Egypt’s Doctors Syndicate suspended on Sunday three of its members for one year for advertising and promoting a device that allegedly treats hepatitis C and HIV that has not met the necessary scientific standards, "resulting in health and psychological damage to millions of citizens," a statement by the syndicate read on Sunday.
The suspension decision was reached by the syndicate's disciplinary board on 20 April for violating the code of ethics of the profession issued by the minister of health in 2003, according to the syndicate.
The three doctors can appeal the decision.
The device, first introduced in 2013, came under heavy criticism at the time and had been slammed by the Doctors Syndicate for not undergoing "any of the necessary trials needed for any type of scientific research."
Though in 2015 Egypt had one of the highest rates of hepatitis C in the world, the Health Ministry has been working intensively over the past two years to treat patients using a variety of new medications, including the drug Sovaldi.
The ministry has vowed to completely eliminate the disease in Egypt by 2021.
The WHO has praised Egypt's efforts to combat the virus, including government subsidies for new treatments.
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