Medical News Today on November 24, 2010 reported that Daniel Stewart, 24, who suffers from bipolar disorder, impersonated a doctor and followed medical personnel around in an emergency room of Cape Fear Valley Medical Center; he even became involved with patients. He was charged on November 3rd with three misdemeanor counts of impersonating a doctor, said Lt. Chris Davis of the Fayetteville Police Department, North Carolina. Stewart had posed as a visiting resident-in-training.

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The Bismarck Tribune on November 28, 2010 reported that a judge has agreed to drop charges against a doctor accused of “maliciously” slamming a door at the Fargo VA Medical Center. Dr. David Carlson was charged with federal violations of willful destruction of government property and disorderly conduct. VA police said Carlson damaged walls by slamming the door and said his “continued actions of aggression” upset several staff members during the Sept. 10 incident. U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Klein threw out the case after the VA police and Department of Veterans Affairs said the matter was resolved internally.

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irvinetimes on November 25, 2010 reported that a doctor applying for a position at Crosshouse Hospital lied on his CV to appear “more impressive”, a misconduct hearing has heard. Oxford-educated Dr David Clark was working for Ayrshire and Arran NHS Trust when he made an application for a permanent anaesthetist post in which he falsely claimed he had written in six medical publications. Dr Clark’s case came before the General Medical Council’s fitness to practice panel in London last week, who heard that he added the bogus details to his CV despite the fact they had all been written by an old friend of his.

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Sunday Sun on November 28, 2010 reported that a North doctor faces being struck off by health bosses after being accused of failing the simplest of medical tasks. Dr Ernest Amama, who originally trained in Poland, spent three months working as a senior house officer for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, based in Stockton, from August to November of last year. But he was taken off the on-call rota three weeks after starting work, when concerns were raised about his clinical skills – his employers made a note of a string of alleged minor errors.

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Weekend Post on November 29, 2010 reported that two Port Elizabeth doctors have been arrested for fraud after reportedly issuing false and backdated medical certificates to patients. Following several leads from the city’s crime intelligence unit, police yesterday arrested FJA Claasen, a general practitioner with a surgery in Korsten, and BB Nqini, a Zwide general practitioner. The doctors appeared in the Port Elizabeth Commercial Crimes Court yesterday. Between December last year and February this year undercover police officers approached the doctors and succeeded in obtaining bogus medical certificates.

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DNA on November 28, 2010 reported that Deepika Parmar (36), a doctor working at a public health centre in Bavla, was found hanging in her room on the first floor of her bungalow in Chandkheda at around 4 pm on Friday. Police sources said that no suicide note was found from the place. Meanwhile, on Saturday, the husband and in-laws of the doctor have landed in police custody for alleged dowry harassment. Following the suicide, father of the deceased Dilip Parmar, a resident of Gandhinagar filed a complaint with Chandkheda police station accusing the husband and in-laws of dowry harassment and abetment to suicide.

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thisisgloucestershire.co.uk on November 29, 2010 reported that the mother of a disabled teenager is suing the NHS for millions of pounds on the grounds hospital staff acted negligently during his birth. Rachel Dewis blames the NHS for her son Jake’s cerebral palsy. The writ filed with the court states that compensation would be worth more than £300,000 if a judge found in favour of the family – but it could run into millions.

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EADT24 on November 26, 2010 reported that a doctor is to appear in court next month after being charged with assaulting a child. Dr Paul Thomas, who runs Gipping Valley Practice in Barham, near Claydon, is currently on conditional bail. It is understood that although the 58-year-old GP has not been suspended by NHS Suffolk, he has taken a leave of absence from the surgery.

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Chicago Sun Times on November 27, 2010 reported that a $17.7 million settlement was approved last week in a medical negligence lawsuit filed by a former Stone Park police officer – now a quadriplegic – against the University of Illinois Medical Center and a nursing staffing agency. George Nissen, of Melrose Park, suffered a brain herniation when hospital staff failed to properly monitor his intracranial pressure during an external ventricular drain procedure, a release from attorneys Levin & Perconti said. Nissen, now 47, was admitted on Feb. 13, 2005 after suffering a stroke believed to be caused by an injury he suffered during an altercation while making an arrest as a Stone Park police officer.

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Theledger.com on November 24, 2010 reported that the president of Gessler Clinic in Winter Haven was taken into custody under the Baker Act on Tuesday night after threatening to shoot his co-workers, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. Dr. Joseph Anthony Bergnes, 61, of Winter Haven, also was charged Wednesday with domestic violence battery by strangulation, possession of marijuana over 20 grams and possession of drug paraphernalia. Bergnes, who is board certified in internal medicine, was being guarded at a local hospital by Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies Wednesday night and will be taken to the Polk County Jail when doctors release him from the hospital, sheriff’s officials said. Sheriff’s officials declined to release the name of the hospital, citing security concerns, spokeswoman Carrie Eleazer said.

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smh.com.au on November 24, 2010 reported that Eighteen medical staff, including a doctor, are being investigated for allegedly pocketing emergency cash payments during the state’s payroll crisis, Queensland Health confirmed on Wednesday. The department would not reveal how much money the doctor or the others allegedly fraudulently obtained. The Courier-Mail on Wednesday said the doctor was a highly respected practitioner and the medical sector was angry the health department referred him to police without first discussing the allegations with him. Advertisement: Story continues below In a statement, Queensland Health said the investigations were complex and they had been advised to refer matters to police.

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The Independent on November 25, 2010 reported that a doctor accused of failing to spot that Baby P had a broken back days before his death today won a crucial High Court battle in her bid to avoid a disciplinary hearing. A judge granted consultant pediatrician Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat a new opportunity to apply for “voluntary erasure” from the medical register on health grounds. If she is successful, she would not have to appear at any disciplinary hearing. The GMC says granting the 54-year-old doctor’s request would mean derailing the high-profile public misconduct investigation into her care of Baby P which is already under way.

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The Comet 24 on November 25, 2010 reported that a teenage daughter witnessed her doctor father repeatedly stab her mother to death on the kitchen floor, a court heard on Tuesday. Ria Jumaily, 18, made a 999 call to the emergency services before eventually managing to take the knife from her father and lock him in another room of his Letchworth GC home. Retired GP Amad Jumaily, 60, is accused of murdering his wife June, 46, in a jealous rage after she had left him and begun a relationship with another man. The doctor denies murdering his wife, claiming diminished responsibility. Luton Crown Court heard that June had gone back to the family’s £450,000 home in Field Lane, on December 23 last year, to talk to her husband about how to divide their belongings.

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news.com.au on November 26, 2010 reported that a mentally ill doctor accused of 19 counts of fraud and ruled unfit to practise is working at Adelaide’s Lyell McEwen hospital where he has botched an operation and attempted to conduct surgery while under the influence of drugs, State Parliament has heard. Opposition Health spokesman Duncan McFetridge last night told Parliament a senior surgeon at the Lyell McEwen Hospital had raised “very serious allegations” of misconduct by Doctor Nigel Phillip Michael Sacks. Dr McFetridge said Dr Sacks was found mentally incapable to stand trial on 19 fraud charges levelled while he was living in England.

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Weekend Post on November 25, 2010 reported that police are liaising with Interpol for the arrest of a doctor accused of raping a 32-year-old patient. He is believed to have fled to Pakistan. Dr Nasir Syed was the chief medical officer of Nelson Mandela Bay’s state clinics at the time. “The investigation is continuing and we are providing information to Interpol so that they can assist us with his arrest,” police spokesman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said.

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scnow.com on November 23, 2010 reported that South Carolina’s attorney general was ordered Tuesday to turn over any correspondence between his office and the governor-elect in the case of a Republican legislator who accuses them of trampling his right to a fair trial. Rep. Kris Crawford of Florence argues Attorney General Henry McMaster and Gov.-elect Nikki Haley inappropriately discussed his case in an attempt to separate Haley from Crawford’s tax woes. Crawford, the Legislature’s only doctor, was charged in April with failing to file state income tax returns for 2004 to 2007 on time.

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Foroyaa Online on November 24, 2010 reported that the one count theft trial of Doctor Isatou Touray and Amie Bojang Sissoho of Gamcotrap, on Monday 22 November, was adjourned for continuation with the testimonies of state witnesses against the two female human rights defenders. The adjournment application was made by state prosecutor after the failure of their witnesses to appear before the court. When the case was called before principal magistrate, Emmanuel Nkea of the Banjul Magistrates’ Court, the police prosecutor Chief Superintendent Sainey Joof told the court that their witnesses were not available in court. Superintendent Joof indicated that the witnesses were all the way in Basse and that they had made arrangements for them to be available, but to no avail. He asked for the court to grant them an adjournment to enable their witnesses to make it to court.

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