GP suspended for 'fabricated' whiplash report

A doctor who “fabricated” a medical report so a relative could make a false whiplash claim has been suspended for six months.

Dr Anthony Kaufman, a general practitioner, did not examine his stepdaughter’s fiancé before sending a fraudulent document to solicitors for use in a civil claim, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service heard.

The doctor knowingly “fabricated” Max Turbett’s injuries, falsely claiming a car accident had affected his work, social and family life, a fitness-to-practise panel found.

10,000 reports

Dr Kaufman has produced more than 10,000 reports for use in personal injury claims and also provided his services for Chester-based Countrywide Doctors’ Services, formed by wife Pauline in 2011.

A tribunal heard that Mrs Kaufman persuaded Turbett to make a claim following a car crash, in which he sustained minor injuries.

The former Royal Marine was never examined, but the doctor fabricated injuries and ongoing effects of the accident before sending the form to Hampson Hughes solicitors, the panel said.

Turbett dropped the claim in April 2012 and alerted the General Medical Council following a family bust-up, the tribunal heard.

‘Urgent requirement’

Commenting on the case, Paul Holmes, partner at law firm DWF, said: “Given the panel’s findings - in particular, that it considered there was a risk that Dr Kaufman could ‘repeat this behaviour’ and that it had seen ‘no evidence of remediation’- then it may be prudent to consider all [of his medical] reports carefully.”

Holmes said the case highlighted the “urgent requirement for independently certified medical panels”.

“[It’s] important that it is done correctly and that there is an adequate system whereby compensators have the ability to confidentially report concerns and these concerns will be investigated. Otherwise certification could be misused by the unscrupulous as a rubber stamp for quality and integrity, as we have seen in the past with Ministry of Justice claims management regulation.”

Suspension

Dr Kaufman had claimed that he had conducted a physical exam in Turbett’s home, in Wimborne, Dorset and the information on the report was accurate.

But the fitness-to-practise panel, chaired by Dr William Coppola, found he had dishonestly prepared the report and his actions amounted to serious misconduct.

Dr Kaufman could have been struck off, but the panel suspended him for six months after hearing from defence barrister Nicholas Peacock that he acted on the instigation of his wife.

Dr Kaufman has 28 days to appeal his suspension.