A husband and wife hoodwinked patients, including
A husband and wife hoodwinked patients, including an under-weight schoolgirl and an epileptic, into buying banned anti-obesity drugs, the GMC heard today.
(Mon)
Dr Surendra Raizada and wife Dr Sudesh Madan toured beauty parlours and hairdressers around the northwest looking for gullible dieters.
The couple of (4) Briars Close, Rainhill, Prescot, gave out the illegal slimming drug Duromine to customers and even sold it from the back of their car, the GMC was told.
The drug can legally be prescribed for clinically obese patients with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 30.
But eight of the 10 patients were under the threshold.
Duromine was withdrawn from use in April 2000 but the doctors allegedly put nine customers on a course of the banned tablets.
And during clinics it is claimed the pair neglected to properly examine patients an failed to give adequate advice on diet and exercise – or tell them of any side effects.
David Enoch, for the GMC, said: ‘Dr Madan did not care what the BMI of her patients was.
‘She prescribed the pills whatever the BMI was and these clinics were essentially a money making scheme.
‘The allegations prove the state of her mind and the recklessness of her approach.
‘
Dr Madan is charged with 175 counts of serious professional misconduct including breaching a patient’s confidentiality by having her son present during a consultation.
She is also charged with wrongly giving the pills to a patient suffering from depression.
That patient later suffered a heart attack.
Dr Raizada, who is not a trained dietician, is charged with 38 counts of serious professional misconduct including prescribing the drug to an underweight 15-year-old girl.
It is also claimed Dr Raizada lost one of his patient’s notes.
The charges relate to clinics held between November 16, 1998 to June 8, 2000 in areas across the northeast including Warrington, Chester, Blackburn, Stanney and Rhyl.
Mr Enoch is expected to open the case for the GMC in full this afternoon.
ends
