Medical certificates on sale: Doctors’ verdict on Sept 3

DT News Network

Manama

The verdict of two medical doctors embroiled in a corruption case will be delivered on September 3. They were accused of selling fake medical certificates to healthy people who want to skip work.

The Bahrainis, aged 26 and 34, were both serving at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) and were arrested after police tapped the 26-year-old's phone following a tip-off. 

The officers then contacted the orthopaedic surgeon, who agreed to sell a two-day sick note to an undercover agent for BD30 last December, according to court documents. He was arrested when the exchange took place near Al Ahli Club, in Zinj. He told prosecutors he did it due to his difficult financial situation.

"I usually issue fake medical certificates to my friends for BD20 or BD10. And one day I received a call from a stranger (the undercover officer), who requested me to issue a fake note to him. I accepted and asked him to pay BD15 for each day, meaning if he wanted to skip two working days he would have to pay BD30," the first doctor said in his statement.

"I went to my colleague (the second doctor) and I told him my friend needed a medical certificate but he couldn't come to hospital. So he signed and stamped it in good faith," he added.

Revealing the reasons behind his offence, he explained "I was in deep financial trouble, although I was netting BD1500 salary. Therefore, I resorted to accepting bribes in return for issuing forged sick notes.”

The second accused, who was a senior resident physician, confirmed in his statement he wasn't involved in the scheme and signed the notes in good faith. However, prosecutors have still charged him on grounds of forgery and abetting the first accused in his crime.