Earlier this month, reports surfaced about a bogus doctor who had been seeing patients at local regional hospitals reportedly for years, but was unmasked as a fake when, apparently, having previously escaped detection, he attempted to take up a volunteer position at the Guyana Cancer Foundation. It was there that not only were serious questions about his qualifications and training pursued, but his duplicity was made public.
Since the story broke, it has been picked up by several Caribbean newspapers and carried with the headline “Dr Who?” In the days following his public denunciation by the Guyana Cancer Foundation, the Texila American University and the University of Guyana both distanced themselves from the young man, who had claimed in a childishly compiled Curriculum Vitae, complete with spelling and grammatical errors and on social media, that he had been a student at the two tertiary institutions. According to the latest information online, the Ministry of Health and the Medical Council of Guyana said they would initiate police reports so that an investigation could be conducted into the young man’s actions, which are considered criminal in nature.
Of course, the obvious questions that have been raised would include how he was able to even set foot inside any hospital without the necessary credentials. On the surface, it would appear that administrators were taken in by appearances – the phony doctor wore a white coat and scrubs and carried all of the paraphernalia. His social media pages are littered with photographs of him thus attired. However, a conversation might have discounted the ‘I’m a doctor’ claim right off the bat, since this youth’s language dispels any pretensions of medical qualification. To paraphrase a popular saying: ‘If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck; then it has to be a quack’.
While the ministry and medical council have said they would have the police investigate the young man, they should separately appraise all hospitals and clinics where he might have presented himself and those who sanctioned his admittance should be disciplined. Systems which allow anyone claiming to be a medical practitioner access to facilities and patients should also now be tightened. According to other sections of the media, such impersonations have occurred before with the last being three months ago. Although they have reportedly been sporadic, there is clearly a case for a more stringent screening structure.
Another similar serious breach is currently under investigation by the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA), following concerns raised by a client. According to a report published by this newspaper last Friday, the client, a woman, was summoned to the agency where she twice met with an unauthorised person. In the first instance, a bona fide staff member of the CPA was also present along with the woman and her children; the children’s father, who had made the initial overtures to the agency, and his wife.
However, less than a week later, the woman was asked to visit the agency again. It was at this meeting with the ‘unauthorised’ man that several red flags were raised, leading to the woman making reports and seeking advice. What the woman was told by the so-called counsellor was mind-boggling, especially considering that she had reported a threat to her life and had sought a protection order against her children’s father through the courts.
In this case, it does not appear that qualifications or the lack thereof is the issue. In fact, Deputy Director of the CPA Tionna October acknowledged that the individual had completed a work-study attachment there. However, she also stated quite clearly that it had been wrapped up a long time ago, which made his presence at the agency’s Broad Street office and meeting with clients unauthorised. She stressed that he was not employed with the agency in any capacity.
There can be no doubt therefore that the individual posing as a counsellor who was on call at the agency (a falsehood) was advocating on behalf of the children’s father, based on the comments he reportedly made. Apart from the misrepresentation of his status at the CPA, this so-called counsellor’s lack of professionalism posed a danger to the client in question. Were she not a discerning woman and had she taken him at his word, she might well have landed in physical danger. At this point, the mental trauma she endured at that session should be attended to and one hopes that the CPA has moved to address this alongside its investigation.
Neither of the cases referred to above should be allowed to simply disappear. Those in authority must follow up and see them through. The people affected, and the general public as well, deserve accountability. More than that, it is known that fraudsters are prone to repeat performances even after they are caught and penalised. There is a famous case in Florida, USA of a young man who began posing as a doctor when he was just 18 years old. He was caught after he managed to fleece money from elderly patients and sentenced to 21 months in prison. That was in 2016. Last year, he was arrested once again on fraud charges. There is also the worst case scenario as occurred in Germany, where a woman posing as a doctor caused the deaths of three people. She was sentenced to life in prison just two months ago.
Quacks and hoaxers mostly prey on the poor, ignorant and vulnerable. These are the people that society must protect and therefore those scamming and attempting to pull the wool over our eyes must not only be stopped, but thoroughly exposed. Anyone found aiding and abetting con artists should feel the full force of the law as well. Local police recently nabbed Facebook romance scammers and should move with the same alacrity against those mentioned above as the potential for harm goes beyond the financial.
