The head of Liberia’s doctors’ association has been banned from practising medicine after a regulatory body said it did not have evidence of his initial medical degree.
As part of a qualifications audit, the Liberia Medical and Dental Council (LMDC) asked Peter Matthew George to provide his professional certificates.
In April, the LMDC told Dr George that it had revoked his license as he had not given satisfactory proof he had graduated in medicine from the UK’s University of Hertfordshire as, it said, he had been claiming.
Dr George has disputed the LMDC’s findings. He told the BBC there was a “bias” against him because of his advocacy in a row between doctors and the government.
In a letter to Dr George explaining its decision, the LMDC said he had not provided an actual certificate of his qualification from the University of Hertfordshire but instead sent an “award verification letter” which said he had “obtained an MD”.
The LMDC pointed out that “MD” is a qualification acquired in the US and not the UK.
Furthermore, the LMDC said “of utmost concern is that investigation showed that the only University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom does not currently offer a medical degree”.
The university told the BBC that “following a thorough review of our academic records, we can confirm that there is no evidence that this individual was ever awarded any degree by the University nor studied here. Any claim to the contrary is therefore false and constitutes a misrepresentation of our institution.
“We are cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities in Liberia and will continue to support any investigations as required.”
In his education record on LinkedIn, Dr George said he had studied for a “professional doctorate in medicine MD, general medicine” at Hertfordshire between 2010 and 2014. His LinkedIn page has since been taken down.
But in an email to the BBC, Dr George said his primary medical degree was not from the British university. “I never told anyone so. Those are make-up stories,” he wrote.
Asked why he had mentioned the University of Hertfordshire, he said: “Maybe I made an error when writing because am under pressure.”
Instead, he said his initial medical degree was from the University of Central Nicaragua.
He said that since starting practising medicine in Liberia in 2014, and providing his qualifications to the authorities at the time, no-one had raised an issue with his work.
In fact, he said, he had been promoted and praised for improving the medical facilities at the Chief Jallah Lone Government Hospital in Gbarpolu county.
“I have served the Liberian health sector diligently for over a decade with no record of misconduct,” he said.
Dr George argued that problems began to arise after he became the president of the Liberia Medical and Dental Association (LMDA) in December last year.
He said he was continuing “the long-standing advocacy for the rights and welfare of doctors and dentists in the country” and said hostility against him began after the LMDA raised issues with the “reclassification of all government-employed specialists and consultants”.
The news that he had been barred from the profession has only just emerged as Dr George was given 15 working days to respond. The medical council said it did not receive a response.
In a statement, the LMDA said it had now “nullified” his presidency and that he was no longer a member of the association.