Tyneside sex pills doc is taken off the register

Aug 1 2010 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

AN INQUIRY into a doctor who claimed a patient was impotent so he could collect sex treatment tablets himself has been halted, the Sunday Sun has learned.

Dr Mohan Tharakan, 62, wrote statements in a man’s medical notes claiming he had “erectile dysfunction” even though he had only seen the doctor about a cough.

But the 62-year-old didn’t attend a single day of a General Medical Council (GMC) hearing in Manchester – set in motion to investigate claims of misconduct – and asked the board to erase him from the register.

A representative for the 62-year-old doctor sent the GMC a letter, telling the panel he had no intention of practising medicine again, having informally retired more than two years ago.

And now the GMC has opted to accept his request and has voluntarily erased him from the medical register, also ending the two-week hearing into several allegations.

A statement released by the GMC said: “The panel has determined to accept Dr Tharakan’s application for voluntary erasure.

“The panel considers that the maintenance and promotion of public confidence in the medical profession and public confidence in the GMC’s performance of its statutory functions has been achieved. That concludes this case.”

The GMC admitted to pressing ahead with the inquiry, despite receiving a request from Mr Tharakan to remove him from the register before it got underway.