Medical council files police report against ‘fake doctor’

Jul 18, 2022 News

– Could face up to 18 months behind bars if convicted

Kaieteur News – Mikhail Tadius McLennon could find himself spending 18 month behind bars for pretending to be a doctor, because the Medical Council of Guyana will be filing a police complaint against him for his unlawful actions.

Alleged Fake Doctor, Mikhail Tadius McLennon

Speaking with Kaieteur News on Saturday, Chairman of the Medical Council Board, Dr. Navindranauth Rambaran said, “The council has prepared a letter to the Commissioner of Police (Clifton Hicken) citing the reported infractions by Mr. McLennon.

On Tuesday the Guyana Cancer Foundation unmasked McLennon as a “Fake Doctor”. Its founder Bibi Aktar Hassan in a public statement she had made via Facebook stated that McLennon had asked to be a volunteer with the foundation.

He was accepted after presenting a curriculum vitae (CV) purporting that he was a medical officer/pharmacist at ROK Pharmacy and had worked at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), the New Amsterdam Regional Hospital, the New Amsterdam Family Care Center and a few other places. The man’s CV also purported that he had studied at the University of Guyana, Texila American University and Queens College. His references were also listed as prominent and well respected members of society such as Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennon.

However, Hassan soon started raising questions after people began to point out that her volunteer doctor working with the cancer organisation was a “fake one”. She did some investigation and soon found out that some of the things stated on his CV were not true and decided to publicly cut ties with him.

Chairman Medical Council Board, Dr. Navindranauth Rambaran

McLennan with tears streaming down his face initially denied the allegations but later admitted that he was not a graduate medical doctor but a final year medical student. The young man made a public apology but then things went further downhill for him. Both the Texila American University and the University of Guyana disowned him after they could not find any records that he had studied there. The Medical Council of Guyana said he has broken the law.

Chairman of the Council, Rambaran explained, “According to the Medical Practitioners Act 1991, Section 13 C, any person, not being a medical practitioner who-pretends to be or hold himself out as, whether directly or by implication, a person practicing or authorized or qualified to practice medicine or surgery, shall be guilty of an offense and liable on summary conviction to a fine of $225,000 and to imprisonment for eighteen months”.

Dr. Rambaran noted that the council believes that McLennon has broken this law and has decided to file a police complaint against him. He pointed out that although the alleged fake doctor had been working for a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), such bodies are important stakeholders in Guyana’s health care system because they provide medical services to the sick and suffering.
The doctor is of the view that criminally investigating McLennon is necessary to deter potential imposters from following in his footsteps. He added that McLennon was not the first to pull this stunt in Guyana. “The council has published names of a few persons in the daily newspaper who were not licenced to practice and had asked the police to investigate, however, none of the cases had resulted in prosecution but we were assured that they were investigated and served as a deterrent to such individuals practicing without a licence”.

Dr. Rambaran was also keen to note that many health NGOs in Guyana have a good working relationship with the council, the Ministry of Health and other health authorities. He is now encouraging these organisations to routinely check credentials of its affiliated practitioners on the Medical Council of Guyana’s website. If there are any doubts about the information posted there, Rambaran said, they can contact the secretariat.