An Italian doctor known by the nickname “Dr. Magic Flute” was uncovered as a fraud for allegedly offering to have sex with a female patient — to “cure” her of a cancer-causing virus, according to a report.
Dr. Giovanni Miniello, 60, a gynecologist in the southern city of Bari, told the 33-year-old woman she appeared to have human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted bug that can cause cancer, although a Pap smear test was negative, Newsflash reported.
“I have saved many women from cancer. All those I have had contact with were negative afterwards,” he reportedly told her.
But the woman — identified as Anna Maria — decided to contact the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, alleging that Miniello had touched her breasts inappropriately and told her he liked women with small ones.
She said she was shocked that he proposed having sex with her when she asked about the results of her Pap test.
The woman then reached out to the investigative news program “Le lene,” which hired an actress to portray a patient, Newsflash reported.
Miniello told her she had “white spots” on her cervix, which indicated the presence of HPV, and also offered to have sex with her, claiming that he’d give her immunity because he had been vaccinated, the outlet said.
When the actress asked him about protection, the doctor allegedly told her that a condom would not permit her to get the benefit of his antibodies.
But before he thought he was about to have sex with her, a journalist barged in and surprised the half-naked doctor, who reportedly said: “I’m doing this for my studies — and for the other people that I have saved.”
Through his lawyer, Miniello said, “I, who have successfully treated hundreds of women for over 40 years … only proposed an alternative treatment that has yielded results,” adding that he never forced women to have sex with him.
As a result of the TV expose, 15 other women have come forward and claimed they were also victimized by the doctor and his miracle sex cure.
Marika Massara, coordinator for the Anti-Violence Center in Bari, said authorities “have received several reports in the last few days, dozens.
“Women who have come together and gone through a similar situation. Some consider reporting it, others are afraid, also because the level of secondary victimization we are witnessing is very high,” she said.
The city’s public prosecutor has launched an investigation.