[ 2016-05-30 ]

Adams Arimeyaw, the quack doctor

Fake doctor arrested after practising for 20 years
A quack doctor, believed to have practised for
more than two decades without a licence and a
certificate, has been arrested at Madina, near
Accra, where he operated a healthcare facility
from a compound house.

The fake doctor, who gave his name as Dr Adams
Arimeyaw and is believed to be in his mid-50s, was
operating the healthcare facility, ‘Covenant
Clinic,” in unhygienic conditions which posed a
health risk to his clients.

He was arrested during a special exercise by the
Medical and Dental Council’s investigative team,
with the assistance of the Madina Divisional
Police.

For the past one month, the team has been
visiting a number of heath facilities in Accra.

Arimeyaw reportedly claimed he was trained in
Europe but could not mention the particular
medical school he attended, the country where it
is located and was also inconsistent with the year
he graduated.

Items found

Apart from operating as the medical officer in
charge of the clinic, Arimeyaw also acted as a
pharmacist and laboratory technician.
Additionally, he could not produce the two nurses
he claimed assisted him with his work.

A search conducted at the facility revealed that
medicines were not properly kept and some of them
did not have labels.

The team also found a large quantity of pregnancy
test kits and hundreds of used and unused syringes
and needles in one of the rooms.

Additionally, it was revealed he boiled water
with a kettle on a gas cylinder
and used that as a sterilizer.

Three cubicles with the inscription ‘recovery
room’ had six beds which looked like delivery
beds and four broken-down wheelchairs.

Folders believed to contain the records of
patients who patronised the clinic’s services
were inappropriately kept.

Unkempt condition

Confirming the arrest of the alleged quack
doctor, the Registrar of the Ghana Medical and
Dental Council, Dr Eli Kwasi Atikpui, said the
suspect was arrested last Thursday and handed over
to the Accra Regional Police Command.

He also said apart from the insanitary conditions
at the clinic, the doctor could not produce any
certificates to back his claim that he was a
certified medical practitioner.

The clinic has, therefore, been locked up and the
keys handed over to the police.

Dr Atikpui said during interrogation, it was
found that the suspect did not even know about the
existence of the regulatory body.

“I am amazed people could walk into such a
facility to receive health care,” he said, and
advised the public to assess the environments of
the health facilities they patronised.

He explained that the exercise was not only meant
to expose and arrest quack doctors, but also aimed
at arresting medical practitioners who had not
renewed their registration with the council over
the years.

Dr Atikpui said the special exercise would be
completed in Accra by July 2016 and replicated in
the other regions.

He appealed to corporate organisations to assist
the investigative team with logistics to enable it
to rid the system of the quacks.

A police source told the Daily Graphic that
investigations were ongoing and that the suspect
would be arraigned soon.

Source - Daily Graphic

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