investigation opened in Montpellier for “illegal practice of medicine”

An investigation was opened in July to “illegal practice of medicine” against two people who posed as child psychiatrists on Doctolib, announced the Montpellier prosecutor’s office on Friday August 26, confirming information from France Inter.

A mother had filed a complaint in early July after having consulted, via the platform for making medical appointments, a fake child psychiatrist and her replacement in order to obtain a prescription for medication for her two children with a mental disorder. attention (ADHD), confirmed M^e Madeleine Archimbaud, the plaintiff’s lawyer, at Agence France-presse (AFP).

Investigation : Article reserved for our subscribers The all-consuming ambitions of Doctolib

“We put together this whole file because she really thought she was dealing with a real doctor, because she had gone through the Doctolib platform. We are not talking about a simple general practitioner but about a child psychiatrist, the facts are serious”she added.

The order of doctors “shocked” by the lack of control

The Council of the Order of Physicians of Hérault also lodged a complaint for “illegal practice of medicine”. And the platform, esteeming itself “victim of fraud”said on Friday that she also had “filed a complaint against X” July 22.

The two fake child psychiatrists would have provided consultations, before the platform stopped their subscription and deleted their profile in early July, explained the chairman of the board of the order of doctors of the Hérault, the D^r Philippe Cathala, to AFP.

“We were shocked by the lack of control of practitioners by Doctolib. They did, then, delete the profile and stop the subscription, but we are surprised by the registration process on this platform. It should be reinforced”insisted the D^r Philip Cathala.

250,000 referenced practitioners

Doctolib was also recently accused of refer naturopaths with questionable practices. Thursday, the platform announced that no more appointments could be made before verification of the right to practice is effective.

To do this, Doctolib has decided to remove the fifteen-day period which was previously granted to healthcare professionals so that newcomers can start making appointments before the opening of their practice. It was during this period that the two false child psychiatrists had been able to carry out consultations.

Since the creation of the site in 2013, out of nearly 250,000 referenced practitioners, the platform says it has been the victim on four occasions of individuals who have created false profiles by usurping in particular the identity of health professionals, the last two cases of fraud dating from June and August 2022.

“The general public must also have the reflex to go to the site of the council of the order where all the doctors who can practice are referenced. It is disappointing that a company like Doctolib, which knows this principle, does not do it automatically”lamented the D^r Cathala, noting that complaints against people using fake diplomas are commonplace.

The World with AFP