Court orders hospital to produce Obengfo to stand trial

The embattled plastic surgeon, Dr Dominic Obeng-Andoh, aka Obengfo, will now have to occasionally trade his hospital bed for the courtroom to stand trial for practising without licence.

This is because the Accra Circuit Court on Tuesday ordered the Medical Director of the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge) to produce the medical officer to stand trial.

Dr Obeng-Andoh, who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Advanced Body Sculpt Centre, also known as the Obengfo Hospital, was charged with practising medicine without licence and operating an unlicensed medical facility.

He was slapped with the charges just three days after he had been remanded by the Accra Central District Court for the alleged murder of Ms Stacy Offei Darko, a Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the National Entrepreneurship Innovation Plan (NEIP).

Ms Darko died while on admission at the Obengfo Hospital on May 21, 2018 after undergoing a surgery allegedly performed by Dr Obeng-Andoh.

The medical officer was expected to appear before the Accra Circuit Court last Friday but failed to turn up because he was on admission at the Ridge Hospital.

Court order

At yesterday’s hearing, Dr Obeng-Andoh was once again missing in action.

The prosecutor, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr Stephen Adjei, presented a medical report which revealed that Dr Obeng-Andoh was sick and there was the need to conduct further tests on him.

The medical report, however, stated that Dr Obeng-Andoh could appear before the court but only in the company of a physician.

Based on the medical report, DSP Adjei filed an application praying the court to order the Ridge Hospital to produce Dr Obeng-Andoh to stand trial.

The court, presided over by Mrs Harriet Jane Akwele Quaye, granted the prosecution’s application.

Hearing continues on June 8, 2018.

No licence

According to the facts of the case, in July 2015, investigations by the Medical and Dental Council (MDC) revealed that Dr Obeng-Andoh had failed to renew his annual registration to practise since 2013.

The MDC, after further investigations, reported the matter to the police, and on December 20, 2016 the police went to the Obengfo Hospital to arrest Dr Obeng-Andoh.

“The police met him in the process of performing certain medical procedures on someone. Further investigations revealed that Dr Obeng-Andoh also failed to license his health facility, as required by law,” the facts indicated.

Trial on hold

Dr Obeng-Andoh was charged with the offences and was expected to appear before the Accra Circuit Court on February 7, 2017, but he petitioned the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to review the investigations against him.

Based on that, the facts stated, the court process was temporarily suspended and the case docket was forwarded to the Attorney-General’s Department for advice.

The facts explained that the A-G gave its response on May 8, 2018, with a legal advice that all the charges levelled against Dr Obeng-Andoh be maintained and he should also be arraigned.

It was on that basis that the case was sent to court.