ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: IMAGINE being seriously ill and in dire need of medical attention. You finally find a doctor, only to realise later that you have been conned by a person who in actual fact does not have any real medical qualifications!
A. Sadhalectumy, 28, an interior designer shared an experience with one such medical practitioner when she was away from home to attend a wedding.
"I did not have my GP around as I am from Ipoh. Unable to tolerate the immense migraine that I was having, I decided to just go to a clinic located not too far from my hotel.
"The doctor, who looked pretty decent, examined me and asked me a few questions which I found irrelevant to my situation but I answered him anyways," she said.
Sadhalectumy said the questions ranged from her job to where she was from, but nothing about how she was feeling and whether it was a regular occurrence.
"I have changed my GP three times over the years and these were some of the questions they asked me when I went there complaining of severe headaches.
"This time I even told him I have a migraine and needed medication to ease the pain," she said adding that the doctor ccompletely ignored her words and prescribed some medicines.
She explained that when the nurse dispensed the medicines to her, she just took it without asking questions and paid RM200 for it.
"On the afternoon of the wedding, my uncle who is a doctor in Penang had arrived and when he saw me taking the medicines, he said 'you have gastric now,?' and examined the medicines I was taking.
"I was puzzled with his question for which he explained that those medication was for gastritis and can in no direct way aid migraine pain!" she said.
Her uncle warned that the medicines may be harmful for someone who is not actually diagnosed with gastritis.
Sadhalectumy said although she was upset with the situation, she was not able to go over to check with the clinic.
"Two weeks later, when I went to the area again, I walked into the clinic and asked for the doctor who had examined me, only to have the staff tell me that there was no such doctor.
"After I gave them more specific details though, the staff who seemed a little tensed eventually said that they rotate their doctors and have no track record of the person I had mentioned," said Sadhalectumy adding that she realised she was conned not only by the doctor but the clinic itself.
Ann (not her real name), a university student in Penang had a different experience altogether when she found out that her gynecologist was actually a conman trying to take advantage of women.
"I was told about the gynecologist by a neighbour, and she had told me that he was really good and always treated the patients well. His consultation fee was also by far the cheapest I came across," she said.
"When I first saw the name card and the address, I was a little skeptical, because it was located in a housing area, however I took my neighbour's word for it and went over anyways," she said.
Ann explained that the doctor's office though located in a house looked pretty legit because of the set up.
"The presence of a female receptionist and all the certificates of his which were hung in the waiting room wall also made me feel a little more confident.
"After changing into the gown upon the instructions of the receptionist, I lay there and he came in," she said adding that what she experienced after that with the doctor, could not be explained.
Ann disclosed that she was exploited and in an attempt to hide her embarrassment, kept the incident to herself.
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