Alleged fake doctor left patients suffering full body rashes, blurry vision and extreme fatigue
A GOLD Coast man allegedly posed as a psychologist and prescribed medication which allegedly left some patients with full body rashes, blurry vision and extreme fatigue, a court has heard.
Crime and Court
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A GOLD Coast man allegedly posed as a psychologist and prescribed medication which allegedly left some patients with full body rashes, blurry vision and extreme fatigue, a court has heard.
It is alleged Vincent Victor Berg faked qualifications from Russia and prescribed medication which gave serious side effects.
In one patient it is alleged Berg did not stop the medication when he started experiencing blurred vision and sore eyes.
Another was allegedly left with a full body rash for about two weeks.
Berg, a Russian refugee, yesterday pleaded not guilty in Southport District Court to 14 charges including grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning bodily harm and fraud relating to incidents between May 1999 and April 2003.
Crown prosecutor Judith Geary told the jury this afternoon Berg fooled administrators at Gold Coast Health in 1999 that he had the qualifications to act as an observer.
She said he did not treat patients on the Gold Coast but later that year started work in Townsville working from four hospitals, including in Kirwan, Cambridge, Charters Towers and Townsville.
It was during that time he allegedly prescribed medication to four different patients which left them with damaging side effects.
Mr Geary said one complained of vomiting and extreme fatigue to their GP who took them off the medication.
She said another had blurred vision and sore eyes while a third was left with a full body rash for two weeks.
“He didn’t have the tertiary medical training he purported to have,” Mr Geary said.
The court heard Berg claimed to have qualifications for Voronezh State University from between 1969 and 1977.
Russian Tatiana Terekhova, a former employee of Voronezh State University, told the court she searched the university’s records for Berg.
She said she could not find records of him being a student at the university.
Ms Terekhova also said during that period the university did not have a medical faculty.
The court also heard when Berg applied for refugee status in 1992 he claimed to have a degree in mathematics and did not mention a medical or psychology degree.
The trial continues tomorrow and is expected to run for three weeks.
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