testing" to diagnose certain health conditions.
Monte Kline, owner of Pacific Health Center, also was ordered in King County Superior Court to pay the state of Washington a $1 million civil fine for violating the Consumer Protection Act and practicing medicine, naturopathy and acupuncture without a license.
The Washington State Attorney General's Office sued Kline in 2003, a year after the state of Oregon settled a claim against him for using the same techniques on Oregon residents.
Since opening his Eastside clinic in 1986, state attorneys estimate that Kline has performed electrodermal testing on at least 5,000 people, charging them as much as $400 for treatments.
According to Kline's Web site, electrodermal testing involves using electric currents at acupuncture pressure points in the fingers to determine nutrient deficiencies or energetically weak organs. The technique has been questioned by the Food and Drug Administration and has been denounced by doctors.
Pacific Health Center plans to appeal last week's ruling.
Clinic told to repay $700,000 to patients
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF
A Bellevue man and his clinic have been ordered to repay customers $700,000 for using a technique called "electrodermal testing" to diagnose certain health conditions.
Monte Kline, owner of Pacific Health Center, also was ordered in King County Superior Court to pay the state of Washington a $1 million civil fine for violating the Consumer Protection Act and practicing medicine, naturopathy and acupuncture without a license.
The Washington State Attorney General's Office sued Kline in 2003, a year after the state of Oregon settled a claim against him for using the same techniques on Oregon residents.
Since opening his Eastside clinic in 1986, state attorneys estimate that Kline has performed electrodermal testing on at least 5,000 people, charging them as much as $400 for treatments.
According to Kline's Web site, electrodermal testing involves using electric currents at acupuncture pressure points in the fingers to determine nutrient deficiencies or energetically weak organs. The technique has been questioned by the Food and Drug Administration and has been denounced by doctors.
Pacific Health Center plans to appeal last week's ruling.
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