Catching phony physicians: Those masquerading in medicine sometimes injure patients

A surprising number of people aren't doctors but play them in offices and clinics around the country. And we don't mean on TV.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. Aug. 23/30, 2004.

The great pretender went by many names. Gerald C. Barnes. "Doc" Barnes. Jerald Charles Barnes. Jerry Donald Barnes. Jerald Barnbaum. Gerald Birnbaum.

For more than 20 years, the man posed as a doctor, even though he didn't have a medical degree. He used copies of school records and medical credentials of a real physician, California surgeon Gerald C. Barnes, MD, to land jobs at clinics in Southern California. At a Los Angeles clinic, he conducted physicals on FBI agents who had no idea he was an imposter.

In 1981, he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter after a misdiagnosed patient died from diabetes complications. Each time he was convicted of impersonating a physician and served prison time, he somehow wiggled his way back to practicing medicine.

Barnes, 71, no longer poses as a physician. U.S. marshals caught him, and he is now in a federal prison, serving his fifth conviction for impersonating a doctor.

There are scores of other pretenders like Barnes who practice medicine without a license. Law enforcement officials are not sure how many they number, but there are enough to pose a serious threat to the public.

These phony doctors set up shop in offices -- occasionally working with real physicians who know the imposters do not have legitimate medical licenses -- or trick clinics into believing they are the real thing when they present fake credentials for employment. Others see patients in makeshift home offices in communities where visiting a doctor at home is culturally accepted.