'Dishonest' doctor struck off following tribunal

A "dishonest" doctor who illegally prescribed drugs and performed surgery without a patient's consent after being suspended by a health watchdog has been struck off.

Joseph Onwude was found guilty at Ipswich Magistrates' Court in March 2024 of inserting an HRT implant into a patient while not holding a licence to practise.

He also issued prescriptions to four patients while working in Luton and Ipswich in 2022, despite not being permitted to do so.

Following a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing, Onwude was removed from the profession after his conduct was deemed to be "unacceptable".

The panel heard the consultant gynaecologist had prescribed anti-viral medication to two patients in March 2022 without assessing them or obtaining their medical history, nor having a licence to practise.

Onwude, who qualified in 1981 from a university in Nigeria, also "diminished the importance" of another patient's HRT medication when he referred to it as "Smarties".

According to the MPTS, in April 2022 he disclosed the addresses and appointment details of patients in a text he sent to a different patient.

In the same month, he injected a patient in Badwell Ash, near Bury St Edmunds, with an HRT implant without obtaining their consent.

Onwude was later convicted by magistrates for performing the surgery and administering the medication while not holding a licence.

He appealed against the conviction at Ipswich Crown Court but the appeal was dismissed and he was ordered to pay £1,200 in compensation and a fine of £180.

'Risk to the public'

In November 2022, meanwhile, he prescribed a fifth patient with medication despite not holding a licence to practise and having been banned by the General Medical Council.

When a pharmacy told him he could not legally do so, he argued that he could and that he would tell his patient to go elsewhere to get it.

The MPTS removed Onwude from the register after concluding there was a high risk he could reoffend, stating he "remained a risk to the public".