‘Doctor’ gets 12 months

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday February 11, 2010
A 45 year old man who posed as a medical doctor without any qualification in medicine has been sentenced to 12 months in hard labour by an Accra Circuit Court.

Joseph Prosper Gomashie owned an unlicensed medical facility called Safe Physician Clinic at Bakpa Avedo near Sogakope in the Volta Region from where he attended to patients illegally.

Luck run out for him when on January 12, he appeared on a popular private television station in Accra to advertise his clinic. This raised suspicion leading to the an investigation by the Ghana Medical and Dental Council (GMDC).

When he made his first appearance before the court presided over by D.E.K. Dzaketsey yesterday, Gomashie pleaded guilty to one count of false assumption of professional title but told the court he had an explanation for his actions.

When given the chance to explain himself, Gomashie said “I wanted to help my people”, and admitted he had no training in medicine but had pursued an on-line course and thought he could practice as a medical doctor.

The judge then told him that the court had found his explanation to be ‘unreasonable’ and thus handed down the sentence.

The court also ordered the confiscation and destruction of all medical equipment found in Gomashie’s possession.

Presenting the facts, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Paul Kissi Frimpong said on January 12, the television station carried a news item in which Gomashie posed as medical doctor treating patients at the Safe Physician Clinic.

He said the GMDC quickly investigated the clinic’s background and found out that it did not have any record with the council.

The prosecutor told the court that on February 5, Gomashie came to the council’s secretariat to register the clinic and it was detected he was not a medical doctor.

The case was then transferred to the police and during a search at Gomashie’s office the police retrieved medical equipment like the surgeon’s scissors, surgical blades and stethoscope.

The police also retrieved assorted drugs, patient records, prescription forms and laboratory request forms.

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