Roland David Shephard is a rogue board-certified gastroenterologist. He runs a clinic in Tampa, Florida. It’s owned by the Florida Medical Clinic.

Shephard earned his MD at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. He completed his residency at the University of South Florida College of Medicine in Tampa, Florida. He concentrated on internal medicine.

Shephard is a fellow at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. He is a member of the American Gastroenterological Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, and the National Board of Medical Examiners.

He was born and raised in Florida. He is married and has three children.

FMT Gone Rogue

Shortly after Jason Klop announced that he would no longer be holding FMT retreats for autistic children, this doctor hit the Google alerts. No link between him and Klop could be found but it wouldn’t be surprising if there was one later found.

Shepard sees patients at the Florida Medical Clinic where he sees autistic children. There is an allergy clinic on one side of him and an acupuncturist on the other. There are a handful of clinics that will do a fecal transplant for people who don’t even have C. Diff., even though it is not permitted in the United States or Canada for anything except resistant C Diff infections.

Shepard has estimated that he has done a few hundred FMT since 2010. He tried it for the first time at a patient’s request. He has not even had any formal training on it before doing it for the first time.

He sees four or five patients with c diff every week. He will do an initial consultation in the clinic. Fecal transplants happen at one of two endoscopy centers in Tampa. This is to set up to do a colonoscopy under anesthesia. He drives with a fresh sample in a cooler in his car.

For any other patient being treated for any other condition, these centers will not go against FDA regulations. Shephard goes about this another way. Instead, he shows new patients, like a parent of an autistic child, how to do it, slightly modified. This is so they can do the procedure themselves at home. This way they will not need anesthesia or a colonoscopy. The parents buy new supplies every month after going home and repeating the procedure.

Shepherd argues that this isn’t FMT but a “tutorial” or “instructional infusion.” He says this is why this is getting around the FDA regulation. He says this does not violate FDA rules.

If he isn’t doing anything wrong, he shouldn’t have to hide it. Before he teaches the parent, he has them sign a form saying that they, assisted by the doctor or staff, will self-administer.

“The main thing is that we’re teaching, behind the door, we’re teaching,” said Shepard.

He even bills his “lessons” under a different business. He has a Florida, LLC RDS Infusions that is used to bill these lessons.

He charges $675 for legitimate FDA-approved cases plus whatever the endoscopy center charges.

For the quackery he performs, he charges $1,000 for three sessions. He says it goes to the cost of testing donors, buying equipment and paying his staff.

The CEO of the Florida Medical Clinic, Joe Dalatorre is “aware and supportive of Dr. Shepard’s Fecal Transplant program and this program is conducted separate from FMC.”

When he started doing FMT, he made the sample himself. He added bottled water to the stool and mixed the two in an electric blender. He also made fcal capsuls by filling empty fill shells with an eye dropper.

So it’s either a transplant or it’s not. It’s not both.

They only get their samples from THREE DONORS. They are paid 40 dollars for each sample.

The FDA could charge him but they don’t have an active investigation.

sources:

https://www.floridamedicalclinic.com/doctors/r-david-shepard-md/

https://www.romper.com/p/doctors-in-florida-are-using-this-bizarre-method-to-treat-kids-with-autism-67395