The deadly deeds of quack, Unregistered ‘doctors’ …Adding salt to injury

Sick people visit health facilities in search of relief to their ailment, but when their search for remedy turns into tragedy at the hands of impostors, they are scarred for life.

In many homes, there are people who have lost their relatives because of the deception and cruel activities of quack and unregistered medical practitioners in the country.

Those who were lucky to survive the ineptitude of such criminals in white, have also been left with unforgettable scars and injuries all in the name of seeking solutions to their health conditions.

This is an unfortunate illustration of two idiomatic expressions:  “to salt to injury” and “from frying pan to fire”, a grim reminder of how the activities of self-styled medical practitioners are worsening the plight of their victims.

Some of these fake doctors who have practiced over 30 years, are very good at what they do to the extent that even the elite in the society sometimes fall prey to their gimmicks.

A VICTIM’S ACCOUNT

Maame Kwakyewaa not real name) in an interview with the Ghanaian Times recounted how her womb was perforated by a quack doctor after a failed abortion.

“I was naive at that time and had less money to afford myself a qualified doctor to help me with the procedure “she stated.

According to her, she bled and almost lost her life due to the incidence.

MaameKwakyewaa, however, advised the public to be mindful of the hospital and doctors they visit for health care services.

Have you ever bothered to find out whether your physician is qualified to practice or do you have some reservations or suspicions when a doctor takes care of you?

ASK FOR LICENSE

The Registrar of Medical and Dental Council (MDC), Dr Divine N. Banyubala, said patients have the right to demand proof of qualification whenever they visit them for medical checkups.

“It is your own health so do not shirk that responsibility of demanding the doctor to show you proof of his license to practice especially when you are suspicious,” he advised.

According to him, doctors are mandated to renew their license every year to make them fit to practice, adding that doctors should upgrade themselves in order to meet the growing demand of health related issues.

He said the MDC is doing its best to clamp down on activities of such unscrupulous criminals, yet some are so dubious to the extent that they are able to practice for decades without being caught.

MODUS OPERANDI/ ARRESTS

Explaining the activities of such fake doctors, Dr Banyubala, said the MDC in conjunction with the police arrested 23 quack and unregistered medical practitioners, last year.

According to him, these fake medical practitioners had no knowledge in orthodox medicine while others forged certificates and licenses.

In a recent operation conducted in collaboration with the police , He said the suspects were 11 fake or unregistered practitioners and 12 dentists, adding that some of them have been practicing for at least 30 years.

He said eight cases were in court, 12 under investigation and one suspect has been sentenced six months in jail and fined 1000 penalty units which translate to GHs12000.

Dr Banyubala Dr Banyubala said the council received information from the ZenuAttadeka District Police Command of the Ghana Police Service about a   suspected quack doctor, Paul Amoano.

He said investigations revealed that Madam Lucky TeikoNyinaku was rushed in labour to the Royal Medi-Herb Clinic located at Peace Land for delivery where the clinic was being operated by the suspect, Paul Amoanoo.

He said   Madam Lucky reportedly gave birth to a live baby boy but started bleeding profusely and was later pronounced dead upon arrival at the Trinity Community Hospital, Zenu following a late referral by the suspect.

According to him, the live baby boy died about an hour after birth under the care of the suspect.

He said OseiBonsuHayford was arrested for practicing medicine illegally at the O.B. Saviour Clinic, at Koraso, a suburb of DormaaAhenkro in the Dormaa Municipality.

He said Daniel Adjei, who was practising medicine without license at the Ohenewaa Memorial Clinic, in the municipality, was also nabbed. 

FAMILY BUSINESS

He stated that Samuel LanquayeSnr and his daughters were found practising medicine illegally at AssinAdadientem No. 2 in the Central Region.

 Dr Banyubala said one of the daughters of LanquayeSnr, AlberthaLamiorkor, was arrested while in the process of attending to a number of patients, including a member of the investigation team, at a health centre.

He said when interrogated, she claimed to be working under the tutelage of her father, who had been a medical practitioner in charge of the facility for the past 36 years.

 Dr Banyubala indicated that MDC received information about activities of a suspected quack doctor, Prince Tutu.

He said investigations revealed that the suspect had forged the MDC’s permanent license for physician assistants, also a document purported to be a certificate from the Shenyang Medical College, in China, with Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree.

 Dr Banyubala said Tutu also forged documents purporting to be a laboratory technician and the Ministry of Health Ghana Health Service receipts, suggesting he had paid to the Council permanent registration fee for the year 2020 and retention fees for the year 2021.

He said the suspect used these forged documents to obtain employment at various private health facilities.

Dr Banyubala said through investigations, Tutu was discovered to be working at the St. Kyeadeℇ Clinic at DormaaBabianiha near DormaaAhenkro.

 “The suspect admitted that he had used forged documents to obtain employment and worked in various private health facilities, including Royal Family Hospital located around Lapaz in Accra and also attended to patients in their homes,” he said.

Dr Bamyubala said his outfit received several allegations that Bright Afful, 29, was defrauding foreign trained medical students and Samuel Owusu, 57, practicing medicine and conducting illegal abortions.

He said preliminary investigations revealed that one “Dr” Bright Afful was a key person behind the deals.

Dr Banyubala said the suspect charged his victims between GH¢1,000.00 and GH¢20,000, and the money was paid in whole or in installments over a period.

He said Afful collected money from the victim under the pretext of helping them to pass the examinations.

“He claimed to have links with some top officials at the Council on whose behalf they collect the monies so that he can secure the questions for them before they sit for the pre-registration examinations, and or help influence the outcome of the results,” Dr Banyubala said.

The Registrar said it was observed that the suspect also organises medical outreaches and screening programmes at various rural communities with unlicensed foreign doctors.

“Our preliminary investigations showed that some of the places they visited included villages around Cape Coast, Akwatia, and AgonaSwedru,” Dr Banyubala said.

ABORTION

With regards to the illegal abortion, the registrar said the Council received information that one Samuel Owusu was practising medicine and abortion illegally at his pharmacy, called Kwaowus Pharmacy, at Adentan New Site, Accra.

He said Owusu charged an amount of GH¢500 to terminate a pregnancy.

Dr Banyubala said during police interrogation Owusu claimed to have received his training in medicine in Nigeria, “but his certificate raises a lot of doubts because it was issued by a private hospital and not a health training institution.”

REFORMS

 In order to curb the activities of fake and unregistered doctors, he said MDC is working on a number of policy reforms in line with professional regulatory best practices.

According to him these would ensure that all doctors working in Ghana meet the minimum competency standards to provide safe quality healthcare services in the public interest.

Some of these reforms include the conduct of objective structured clinical examination for foreign doctors in 2022 and common national licensing examinations for both locally and foreign trained doctors, dentists, and physician assistants in 2025.

These policy reforms were informed by a report on joint visits undertaken in 2017 by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health and the Council to some of the countries where Ghanaian doctors and dentists are trained in significant numbers.

These followed observations that the quality of some of the doctors trained outside the country left much to be desired, according to the Registrar, MDC, Dr Divine N. Banyubala.

Dr Banyubala explained that the major causes of the failure were that some of the candidates had poor knowledge in the various disciplines in medicine including poor knowledge in basic sciences and basic clinical skills, a claim which was corroborated by various Examiner’s Reports.

BY AGNES OPOKU SARPONG