2. Dr. Jayant Patel
Greed doesn’t appear to be the motive for Dr. Patel’s crimes. You can chalk it up to sheer incompetence and failure to give proper care; incompetence so bad, that he was labeled as “Dr. E. Coli.” A total disregard for hygiene led to almost all his patients coming down with serious infections.
In one of his first roles in Buffalo, New York, Patel was cited for not examining patients before surgery and received a fine. Moving to Oregon in 1989, Patel failed to disclose his previous disciplinary actions.
Fleeing to Australia in 2003, he was appointed the Director of Surgery at the Bundaberg Base Hospital. He also ran a practice which was described as “antiquated.” Over the next two years, 87 patients in his care died. Following whistle-blowing and a journalist digging up the many patient claims of injury and death caused by the doctor’s care, Patel fled Australia.
Extradited back to face charges in 2008, he was tried in the Queensland Supreme Court for unlawful killing and causing grievous bodily harm. Though he pleaded not guilty, in June 2010, he was found guilty of all charges, banned from ever practicing medicine in Australia and sentenced to seven years in jail.
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