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MEDICAL

Surgeon accused of faking operations

A surgeon at a private clinic in Gothenburg is suspecting of taking payment for operations which never took place.

Complicated procedures such as surgeries on varicose veins, the cutting of foreskin to relive patients suffering from phimosis, as well as the removal of sections of skin which had undergone changes, were all recorded in the charts of the doctor’s patients.

A large number of the stated operations were never done by the surgeon, claimed the National Board of Health and Welfare, which reported the doctor to the Medical Responsibility Board (HSAN) in Västra Götaland, which in turn reported him to the National Bureau of Economic Crimes, and to the prosecutor, who has now launched an investigation.

According to the original complaint, the doctor has overbilled society by 5.7 million kronor ($943,000).

The scam is said to have taken place over a five year period, according to the newspaper Metro.

Bo Andersson, a case worker at HSAN, said that the patients themselves have also paid too much for operations which never happened or in certain cases for more complicated procedures that what the patient actually needed.