Doctor who examined Megrahi insists he ‘could not’ have faked cancer
A doctor who had examined the Lockerbie bomber a year ago has insisted today he could not have faked his illness.
Leading oncologist Karol Sikora had examined Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, in prison and estimated he had about three months to live.
Last August, the Libyan had been released from jail on compassionate grounds.
Megrahi was still alive, although there were no current reports on his health.
His release provoked fury in the US, where politicians were looking into claims that the release was linked to oil deals with Libya, a claim that had been denied.
Megrahi was jailed in 2001 for the 1988 bombing over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, which claimed 270 lives.
"I am surprised he is still alive," said Sikora, who had been asked by the Libyans to give a medical opinion on Megrahi's health prior to his release.
He said he did not believe he and other experts had been fooled.
"You take into account the type of cancer he had, and the X-ray evidence that it had spread. The blood test for PSA (prostate specific antigen) was rising – everything,” Sikora insisted.
Former prison doctor and writer Theodore Dalrymple agreed that it would be impossible for Megrahi to fake the severity of his disease.
"There is a difficulty of knowing prognosis, with medicine not being an exact science.
"You can't say, except in very rare cases, that somebody is going to die on 14 April next.
"And just because someone has certain symptoms, it is not possible to say someone will die within weeks,” he insisted.
