On November 4, Egyptian authorities arrested a man for allegedly impersonating a doctor and practising in small charitable clinics in Egypt.
The man was allegedly practising in Egypt for 34 years with forged medical documents, including a Bachelor's in Medicine and Surgery degree. The man practised under the registration number of another doctor. The suspect posed as an internal medicine doctor and prescribed medicines to patients at various clinics in the Dakahlia and Gharbia Governorates since 1992.
The accused’s initials were reported as “M.E.H”; he is 60 years old and a resident of Munayat Samannoud village under the Aga administrative centre.
According to the reports, he had worked at three medical centres, including “Al-Mun’im” Centre in the city of Talkha, before moving to work at the Sharia Association in the village of Basat, and the Nahr Al-Khair Association in the village of Damira, affiliated with the Talkha Centre.
A professor from Mansoura University found discrepancies in the suspect’s prescription and later discovered that the man was not registered with the Egyptian Medical Syndicate.
The case came to light when Mansoura University’s professor, Dr. Rashfat Al Zankarni, read prescriptions that were brought to his clinic by his patients. The prescriptions were written by the suspect who had earlier treated the same patients.
According to the reports, the prescriptions contained combinations of medicines and a few pain-relieving injections; this made Dr. Zankarni question whether the doctor who prescribed them was qualified enough.
After reviewing university graduate records and the Egyptian Medical Syndicate's database, Al Zankarani found that the suspect lacked a recognised medical degree and was not a registered doctor. He then reported the matter to the proper authorities.
According to Dr. Ahmed Zahran, a member of the Egyptian Medical Syndicate's board, the registration number used by the suspect did not match his identity. An online search reportedly revealed that the number was registered under another person's name.
Subsequent police investigations, led by Major Hamdi Tablah of Talkha Police Station, found that the suspect was practising medicine without a recognised medical qualification.
The investigators found a copy of the forged medical practice certificate attributed to the suspect after he was arrested at a clinic in Damira Village.
The certificate was dated March 1, 1994 and titled as “Official Extract from the Register of Human Physicians - Ministry of Health”, in the name of Muhammad Ibrahim Hassan Al-Tahhan, and registered under number 114599. It also included his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree.
According to the case file, the certificate was signed by the Medical Licensing Department, with signatures from the Registry Officer, Reviewer, and Ministry Undersecretary.
According to Dr. Zankarni, the suspect never produced any physical proof of his qualifications when asked by the officials, and he never worked long enough at a single place for officials to discover his scam.
According to the investigators, the accused admitted to practising medicine and treating patients.
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According to Dr. Ahmed Zahran, a member of the Egyptian Medical Syndicate’s board, the suspect had previously worked as a Pharmacy Assistant before he started to treat patients as an internal medicine doctor.
The suspect never opened his own clinic, but rather worked in multiple small charitable medical clinics. Dr. Zahran said that the suspect was able to hide from the authorities for so long because of his frequent movement between facilities.
According to Dr. Zahran, the suspect also moved between villages and towns, using charitable medical facilities to offer free consultations or consultations at very low prices. This reportedly helped him gain public sympathy, with some people defending him despite the allegations against him.
He expressed surprise that several former patients defended the suspect on social media after his arrest, claiming their health had improved under his care.
Zahran emphasized that personal patient experiences do not prove whether someone holds valid medical credentials or is legally licensed to practice medicine.
The Egyptian Medical Syndicate provides an online facility that allows members of the public to verify a doctor's registration and speciality. Users can search for a doctor by name or registration number and check whether the doctor is registered and the speciality recorded against their name.
Patients and medical facilities can access the verification service through: https://ems.org.eg/
(Rh/ARC/MSM)