UPDATED
NRI Doctor
found guilty of 'dishonest plagiarism' and suspended by GMC
London, 20 June 2008
Sarup Singh
NRI Dr. Raj Persaud, psychiatrist and broadcaster has been suspended
from practising for three months of passing off other scholars'
work as his own. He has been found guilty for his "dishonest
conduct" by the General Medical Council (GMC) of plagiarising
the work of colleagues.
The chairman of the GMC, Dr Anthony Morgan told media:
- The panel is of the view that you must have known that your
actions in allowing the work of others to be seen as though
it was your own would be considered dishonest by ordinary people.
The panel has therefore determined that your actions were dishonest.
- The panel has determined that a three-month period of suspension
is sufficient to send out a signal to you, the profession and
the public that plagiarism is unacceptable behaviour.
- The General Medical Council panel said it wanted to send a
message that his actions were "unacceptable", but
Dr Persaud said he was "saddened.
- Your misconduct occurred between three and five years ago
and there has been no evidence that you have repeated this type
of behaviour since.
Dr. Raj Persaud said:
- He accept that his use of the work of some authors lacked
adequate acknowledgement.
- He apologised repeatedly for this during the hearing, and
he apologise for this now
- He is saddened that this occurred while he was seeking to
promote the work of academics to the wider public.
- He had been "confused" because of the pressure of
work.
- He also admitted plagiarising four research papers for his
2003 book From the Edge of the Couch. He agreed copying the
work of two foreign academics in five articles he wrote for
publications including the British Medical Journal and the Independent.
Guardian.co.uk © Guardian News