Bad Practice

Across Europe, doctors banned for serious medical malpractice and crimes such as sexual assault are able to keep practising by moving abroad.

A Times investigation has found 22 professionals subject to restrictions overseas have no record of any sanctions on their General Medical Council licences.

A botched surgeon who lost his license to practice in Norway is allowed to continue operating here: this is by no means an isolated case.

The 'Bad Practice' investigation shows how doctors sanctioned for malpractice find refuge to continue practicing elsewhere, including Spain.

A Slovenian surgeon lost his license in Queensland for two years for having an intimate relationship with a patient, but renewed it in Slovenia while still under investigation.

In Cyprus, a doctor whose medical licenses were revoked in Sweden and Norway, is practicing at a Larnaca clinic.

Some complaints alleging mistreatment by doctors in Malta have remained under investigation for over a decade.

Sexual abuse, negligent treatment, mutilated patients – doctors who have lost their licenses for such offenses easily migrate and continue to work in other countries. Some have landed in Lithuania as well.

VG can reveal that at least 23 doctors can still work in Norway, despite being stripped of their local medical authorization in other countries.

We found several Hungarian doctors who are unable to work abroad due to professional or ethical misconduct, but are still practicing at home.

Hundreds of doctors continue to practice despite being banned in other countries.

A Romanian doctor struck off the UK medical register now works at the Emergency Hospital in Cluj-Napoca.

Doctors convicted of rape, drug dealing, manslaughter, and patient injury are moving abroad and escaping sanctions.

Even though their licenses have been revoked in one or more countries for serious violations ​​more than a hundred doctors continue to work in other countries.

Journalists from across Europe have identified over a hundred doctors who continue to practice despite being banned in another country.

“His work as a doctor would seriously endanger the health of patients.” But being barred from practicing medicine in Finland did not prevent this doctor from continuing to work in Estonia.

Doctors who have lost their license to practice can often still work in another country, even if patients have been harmed. A warning system has failed.

There are more than 30 licensed physicians working in Germany who have already lost their licenses in other countries due to medical malpractice or criminal offenses. Why?

More than 100 physicians who have lost their licenses continue to practice in other countries. Switzerland is particularly at risk, with serious cases occurring.

Doctors who are professionally sanctioned overseas, including for sexual misconduct and patient harm, are able to retain their Irish licences without the public being aware of their offences.

Doctors who have lost their license in another European country after serious incidents, such as poor medical practice or sexual abuse, can still see patients here.

Physicians whose licenses have been revoked or suspended for serious violations can easily re-enter practice in other countries. Information sharing is weak and oversight is inadequate.

More than 30 physicians who had their licenses revoked abroad for billing fraud, medical malpractice, or sexual abuse can continue working in Germany without interference.

Over the past 15 years, 1,605 doctors in Belgium have received disciplinary sanctions, but patients don't know who is involved or how serious the facts are.

In Slovenia, patients have several options for resolving disputes with doctors that have behaved inappropriately towards them.

Identification requirements to obtain a medical licence from the GMC were relaxed during the pandemic, but years later at least 341 physicians remain unverified.

Greece never updates the European information system about sanctioned doctors, leaving patients in the dark.

Doctors who have lost their licenses in Europe can easily come to Iceland to get their medical licenses issued. The problem is global, but the public is rarely made aware.

The European alarm system that was supposed to prevent failing doctors from working elsewhere is not working.

There are at least four cases of a doctor disqualified in the United Kingdom who has subsequently treated patients in Spain.

A doctor that Swedish Yle previously investigated sold fake COVID certificates and changed his name to continue practicing, before finally being caught.

An international investigation uncovers systematic abuses in the enforcement of professional bans in medicine, including in Luxembourg.

More than 100 doctors banned from practising medicine in one jurisdiction – now licensed to practise elsewhere – are 'tip of the iceberg.'

At least 14 people struck off for serious misconduct in Great Britain and Scandinavia work undisturbed in our clinics and hospitals.

More than a hundred doctors banned from practicing in one European country for serious violations continue to work in another, including at least two in Latvia.

Failed warning systems, complacent officials, and a lack of accountability mean doctors who have lost their medical licenses can relocate and practice across Europe and beyond.

Michelle Haga took her four children to see a doctor who was convicted of child pornography in Sweden.