The Medical and Dental Council (MDC) with assistance from the police have arrested 18 quack and one unregistered medical practitioners between January and July 2021.
The 18 include 12 fake dentist and six quack doctors who have practiced the medical profession without any training for years.
The unregistered doctor, Dr Micheal K. Obeng who is a qualified doctor was arrested for working without a valid license from the MDC and soliciting clients for medical consultation in cosmetic surgery at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra.
A social media advert showed that Dr Obeng charged prospective clients an amount of USD500.00 as consultation fee.
Dr Divine N. Banyubala, Acting Registrar of the MDC, told journalists in Accra that the Council during its routine investigations closed down seven health facilities where the suspects were operating from, in the Greater Accra, Ahafo and Central Regions.
“We have been conducting routine quality assurance monitoring exercises aimed at ascertaining, among others, the registration status of practitioners and the standard of practice in various institutions across the country,” he said.
He said all the 12 quack dentists who were operating in East Legon and Asylum Down in Accra, were working in the name of Laser Smile Teeth Whitening Center, and were arrested based on complaints from patients and practitioners.
He said investigation revealed that all 12 fake dentist did not possess the technical competence and the requisite license to lawfully practice.
Dr Banyubala said one Mr Osei Bonsu Hayford, a quack doctor at the O. B. Saviour Clinic at Koraso, a suburb of Dormaa Ahenkro, was arrested for practicing medicine illegally.
He said Daniel Adjei at the Ohenewaa Memorial Clinic located just beside the District Police Headquarters in the Dormaa Ahenkro township, was arrested because he was found not to be a licensed or qualified medical practitioner.
After his arrest, he claimed to be a registered general nurse but could not produce his PIN with the Nursing and Midwifery Council to the team.
Quack Doctor Samuel Lanquaye Snr was arrested for practicing illegally with forged certificates from the Ghana Health Service and the Ministry of Health, his daughter Albertha Lamiorkor was also arrested for practicing medicine illegally at Assin Adadientem Number Two in the Central Region.
Dr Banyubala said Albertha was arrested while in the process of attending to a number of patients including a member of the investigations team at a health centre in the community.
When interrogated, she claimed to be working under the tutelage of her father, who had been the medical practitioner in charge of the facility for the past 36 years, in order to gain practical experience before going to the nursing training college.
One Prince Tutu, a quack doctor at St Kyeade Clinic, Dormaa-Babianiha, who is neither a trained medical professional nor licensed to lawfully practice medicine or dentistry in Ghana, was arrested for possessing a forged Medical and Dental Council’s permanent license for physician assistants, suggesting he had been registered with the Council to practice medicine since 19th February 2014.
He also forged a document purported to be a certificate from the Shenyang Medical College in China, suggesting that he graduated from the said university in March, 2018, with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree.
The Acting Registrar said he also forged documents purporting to be a laboratory technician. He further forged the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service receipts suggesting he had paid to the Council his permanent registration fee for the year 2020 and retention fees for the year 2021.
Dr Banyubala said Paul Amoanoo, a self-styled doctor and owner of Royal Medi-Herb Clinic at Ashaiman Zenu Atadeka was arrested after a woman identified as Lucky Teiko Nyinaku bleed to death after delivering a baby boy in the facility.
GNA