Bahrain Medical Bulletin, Vol

On the 20 of June 2008 a renowned consultant psychiatrist and television personality in the United Kingdom, Dr. Raj Persaud, was found guilty by the General Medical Council (GMC) of bringing the medical profession into disrepute, which Persaud emphatically denied. The council came to the conclusion that Dr. Persaud's 'fitness to practice was impaired', and he was suspended from practicing for three-months. Although the duration of the suspension might be considered very short, we should keep in mind that the GMC in deciding on the period, after a 2-year investigation, took into account that there had been no patient harm; that his plagiarism was not financially motivated; that it did not relate to research fraud and that it was unlikely to be repeated. And what probably weighed in Persaud's favor was that he actually admitted to and repeatedly apologized for not acknowledging previously published works in his book, in addition to copying the work of two other authors in five articles he had published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), all of which were ultimately retracted by the editors. He eventually withdrew his book from the market, and resigned from his position to protect his colleagues from the ongoing controversy that dogged him.