authorities say

Willoughby Mariano | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted August 15, 2006




An undercover sting led to the arrest of a man Orlando police said was practicing medicine without a license.

Eliseo Nunez, 48, diagnosed an undercover officer with a host of problems -- including ailments in his liver and digestive system -- by looking at a photograph of the agent's eyes, according to a charging affidavit.

Nunez, who bills himself on his Web site as a doctor of "holistic natural health" and hosts a local radio show, told the officer during a Jan. 17 appointment that he received his medical degree in the Dominican Republic and was licensed as a doctor in Massachusetts.

But Nunez was never licensed there or in Florida, according to the report. He gave the agent various pills in exchange for $100.

Police began investigating Nunez after receiving a tip from the state Department of Health in May 2005, the report says.

Nunez practiced "iridology," a form of alternative medicine that diagnoses patients by looking at their irises. The medical profession does not consider the practice to be valid.

His radio show, La Medicina Al Dia, was broadcast on 1440 AM (WPRD) on Saturdays, according to his Internet site. He had offices in Orlando and Kissimmee.

Nunez was being held in the Orange County Jail on counts of unlicensed practice of a health-care profession and practicing medicine without a license. He was being held on $1,000 bail Monday night.

Willoughby Mariano can be reached at wmariano@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5171.