Doctor ‘scared parents’ into paying for cancer care
AN NHS doctor falsely diagnosed children with cancer to try to scare parents into paying for private treatment, a watchdog has ruled.
Dr Mina Chowdhury, 44, was found to have created “an unwarranted sense of concern” before recommending treatment linked to his private medical company in Glasgow.
He frightened three sets of parents into paying for private scans and tests offered by Meras Healthcare, telling one mother that her daughter had a stomach tumour that could spread if left untreated, before refusing to refer her to the NHS.
Two other children were given false diagnoses and recommended scans and tests linked to the firm where he was a managing director.
The paediatrician worked for the NHS in Forth Valley, central Scotland, but the allegations related to his private work between March 2017 and August
‘I was blown away that my daughter had cancer. When I asked him to refer me back to the NHS, he refused’
2017. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service ruled that his actions were “financially motivated and dishonest” and a panel will now consider his fitness to practise.
Dr Chowdhury avoided referring the children to the local NHS paediatric oncology department for further investigation by warning parents of long waiting times, suggesting certain equipment was not available and altering medical notes.
One mother, called Parent A during the hearing, said the doctor asked her child to leave the room before saying: “We are going to talk about the C word.” The parent added: “I was blown away that my daughter had cancer.
“When I asked him to refer me back to the NHS, he refused … so I didn’t think it was an option to get tests done by the NHS.”
But when Parent A took her daughter to hospital, doctors were unable to find any sign of cancer. Dr Chowdhury denied telling the woman her daughter had cancer but admitted that he said it was a low possibility.
The hearing was told on Tuesday that his business had been operating at a loss and was under financial pressure.