Unlicensed medical professionals, citizens must stay alert

He examined patients and performed some limited surgeries. He is a doctor who initially specialized in urology. Still, he practiced the profession generally and examined various cases broader than his specialization.

In his home or clinic, which was raided by the State Security Agency, accompanied by a doctor of the Ministry of Health in Bekaa, about two weeks ago, the agency found smuggled medicines, surgical instruments, and other equipment.

 Inspection of the place indicates the absence of the most basic standards of hygiene and sterilization and the lack of technical, medical, and health conditions necessary for patient safety.

The non-fulfillment of these conditions is the practical danger of such a doctor to Lebanese, Syrian, and other patients. He is a doctor working in violation of the law without a license.

Another case was recently reported in the Bekaa Valley.

With the suffocating crisis and the increase in the number of displaced Syrians, charitable clinics resort to hiring Syrian doctors who enter secretly and illegally.

In a charitable center in Qab Elias, the director is Lebanese. Yet, State security officers have arrested two Syrian doctors who work illegally.

The Public Prosecution Office in the Bekaa released them after signing a pledge not to practice the medical profession until after obtaining licenses. The center’s director also signed a pledge stating that he would not hire non-Lebanese doctors in a way that violates the laws.