Former Headache Clinic specialist Dr Elliot Shevel (81), facing murder charges after a patient died after one of his treatments in 2021, has been hit with another complaint.
Australian Melissa Campbell is the latest to come forward with a complaint about the Parktown, Johannesburg, clinic.
Sheval is currently charged with the murder of Marinella Avvakoumides (38), who died from haemorrhaging in the brain and spine after he treated her by inserting a thick needle into her skull in July 2021.
Last week, Campbell, who still has scars from her treatment – and still suffers from the same excruciating migraines for which she was treated – contacted News24 with her lawyer, Storm Roux of Ulrich Roux & Associates.
She said her life hadn’t been the same since she visited The Headache Clinic in 2012.
Her allegations were also sent in a letter of demand to Shevel’s lawyers as part of her efforts to secure damages from him, but when News24 contacted them, Attorney Daniel Witz denied the allegations and accused Campbell of being part of a smear campaign aimed at extorting money from the doctor.
Shevel, as previously reported, is a maxillo-facial and oral surgeon who established The Headache Clinic in Parktown in 1992. His eponymous Shevel Desensitisation Procedure involves injecting the patient at the back of the head and skull to “permanently numb” pain signals from tendons connecting the neck muscles to the skull.
In 2012, Campbell, who was then 25, visited the clinic, having sought help for her migraines since she was 10.
“At the time, there was little known about migraines, and I saw many neurologists, holistic healers, chiropractors, psychologists…” she said.
She tried everything and changed her diet and routines as much as possible, but the headaches continued. They affected everything – studying and relationships – making it hard to function and perform everyday functions and go to work.
Out of sheer desperation, Campbell and her mother, who did not want to be named, turned to the internet for solutions.
“Mum heard about Shevel (online)]. She was at her wits’ end …The Headache Clinic came up on the internet search,” Campbell said.
Online video testimonials from patients reassured them that it was the right place for her.
“We were told it was minimally invasive, and we weighed up the risks and thought the worst outcome was that we would lose money,” she said.
“Shevel sent mum and I an email that explicitly stated that there are ‘no real risks’.”
She said this had given her hope for the first time in years.
“He told me he could give me a ‘permanent Sumatriptan effect’ – that’s what got me.”
Sumatriptan is a drug used to treat migraines and cluster headaches. It was hailed as a miracle drug for sufferers.
“Sumatriptan makes the blood vessels shrink back to their normal size. Shevel said that if (Sumatriptan) worked for me, then the procedure would too,” she said, alleging that Shevel said he was the only one in the world who did the procedure.
Campbell and her mother arrived in South Africa in July 2012 and planned to stay for around five weeks so they could attend any necessary follow-ups afterwards.
Her first consultation was the day after she arrived, and she went in for the procedure on 18 July.
The operation lasted three hours and included 10 incisions on her head and face and in her mouth. She said she was not aware the surgery would include incisions in her mouth.
She also remembers waking up and “demanding the procedure stop” before being put back asleep. Shevel allegedly told her mother that he had to stop several times for them to administer additional anaesthetic.
But Campbell’s migraines persisted. Campbell told Shevel, who said there were still two arteries causing her pain.
The second procedure took place on 1 August 2012, which included six local anaesthetic needles to Campbell’s temple and forehead.
The procedure failed, and her headaches and migraines persisted. She said Shevel told her he had located additional arteries, which did not appear on the angiogram, and were causing the pain.
Another procedure was needed for this.
The third procedure took place on 3 August. It included pin-hole surgery, where the doctor cauterised additional suspected trigger points and cut an incision on Campbell’s eyebrow.
She said she complained during the procedure that she could smell her own burning flesh and feel the blood pouring from her eyebrow. She complained about excruciating pain from the eyebrow incision, adding that she told the doctor to stop immediately; she said his response was that it would take another 15 to 20 seconds.
She claims he then administered more local anaesthetic and continued for around 30 minutes.
This procedure also failed, as her headaches continued. She was advised to return to the clinic.
The fourth procedure occurred on 6 August and was much the same as the last one.
She said her health deteriorated, and her migraines continued. Her face, jaw and neck were constantly in pain, which she told Shevel, and she was asked to return for a fifth operation.
This time, the incision to Campbell’s left temple became infected. It left a scar that is still visible.
At the end of August, Campbell said, Shevel cauterised and cut again, but did not mark the place on her head before doing so.
This procedure also failed. Her migraines persisted, and the infection persisted.
Campbell said the doctor became frustrated and told her there was nothing more he could do for her.
She returned to Australia at the beginning of September 2012, and her pain, which had persisted, got worse.
Since the procedure, she now suffers a range of ailments, including daily headaches, migraines, occipital and trigeminal neuralgia (shock-like pain on the face affecting the trigeminal nerve, which carries signals to the brain), face pain, fibromyalgia, severe neuropathic pain, worsened mental health, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Campbell is accusing Shevel of negligence as she believes he did not take the reasonable care expected of a medical practitioner.
She has informed Shevel's lawyer of her intent to sue for damages.
These are:
• Injury due to negligence.
• Loss of amenities of life.
• Emotional distress caused by not being properly informed of the pain and suffering which could come from the procedure.
• Loss of income due to her inability to work and maintain a stable income.
• Medical expenses and extra treatments to try to fix the harm done to her.
Responding to a lengthy query from News24, in which all of Campbell’s claims were put to him, Witz said: “The allegations … are part of a smear campaign aimed at intimidating, harassing, defaming, and extorting Dr Shevel. These claims are completely denied, legally outdated, and have no basis in fact or law.
“Dr Shevel will not be making any further comment.”
Meanwhile, Campbell said she had tried on several occasions to get justice for her ordeal but to no avail. This included a complaint to the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) in 2016.
News24 has seen her correspondence with the HPCSA. It is understood that the council allegedly shut the case as it was “not under their jurisdiction”.
The council suspended Shevel’s licence in September 2024, three months after the death of Avvakoumides.
At the time, HPCSA spokesperson Priscilla Sekhonyana told News24 that his licence was suspended for allegedly “posing harm or risk as a result of unsafe professional practice or substantial risk of such harm or injury”.
“His conduct indicates that members of the public might be at risk should he continue with his profession.”
Campbell said she intended to take the matter further.
Shevel was arrested on 14 November, accused of the murder of Avvakoumides, and is out on bail.
Prosecutor Yusuf Baba said police were investigating other cases involving Shevel, including another death of a patient after a procedure last year.
Another case involves Bruce Johnstone, who went to The Headache Clinic on 3 November 2022 to cure his tension headaches. He survived the operation but was left in a vegetative state. His son, who was 20 years old at the time, became the head of the household, looking after his brothers, aged 11 and 13.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Headache Clinic founder suspended after patient deaths
Headache clinic doctor back in court
Headache Clinic doctor faces murder charge
Suspended Headache Clinic director faces another complaint