**Title: Doctors Move Across Borders to Escape Disciplinary Actions**

In 2018, family physician Ken Shafquat Intikhab Abrahim faced serious repercussions from Florida’s medical board. He was reprimanded and prohibited from prescribing certain medications after being accused of providing patients with potentially lethal doses of addictive drugs. Just four months later, North Carolina’s medical board reprimanded him for failing to disclose the Florida reprimand during his application process. By December of that year, Abrahim surrendered his medical license in New York after officials discovered his prescription issues in Florida and noted his failure to disclose this information when renewing his license.

Abrahim also holds a medical license in Ontario, Canada. Medical regulators there first learned of his Florida reprimand in 2018, but it took nearly four years for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) to take action. In 2021, a disciplinary panel found that Abrahim had failed to disclose the pending Florida complaint for six years on his annual license registration forms in Ontario. He received a reprimand, a two-month suspension, and was ordered to complete training in medical ethics and professionalism.

Despite these issues, Abrahim is currently practicing in Niagara Falls, Ontario, with no restrictions on his license, even though he remains banned from prescribing certain medications in Florida. Abrahim has denied the allegations from Florida, stating that the medications were prescribed for legitimate medical reasons due to patients' pre-existing conditions. He described the media inquiries as “blanket statements” that misrepresented the context of his actions.

Abrahim’s situation is not isolated. An international investigation involving 48 media partners across 46 countries has revealed that many doctors with troubling disciplinary histories have relocated to new jurisdictions without restrictions or public warnings. This investigation, led by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), uncovered over 100 doctors who are currently banned from practicing in one or more jurisdictions but are licensed elsewhere. Many of these doctors have histories of serious offenses, including sexual assault, botched medical treatments, and performing procedures without consent.

The investigation highlighted the challenges in tracking these physicians due to a lack of comprehensive data. Reporters gathered over 2.5 million records to create a database that traces sanctioned or banned doctors practicing in different countries. The findings raise significant concerns about how physicians with serious offenses can easily resume their careers in new locations, often relying on an honor system that depends on self-disclosure of past disciplinary actions.

Some alarming cases were uncovered during the investigation. In the United Kingdom, a Romanian doctor was banned in 2024 for multiple instances of sexual predation, where he subjected patients to invasive procedures for his own gratification. After being banned, he relocated to Romania and continues to practice there. Gary Walker, an attorney representing over 40 of the doctor’s victims, expressed concern, stating, "It is shocking and deeply upsetting for those affected by his actions, to learn that he is allowed to treat patients in Romania, and deeply worrying that those patients in Romania are now at risk."

Another case involved a German doctor who performed major orthopedic surgeries in Norway without proper certification or experience, leading to severe complications for patients. Despite warnings from Norwegian authorities, he remains licensed in Germany and continues to work at a clinic.

In a particularly troubling case, a cosmetic surgeon in the UK was found to have inserted breast implants into a patient against her express wishes. The tribunal noted that the surgeon's behavior was sexually motivated, yet he is now practicing in Spain.

In Canada, the Investigative Journalism Bureau compared physician registrations across nine provinces and territories with disciplinary lists from various countries. They found numerous doctors who had been suspended or reprimanded for serious offenses, including sexual harassment and overprescribing dangerous drugs. Many of these doctors faced minimal obstacles when relocating to new jurisdictions.

Paul Whiteing, CEO of the UK patient safety organization Action Against Medical Accidents, emphasized the need for better regulatory systems, stating, "Public trust in the regulation of medical staff is vital and it is deeply worrying that some doctors are managing to move country and continue to treat patients. Regulators and employers must have fool-proof systems for detecting those who try and move between countries in order to evade detection when they are restricted or banned from practicing in a country."

Abrahim's case began in 2011 when the Florida Department of Health filed a complaint against him for prescribing potentially lethal medications to patients. In a settlement reached in March 2018, he neither admitted nor denied the allegations but agreed that if proven, they would have violated Florida law. He was fined $35,000 and banned from prescribing most controlled substances for chronic nonmalignant pain. Despite these restrictions, he continues to practice in Ontario, raising ongoing concerns about patient safety and regulatory oversight in the medical field.