Clinton Osei Sarfo
Officials of the Medical and Dental Council, in collaboration with the Achimota Police, have apprehended a 74-year-old man for posing as a doctor at Kisseman, a suburb of Accra.
The suspect, Clinton Osei Sarfo, operates from his place of residence where his living room serves as his Out Patients Department (OPD) while an inner room serves as his dispensary, treatment and injection room with no nurses, laboratory technicians and any other auxiliary staff assisting him.
According to Dr. E.K. Atikpui, the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Medical and Dental Council, his outfit received information about the activities of the suspect, adding that based on information, the investigative unit visited the facility on Sunday, November 4, 2018, to carry out undercover investigations.
He indicated that “the informant said that the suspect is widely known in the area as ‘doctor’ and engages in a wide range of medical treatment for residents in the locality. However, later checks by the council indicated that there was no practitioner in the council’s register by the said name.”
Dr Atikpui said apart from checking the blood pressure of the investigator, who presented himself as a patient for treatment, the suspect did not do any other laboratory test before issuing out medication to the investigator.
“The team from the council went back to the residence of the suspect and it was confirmed that he was still at post practising. The team then went to the Achimota District Headquarters of the Ghana Police Service where a formal complaint was lodged and a team from the Police CID, together with the team from the council, went back to the suspect’s residence and arrested him,” he narrated.
He said while the suspect was in the process of attending to the council’s investigation officer who posed as a client, a search was conducted in his room and large quantities of medications, including IV Fluids, vials of injectables, cantons of syringes and needles were retrieved, adding that the items together with the suspect were conveyed to the Achimota Police Station.
He hinted that there were many people holding themselves as doctors and cautioned the public to be cautious of such people.
He, however, indicated that his outfit was beefing up their surveillance system to bring to bring them to light.
Upon a media interrogation with the suspect, he confessed treating people in his residence at a fee ranging from GH¢5 to GH¢15 to assisting people in the community, adding that most of the conditions he treated were malaria issues.
Dr Atikpui indicated that the suspect provided a certificate issued by the Nursing and Midwifery Council issued in 1972, adding that he practised as a nurse at the 37 Military Hospital till he retired.
The suspect admitted that he administered injections and gave out IV Fluids, commonly called drips, to patients to drink, claiming that it was a normal practice.
The suspect is currently on police inquiry bail pending further investigations and prosecution.
By Abigail Owiredu-Boateng