Just another reason for that apple a day, in hopes to keep the (fake) doctors away.
Pretending to be a professional has become a much-talked about topic with the rise of many references in pop-culture.
Unfortunately, no longer the subject of a TV show or movie, a man has recently been found to have been impersonating a doctor for over 11 years, working as a junior doctor in hospitals in Manly, Wyong, Gosford and Hornsby. The man, posing under the name Shyam Acharya allegedly took the name of another man in India before arriving in Australia to begin his new-found career in the field of Medicine. This was unbeknownst to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency for the past 11 years. It is alleged he was able to gain registration in Australia by using forged documents of another doctor in India. Acharya went on to practice until November of 2016 when the AHPRA then began to investigate him for “falsely holding himself out as a registered medical practitioner.”
Mr Acharya has now been charged under s 116 of the Health Practitioner National Regulation Law (NSW), which makes it an offence to use a title that could make others believe you are a registered medical professional.
As a junior doctor, Acharya would have had work under the supervision of other doctors, meaning there was no immediate danger to patients as such. However, there has been an incident in which the “adequacy of the treatment” was questioned.
Regardless, all patients that were in contact with Acharya have been notified.
Acharya has now believed to have fled the country and the NSW government has released a passport photo of the man in question.
If you were a patient of Mr Acharya, have concerns relating to a medical negligence issue or would like to know more, please do not hesitate to contact us on 02 8917 8700.