For some reason, reading an account of the fellow who may soon be expelled from Congress (vote is today, I believe) for being a serial liar among other things, got me to thinking about
something kind of similar: those strange people who impersonate doctors, why they do it, and what makes them "tick."
They make the news every now and then, when they masquerade as real doctors, for whatever reason, and then get caught.
So, Why Do They Do It?
Various website opinions:
"These people are always seeking approval from others ... successful fake doctors all follow similar patterns: They'll restrict themselves to a couple of procedures or activities that other people won't necessarily determine that they're inept in, and gradually as they develop the bravado or the skill to pass themselves off more effectively, they might then move on to try things that are more ambitious."
"A common motivation is to impress family members, who had written them off as failures. But now they can claim to be successful physicians in front of their now-approving relatives."
" ... fake doctors fall into the same personality type as those who pose in other elite "hero" professions. "We see people who claim to be doctors, paramedics, war veterans, and lawyers ... What they tend to have in common is that they choose occupations which give them some form of prestige or recognition, a situation where they get positive feedback and validation for their (supposed) skills and abilities."
" ... in most cases they have personality difficulties. The technical term we use to describe them is 'fantasists'."How Common Are They?
" ... there is little apparent information on the incidence of physician impersonation ... (but) ... while infrequent, it does happen."
"Anecdotal cases of impersonation, however, do appear periodically in the news."From:
https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/how-easy-is-it-to-impersonate-a-doctor/415174/BTW, this article also mentions that
" ... the most common forms (of) healthcare fraud (turn out) to be fraudulent billing, billing for services that were not medically necessary, falsification of records to support fraud schemes, kickbacks to participants in fraud schemes, and fraudulently obtaining controlled substances or misbranding prescription drugs."Their Typical Pattern of Behavior
"Honestly, faking a medical degree appears almost ludicrously easy if you've got the bravado to pull it off. The whole gig appears to mostly involve buying a stethoscope and ordering business cards with your name on them, followed by the initials "M.D". From there, you're basically home free—and if the strange history of people pretending to be doctors has anything to teach us, it's that sick people are often gullible as well."
"Often they steal the identity of a real doctor, and the resulting confusion this can create enables them to avoid detection for some time."
"It also becomes apparent that, like all con artists, fake doctors tend to prey upon society's most vulnerable people—and that is partly how they evade detection for so long."
"In some situations, con artists will work in small ethnic or minority communities with non-English speaking patients, to exploit that vulnerability."
"Their fake medical credentials are often appearing to come from a foreign country. This may actually not be a problem, as some good, legitimate doctors do come here from other countries, and their documentation is of course going to be foreign. But if a doctor's credentials are all from another country, especially one where it is difficult to verify them, then a red flag should go up." How Do They Usually Get Caught?
"Although medical boards encourage new patients to check whether their doctor is a registered medical practitioner, (and) the web has resources for doing this, it's far from common practice. In many situations, you expect another person has checked for you ... If you see someone in a hospital wearing a white coat, the assumption is that they've therefore been approved by someone else."But one can also look for suspicious signs, such as (from websites):
"Beware of those who promise immediate and complete cures for maladies or conditions that are commonly known to require extensive and long-term treatment. Heed the old saying: If someone is promising something that sounds too good to be true, it probably is, so be suspicious."
"Be concerned if the subject of payment for services keeps coming up, is emphasized even more than treatment, and seems exorbitant."
"If the person claiming to be the right doctor for you rails against accepted medical practices, such as vaccines, surgery, and even things like diet and exercise, then it's probably time to suspect that doctor."What Is a Typical Punishment?
From a legal website:
"Laws vary by state, but practicing medicine without a license is illegal in all states. Common sentences range from one to eight years in prison, depending on whether it's a misdemeanor or felony offense. Many judges will also impose fines in addition to prison sentences." (Another legal website mentioned a fine of something like $25,000 as "typical.")
That's on the criminal front. On the civil front,
"Anyone harmed by a person practicing medicine without a license may sue for damages in civil court. Again, laws vary by state, but as a general proposition, a person practicing medicine without a license will be liable for just about any foreseeable injury that results from the misconduct."
"The lack of a license will raise a presumption that the care was negligent. In the context of a medical malpractice case, it can be powerful proof of medical negligence."
"Finally, if a person is knowingly practicing medicine without a license, and a "patient" is injured as a result, that can be enough to justify punitive damages. A judge and jury might find that the unauthorized practice was so offensive that the offender could have to compensate the victim not just for the actual harm caused, but also to pay additional penalties for intentionally deceiving the victim. This is akin to what might happen in a civil fraud case."In Summary
Fortunately, it would seem, as stated in articles I saw and as noted above, that patient encounters with such fraudsters are uncommon.
But I also read that tragedy can occur when, occasionally in some of those uncommon cases, an inept impersonator attempts a "treatment" that results in the death of an unsuspecting "patient." The web provides examples of that happening, and the severe consequences that the perpetrator subsequently suffered. Injection of a substance supposedly to induce weight loss or for cosmetic purposes, but which then turns deadly, seems to be a common instance of this.
But we can take comfort that the vast majority of doctors at work out there are legit, capable and dependable, and the odds of encountering such impersonators are low.