Fake Doctor Tells Patients They Have Brain Cancer, Heart Failure

Published: April 18, 2011

MONTREAL — McGill University Health Center (MUHC) is reviewing its security procedures after a woman was able to impersonate a doctor and give false diagnoses to two patients on April 10. She was detained by security guards after telling a patient she required heart surgery, but for reasons that are unclear, was released shortly thereafter.

The woman, who was not wearing a hospital ID badge, entered the emergency room at Montreal General Hospital with a stethoscope around her neck, The Montreal Gazette reports. She was carrying what appeared to be patient files.

The woman was able to elude hospital security and give a patient a fake brain cancer diagnosis. The patient alerted hospital staff but they were unable to apprehend the woman before she left the facility. Later that day, the woman entered the cardiology department of Royal Victoria Hospital and told another patient that she required open heart surgery. On that occasion, she was questioned by security guards but ultimately released.

Two days later, the MUHC posted a memo to all hospital staff with a picture of the woman. According to the chief of security, Benoît Lalonde, the woman was posing as a medical resident in cardiology and had been seen at the MUHC since the previous week.

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An internal review is taking place to determine how the woman was able to infiltrate the facilities so easily and why the security guards released her.

Read the full story.

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