…Over Fake Medical Certificate Scandal

New Patriotic Party Member (NPP) guru, Dr. Kobina Arthur Kennedy is in trouble in the United States of America, as a man, identified as his bosom friend, stole his physician's identity documents and pretended to be him for a year in South Carolina, and treated as many as 500 people in a hospital in that country.

Investigators are said to be combing through medical records to see whether Ernest Addo, Dr. Kennedy's friend, harmed any of the hundreds of patients he treated.

The Associate Press reports in Columbia-South Carolina that Dr. Kennedy's friend, Ernest Addo of Austell, Georgia, is charged with unlawful practice of medicine and obtaining goods under false pretense.

Meanwhile, The Herald's independent findings on Dr. Arthur Kennedy, who now works with the Cape Coast University School of Medical Sciences as a Senior Lecturer, reveal that he holds a Bachelor of Science Medical Degree from the University of Toronto.

He later obtained a Diploma in Family Practice, Wisconsin, Masters Degree in Health Management from University of Texas-Dallas. He did Residency Training in Family Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin-USA and other qualifications such as FM, Milwaukee, Diplomate, ABFP also in the US.

Family Practice Health Administration is his area of specialization whilst his research activities and interest are in the areas of Quality of Care and Health attitudes and practices of professionals.

Dr. Arthur Kennedy was also in Spartan Health Science University in St. Lucia, an Island in the Caribbean but it is not clear what he studied there.

According to the Associate Press, Dr. Arthur Kennedy's friend, Addo, doesn't have a medical license in the US. But he assumed his doctor friend's identity, getting a driver's license and presenting the massive amount of paperwork needed to prove he was a doctor.

The documents were given to him by his friend in hope that they could open a medical clinic together when the real doctor returned from a year long trip to Ghana, Lexington County Sheriff, James Metts said.

Dr. Arthur Kennedy, who is the author of “Chasing the Elephant into The Bush; the Politics of Complacency”, is said to have claimed, he is embarrassed and devastated by what his friend did.

Addo did have some medical training, and acted enough like a doctor not to raise any serious suspicion, said a nurse- who was interviewed after Addo's Aug. 24, arrest. She wondered why he consulted.

The motive appears to be greed, Sheriff Metts said. Court documents show Addo has a history of financial trouble.

Records obtained by The Associated Press show in the past 20 years, at least two dozen liens have been filed against Addo for around 200,000, including unpaid rent, credit card bills, student loans and taxes. Addo has declared bankruptcy twice.

After Addo's arrest last week at his Georgia home, officers found fake IDs and other documents, and Sheriff Metts said it appeared Addo might have tried to fake his way through other lucrative careers, too. The Sheriff wouldn't specify which ones.

“He seems to be a professional con guy,” Sheriff Metts told the Associated Press.

Authorities have said Addo received more than 10,000 dollars for his service but declined to elaborate. One of the jobs also gave him the use of a Mercedes, reports The Associated Press.

According to it Addo, 48, has been jailed in Cobb County, Georgia, since his arrest, and neither the Sheriff nor jail officials knew if he had an attorney. Addo is refusing to talk to authorities, and both his home phone and cellphone have been disconnected.

“Addo faces more than a decade in prison for his current charges, but he could end up in even more trouble. Metts said his investigators were reviewing the medical records of more than 500 patients Addo saw while at four Columbia-area senior centres and a rehabilitation centre owned by Agape Senior Primary Care.

“Sheriff Metts said some of those patients died. He said more charges could follow if any of those deaths were linked to Addo's actions.

“Addo was hired as a general practitioner and provided the kind of exams patients would receive during a visit to the family doctor. Authorities said he also wrote prescriptions, including some for himself.

“Officials at Agape are doing their own review of the care patients received from Addo. They said he never had sole clinical oversight of any patient,” The Associated Press reported.

“We have found no inappropriate diagnosis or plan of treatment. We are convinced that all of our patients are safe and receiving proper care,” Agape CEO Scott Middleton said in a statement, captured by the Associated Press.

“Addo also worked as a contract doctor for the South Carolina Department of Mental Health, filling in for a doctor on medical leave. Officials there said they also are reviewing Addo's care and have not found any serious issues.

“Patients treated by Addo could not be located by The Associated Press for comment.

“Authorities started investigating Addo after he made a small mistake on a death certificate. South Carolina health officials trying to fix the error contacted the doctor Addo was impersonating. He told him he hadn't practiced medicine for a year in the State because he was teaching at a medical school in Ghana.

“Officials have reused to release that doctor's name, but Dr. Kennedy confirmed his identity was stolen.

“Dr. Kennedy said he was betrayed by his friend. Addo also obtained credit card in Dr. Kennedy's name, creating an even bigger mess to clean up, the doctor said Wednesday outside his home in Orangeburg.

“He said he didn't want to answer detailed questions about what happened until he spoke to a lawyer.

“Both Dr. Kennedy and Addo are from Ghana. Kennedy ran unsuccessfully for president of the West African nation in 2008. He had a family practice in Orangeburg and spent plenty of time in his home-land, pushing for public health improvements.

The two men resemble each other, and Addo used Kennedy's reputation to help get him the doctor jobs. Agape said in a statement it hired him in part because he came highly recommended.

“Both Agape and Jackson & Coker, the Alpharetta, Georgina, physician recruitment firm that placed Addo with the Department of Mental Health, have promised to help authorities. Sheriff Metts said it could take months for investigators to go through all the medical records.

“Jackson & Coker also is exploring any legal action it could take against Addo and is shocked he was able to obtain all the documents someone would need to prove he was a doctor in the United States, spokeswomen Susan Meyers said.

“He was hired the same way in several different places,” Ms. Meyers said. “There were no red flags,” AP.