The Investigating Court of Tenerife has admitted for processing the criminal complaint filed by the Official College of Podiatrists of the Canary Islands for professional intrusion against a “false podiatrist” who had been practicing for 18 years in various pharmacies in Tenerife, notwithstanding that evidence of other types of crimes may be derived.
The College of Podiatrists of the Canary Islands a complaint is filed against seven people linked to four pharmacies “as well as against any other person or persons who, from the procedures carried out, deduce their responsibility in the reported facts.” The pharmacies are located in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Los Silos, Icod de los Vinos and San Cristóbal de la Laguna. At the moment, the Court has already called the “false podiatrist” to testify.
The complaint requests that the processing of the persons related in the complaint be decreed, demanding a bond for their provisional release and bond for the civil liability originated, and if they do not provide it, that the seizure of their assets be decreed in an amount sufficient to cover the responsibility .
The Colegio de Canarias has had up to four detectives and has provided numerous pieces of evidence: eight video recordings, five audio recordings, four reports, two burofaxes and a certificate. From the set of reports, recordings and videos, the “existing agreement between the defendants to carry out the activity of podiatry outside the law, offering services by non-professionals, having professional consultations and tools, can be seen. and demonstrating close collaboration that includes issuing invoices, cash refunds and referring patients to other pharmacies.”
The “fake podiatrist“He consulted at least in these four pharmacies and, according to the documentary evidence presented, the one in Santa Cruz was the main one and where orthopedic products were also made.
The College of Podiatrists had received complaints since 2018 but the process of collecting evidence has been expensive and until the end of 2021 The complaint with all the evidence was not presented. In 2018 and after verifying that ABB was not registered in the Canary Islands, it was required, through two burofaxes, to certify that it held the mandatory official qualification in Spain to be able to practice the profession of podiatry.
The defendant informed the College that she had a German title “which she understood enabled her to practice podiatry.” In that call, she was informed that the aforementioned title was not valid in Spain without its corresponding approval and was warned that claiming to be a podiatrist and practicing this profession without the corresponding title could constitute a crime of professional intrusion.
ABB continued to advertise itself as a podiatrist and to practice in various pharmacies on the island of Tenerife, so the Official College of Podiatrists decided to hire a detective company to verify that the complaints the College was receiving were real.
Between December 2020 and March 2021, up to four detectives showed up at the different pharmacies, where they were treated by the defendant, by an orthopedist and by pharmacy staff.
In the first pharmacy they confirm that there is a podiatrist working and that she has a “list of patients”, they take the researcher to the office that “has the elements of a podiatry consultation, such as the chair, lamp, milling machine and its different heads , scalpels, etc.”, the defendant “performs the functions of a podiatrist, such as measuring the arch of the foot, pointing out the need to use insoles, recommending that they be done at an orthopedic center “where it has its main place of business” and delivers a “proof of attendance at a podiatry consultation, with the stamp and signature of the pharmacy”.
The second appointment is at the orthopedics, linked to the Santa Cruz pharmacy, to have the insoles made, as ABB had indicated. The orthopedist confirms that ABB “works there as a podiatrist” and, after examining the foot, diagnoses “a small plantar fasciitis “, and recommends some templates. According to the complaint, “the orthopedist lacks the capacity to diagnose and prescribe”: his function is to prepare templates and other elements under the prescription of the podiatry professional.
A third appointment with the “false podiatrist” is in another pharmacy that also has a clinic with the necessary elements for the development of the podiatric profession. In this case, the detective tells ABB that she suffers from “fingernails”, a disease whose treatment is the responsibility of podiatrists, and the defendant treats her with the devices she had at her disposal to cure the affected nail. He also offers to treat another disease of the foot: papillomas. After charging for his services, he offers various pharmacy products to the researcher, which also violates the Law on Guarantees and Rational Use of Medicines and Health Products, which declares incompatible the exercise of health functions with the power to prescribe, such as podiatry, with economic interests in the marketing of prescribed products. On the bill, the service is defined as “advanced pedicure”.
In the fourth and last appointment, the pharmacy employee affirms that they have a podiatrist, identifying ABB, “who has a lot of experience and is a great professional, that the title she has is German, but that it is not valid in Spain.” The consultation also has its own elements for the exercise of podiatry. The defendant makes a diagnosis of flat feet and recommends insoles. In the course of the conversation, she comes to recognize that she has been “working as a podiatrist in Spain, and specifically, in Tenerife, for about eighteen years. She also recognizes working in pharmacies and orthopedics throughout the island.”
The Colegio de Canarias recently won a trial for trespassing
Recently, was sentenced to 6 months in prison for professional intrusion a British woman who worked as a podiatrist in Lanzarote without a degree or association. Since 2018, the condemned woman had been carrying out fungal and wart treatments on her feet that she advertised on various web pages. The complaint had been made by the Official College of Podiatrists of the Canary Islands.
