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Raj Persaud under investigation

04.12.07

TV psychiatrist and author Raj Persaud is to go before a General Medical Council panel hearing to decide if he should continue to practise, according to the Guardian.

The consultant, who presents Radio 4's "All In The Mind" and is a regular on Channel 4's "Richard & Judy", has been called to answer charges of plagiarism before a "fitness to practice" panel which has the power to strike a doctor off the GMC register.

In a letter to a member of the public who complained about Persaud, a GMC investigations officer explained why the inquiry was necessary, saying: "The allegation raises issues of probity, and any incidence of dishonesty in a professional context is a serious matter that could affect the doctor's registration." The letter dated November 13 said the GMC had received complaints from several sources.

"There is a genuine possibility that in copying extensively from other authors without adequate acknowledgement, he acted dishonestly and there is, therefore, a realistic prospect of establishing that the doctor's fitness to practise is sufficiently impaired to justify action on registration," said the officer. The letter made it clear there is no suggestion Persaud attempted to pass off research of others as his; rather, it is alleged he wrote about research, copying the researchers' words, and failed to give the necessary attribution."

Guardian

Media Channel 4 Richard & Judy Raj Persaud

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