Crime & Punishment of Friday, 4 May 2018

Source: dailyguideafrica.com

Fake doctor busted

The culprit was illegally operating OPD services in his house in Wapuli The culprit was illegally operating OPD services in his house in Wapuli

Officials of the Medical and Dental Council in collaboration with the Wapuli Police have apprehended a quack doctor by name Omega Timothy for allegedly causing various degrees of complications to patients who sought his services at Wapuli and its surrounding communities in the Saboba District of the Northern Region.

According to the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Medical and Dental Council, Dr Eli Kwasi Atikpui, who briefed journalists in Accra, some of the cases of the patients have ended in fatalities.

Dr Omega Timothy was, however, arrested after the council had received series of complaints from individuals and dispatched an investigative team to the Northern Region to access the situation.

He said on arrival at the town, the team discovered that suspect had converted his house into a clinic where he rendered Out Patient Department (O.P.D) services to his clients.

It was also discovered that suspect has been moving from one village to the other to render medical services to clients in his capacity as a medical doctor for a fee.

The team discovered that a number of individuals who patronized the services of the suspect had developed various degrees of complications.

“It is only when such complications come up that suspect refers the victims to the Ghana Health Service clinic in the town or to other health facilities at Yendi, Chereponi or Saboba for further medical treatment but most of them ended fatally,” he added.

After investigations, the council sought the assistance of the police in the area to get suspect apprehended.

Upon his arrest, the council detected that suspect was actually not a trained medical doctor, hence, his name was not in their register.

Further checks also revealed that the suspect was also operating an unlicensed drug store in his house from which he sold drugs to unsuspecting members of the community.

Dr Atikpui added that the case is currently pending before the Police at Wapuli who said they are in the process of putting their docket together for court proceedings.