thestar.co.uk on May 18, 2012 reported that a Nurse skipped work early leaving a dementia sufferer unconscious and covered in vomit, a professional misconduct hearing was told. Angela Phiri, aged 49, allegedly left her shift before it finished at Northfields Nursing Home, Roebuck Road, Crookesmoor, Sheffield – despite knowing the woman was unwell and needed urgent treatment. She is alleged to have claimed she didn't ‘want to spend a minute longer at the home' than she had to. The Nursing and Midwifery Council heard night shift nurse Alyna White took over from Phiri on April 17, 2009 – and phoned for an ambulance after discovering the patient lying in bed covered in vomit. “When I went into Patient B's room, I found her unconscious on her back in bed,” she said.

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worksopguardian.co.uk on May 19, 2012 reported that a Workshop doctor accused of surfing the internet while prescribing a fatal dose of morphine to two elderly patients has told a court it was appropriate medication. General practitioner Rejendra Kokkarne is accused of watching sport on the internet and using his office computer for personal internet banking while prescribing 10 times the normal dose of morphine sulphate to Beryl Barber, 78, and Eric Watson, 86. But taking the stand at Leeds Crown Court, Kokkarne, of Fulmar Way, said he prescribed morphine as other pain medications were unsuitable.

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thisissomerset.co.uk on May 17, 2012 reported that a Yeovil doctor has appeared in court accused of sexually assaulting two of his female patients. Dr Habeeb Mohammad Abdul Latheef, 44, of Merevale Way, appeared before South Somerset Magistrates charged with the offences which date back as far as four years ago. He is alleged to have touched a woman, aged 16 or over, in a sexual manner when she did not consent during an incident at Yeovil on February 22, 2008. He is also charged with an identical offence alleged to have been committed at Yeovil on December 22, 2011. Prosecutor Tim Rutherford told the court that the two alleged victims were patients of the Yeovil GP and the offences were said to have occurred during examinations. Latheef did not enter pleas to either of the charges.

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deadlinenews.co.uk on May 17, 2012 reported that a Mental health nurse had a sexual relationship with a patient, visiting football matches and staying over at his house, it is claimed. Linda May Thomson, who worked at Royal Cornhill Hospital in Aberdeen, faces 19 separate charges of misconduct. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) also alleges Ms Thomson shared Cava with the man, named only as Patient A, in a relationship which began in January 2009. She worked at the hospital

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newstrackindia.com on May 17, 2012 reported that Pierre Dukan, whose protein-rich diet is said to have helped the Duchess of Cambridge squeeze into her wedding dress, has been struck off the French medical register at his own request, after medical experts accused him of giving damaging dietary advice to teenagers. Dr Dukan, a favourite of Carole Middleton, was already facing disciplinary action over proposals to award extra marks to schoolchildren who lose weight. In a recent book, he proposed creating a so-called “ideal weight” option for ‘A’ level equivalent students in their final year exams, under which they would earn extra points for keeping slim. It sparked a complaint by the French College of Physicians, which warned the proposal could prove harmful for pupils already suffering from obesity or anorexia. The body said it was in breach of article 13 of the medical ethics code, which states: “A doctor must be aware of the repercussions his views can have on the public.” They launched a second disciplinary action into whether the 100million-euro business he runs from his diet food empire was compatible with the code of medical practice.

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hertsandessexobserver.co.uk on May 17, 2012 reported that a Bishop’s Stortford GP has been charged with five counts of possessing child pornography. Dr Stuart Fitness, who worked at the town’s South Street Surgery for 15 years, was charged with the offences late last night (Wednesday, May 16) after answering police bail earlier in the day.

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courant.com on May 16, 2012 reported that Dr. Edwin Njoku, the East Hartford doctor accused of sexually assaulting several of his patients, made a brief appearance in court Wednesday. Judge Stanley T. Fuger Jr. transferred the cases to Superior Court in Hartford, where all the cases against Njoku are being consolidated. The charges against Njoku, 52, include first-degree sexual assault, attempted first-degree sexual assault, five counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, unlawful restraint, attempted bribery of a witness and second-degree larceny for allegedly billing Medicaid for an office visit during which he is accused of sexually assaulting a woman.

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droitwichadvertiser.co.uk on May 15, 2012 reported that a doctor and director at Droitwich Spa Knee Clinic is set to face allegations that he failed to treat a patient correctly. Dr Oliver Sascha Schindler will stand in front of a General Medical Council (GMC) panel in Manchester for a fitness to practise hearing on May 31. The panel will inquire into a host of allegations that Dr Schindler did not provide good clinical care to a patient. It is alleged he did not recommend non-surgical conservative treatment for the patient’s knee condition; offered three surgical treatment options to the patient, all of which were inappropriate for primary treatment; did not obtain full and informed consent from the patient for the surgery; reported the patient’s MRI scan himself without reference to a consultant radiologist; performed and removed the patients’ ligmentum mucosum and medial plica during surgery when it was not necessary to so do; and did not explain to the patient his financial interest in the Droitwich Knee Clinic.

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birminghammail.net on May 14, 2012 reported that a Nurse arrested on suspicion of the manslaughter of a 93-year-old patient almost a year ago is pleading with police to close her case. Olajumoke Adenowo, 43, was quizzed over the death of the elderly man at a Ryland View Care Home in Tipton, West Midlands, in June last year and has been on bail ever since. The registered nurse had treated the man on March 4 and she maintains he was still alive when she left her shift. But he was pronounced dead the next day at the care home. Police are investigating whether there was a criminal element to the circumstances surrounding the death.

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en.ria.ru on May 11, 2012 reported that a Moscow court has stopped a criminal case against Dr. Alexandra Artamonova, who treated businesswoman Vera Trifonova who died in a pretrial detention facility, because the statute of limitation had expired, RAPSI news agency reported on Friday. This decision is not an admission of guilt and is not considered a criminal record. The deaths in pretrial detention of two defendants in white-collar crime cases, lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and businesswoman Vera Trifonova, sparked a public outcry.

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bbc.co.uk on May 11, 2012 reported that a doctor has been cleared of failing in his clinical care of a baby who died the day after he examined the child. Dr Renjith Nair was accused of not fully examining Lianne Sabin and Mark Smith's son Calum at Preston's Doclands Medical Centre before he died in hospital in 2009.Clearing Dr Nair, a General Medical Council panel found the couple were mistaken in their judgement of him. Panel chair Dr Linda Buchanan said they had been "understandably" confused.

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times-series.co.uk on May 09, 2012 reported that a senior nurse caught "wrapped in a blanket and asleep" while in charge of a floor at a care home for the elderly was fairly dismissed for gross misconduct, a top judge has ruled. Anita Tayeh was in charge of the second floor of the Magnolia Court care home in Granville Road, Golders Green, on December 2, 2009, when she was found to be snoozing during a 12-hour night shift. She was also found wedging residents' doors open with items of furniture and was given a final written warning by her employers, Barchester Healthcare Ltd (BHL). Ms Tayeh also failed to carry out observations on a patient with a suspected broken hip for three hours in February 2010 as she waited for a doctor to arrive, and to have made a "false record" relating to another patient's drip feed.

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thisislondon.co.uk on May 09, 2012 reported that a bogus doctor wore a white coat and stethoscope to sexually abuse six women, a court heard today. Antonio Gobbato, who claimed to be an “NHS doctor, gynaecologist, paediatrician and a psychiatrist”, claimed he was diagnosing them by fondling their breasts. Gobbato, 51, is also accused of tricking parents into paying for expensive treatments abroad for their children, so he could enjoy all-inclusive holidays. Prosecutor Linda Strudwick told Inner London crown court: “Antonio Gobbato is a charlatan, a make-believe doctor” who convinced six women they should strip as he fondled them “under the guise of medical examinations”.

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dentistryiq.com on May 09, 2012 reported that a dentist has fulfilled his pledge to return to work after the collapse of his last clinic – despite handing over £50,000 to a former patient. Dr Charl Chapman has renegotiated a rent agreement with his former landlord, even though his previous surgery – Enhance Dental Clinic, which operated from the same premises in Hutton Road, Shenfield – has gone into receivership. Dr Chapman is now operating as an independent, private dentist at a new business named The Dental Practice. But before he actually made it back to work, his insurers forked out £50,000 to Elizabeth Fairney in an out-of-court settlement at the end of March. Complaint The payout relates to a complaint from Mrs Fairney in relation to "non-mainstream" treatments he gave for temporomandibular joint disorder between 2000 and 2007.

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chemistanddruggist.co.uk on May 09, 2012 reported that Pharmacist David James Murty, registration number 2017878, has been suspended from the register for three months by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) after making dispensing errors, dispensing methadone without a prescription and attempting to delete patient medication records. Mr Murty, who worked for Lloydspharmacy for 25 years, admitted making a number of dispensing errors between October 23, 2007 and November 10, 2008 while working at the multiple's Catford branch in London, a fitness-to-practise committee heard last month. The committee also heard that Mr Murty had later supplied two doses of methadone to a patient who did not have a valid prescription and without making an entry into the controlled drugs record, before trying to delete associated records.

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telegraph.co.uk on May 09, 2012 reported that at the height of his addiction, consultant anaesthetist Dr Matthew Cornish was taking 20 tablets including Nurofen Plus and injecting hmself intravenously before heading off to Yeovil District Hospital. He would inject himself in the hospital car park and even before going into the operating theatre, Mrs Justice Lang told London's High Court today. His "out of control" and "chaotic" behaviour was noticed by colleagues; his car and home were littered with "vast quantities of used drugs detritus"; his white coat was stained by bloody used syringes and, by the time he was caught, he was "desperate and beyond caring". As the 47-year-old medic's life descended into drug-addled chaos, he tried everything to cover up his addiction and the judge told London's High Court: "His record of deceit and lies was exceptional by any standard".

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scotsman.com on May 07, 2012 reported that a nurse accused of failing to notice that a patient was dead faces being struck off. Mental health nurse Christopher James Westwood is also alleged to have delayed an urgent ambulance trip to A&E for another patient so that he could finish his coffee and go to the toilet, putting the patient at risk. The allegations relate to time that Mr Westwood worked on ward three at St John’s Hospital, Livingston, which is a mental health ward for the over-65s, and at the specialist dementia unit Maple Villa, at NHS Lothian’s Craigshill Care Facility. Among the charges due to be put to the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) Conduct and Competence Committee are that, in one incident, he “failed to realise the patient had died” and “had to be informed the patient had died by a member of the domestic staff”.

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