[size=14pt]Doctor struck off after trying to buy lethal scorpion and spider venom[/size]
A GP has been banned from working for the NHS after trying to buy deadly venom from the black widow spider and death stalker scorpion.


Dr Rapinder Adekola (R) with her husband James (L)
By Ben Leach
7:10AM BST 06 May 2012

Dr Rapinder Adekola and her husband James planned to research the use of the poisons to develop a new form of pain relief.

The couple, who share an interest in ancient remedies, intended to set up a laboratory at their home, storing the venoms in containers of liquid nitrogen.

Medical regulators barred Dr Adekola, 42, amid concerns that her patients and two young children could have been at risk if she had tried home-made cures on them.

An investigation found that the couple had been researching ways to relieve pain using "tinctures" and "suppositories" containing venom.

The pair were arrested after they contacted a supplier to purchase the two types of venom, which are both fatal to humans in small doses, and the company called the police.

Officers who went to their home in Brackley, Northants, found "extensive material" on the potential effects of venom and claimed Dr Adekola was "highly aggressive".

She was barred from working following an investigation by her NHS trust.

A tribunal later upheld the decision, ruling: "The potential risks to patients were potentially serious if Dr Adekola had obtained the venom and used it in unlicensed research.

"Further, although the quantities of venom requested were insufficient to be given in a lethal dose, the venom was not sterile or licensed for clinical use and could have had health effects if administered."

Concerns were also raised about the GP's behaviour, with a colleague telling investigators that she had "problems working within the practice team".

The tribunal found that Dr Adekola had failed to respond to telephone calls, letters and emails from NHS officials and tribunal clerks.

However, she has not been struck off by the General Medical Council, meaning she could still work in private practice.

A GMC panel last week agreed to let her carry on working under strict conditions. The couple, pictured right, have moved to Dereel, a remote town of just a few hundred people in Australia, 90 miles from Melbourne.

Speaking from her new home, Dr Adekola denied that she had intended to research the use of venom.

She said: "We did not have any venom and still don't have any. Any internet research interest was my husband's and neither is venom an illegal or licensed product. I wouldn't have a clue how to use it for arthritis to be honest."

She said she felt "violated" by investigations by the General Medical Council and the NHS trust, adding: "Every aspect of my life has been placed under a microscope and then judged."

She has applied to work as a GP in Australia but is waiting to be registered.

Dr Adekola, who was born and brought up in Britain, graduated from medical school at the University of Edinburgh in 1993. She worked at two practices in the Highlands, but fell out with her bosses and left after being suspended. She joined Brackley Health Centre in 2005.

Last year she and her husband, 46, tried to buy scorpion and spider venom from Venomtech, a Kent-based company that produces and sells reptile and invertebrate venoms as well as spider silk.

The couple gave the supplier the name of Orphiuchus Research and Management Ltd, a company they had set up in 2008 but was dissolved the following year.

Orphiuchus, or Ophiuchus, is the name of a constellation that comes from the Greek for serpent-bearer. According to the Companies House register, it had only two directors: Dr Adekola, with a home address in Banbury, Oxon, and her husband, recorded as living in Lagos, Nigeria.

Dr Adekola denies she tried to buy the venom and says her husband used her email account and her name when ordering it online.

Steve Trim, Venomtech's director, said its products are normally bought by pharmaceutical companies and universities for medical testing.

Dr Adekola was arrested with her husband when police visited their home to investigate after being contacted by the supplier. They were released without charge, but her employers dismissed her for gross misconduct.

In February this year, a Health, Education and Social Care tribunal banned her from working for the NHS anywhere in the country.

The GMC initially suspended Dr Adekola from working as a doctor but three months ago it lifted the suspension, enabling her to work in private practice subject to strict conditions.

These include that she must notify the GMC of any new medical posts she accepts, and if she applies for a medical post outside the UK.

Last week's GMC hearing ruled that the conditions should remain in place.

Prof Gordon McPhate, chairman of the panel, said "issues relating to Dr Adekola's probity, lack of co-operation and her failure to engage with a range of regulators and authorities" may impair her fitness to practise.

The doctor is still under investigation by the GMC and could face a fitness to practise hearing.

A spokesman for Northamptonshire PCT said: "Unfortunately we are unable to comment on an individual case when it is part of an ongoing GMC investigation."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9248068/Doctor-struck-off-after-trying-to-buy-lethal-scorpion-and-spider-venom.html

This is an outrageous level of crap that must be very stiffly resisted by all Nigerians.
Imagine the NHS excuse they gave... That they would treat their kids with their research results! Are they diviners or prophets?
Its just pathetic, wicked and construed.

I can assure you that it was done to block a Nigerian and his Indian wife from making progress in an area some white prof with connections is interested in. Its a dog eat dog World out there and we must not allow our own to be swallowed in a foreign land.

This is why I believe Nigeria should build her own world class health system why Nigerian doctors and researchers can work with freehand.

I can understand the need to protect patients and children, but this seems pretty harsh.

I wonder why the Dr. is not fighting a legal battle though, like she just gave up and moved away. must be frustrating for her.

Kilode?!:
I can understand the need to protect patients and children, but this seems pretty harsh.

I wonder why the Dr. is not fighting a legal battle though, like she just gave up and moved away. must be frustrating for her.

But how are they protecting the kids and from what? The NHS does not possess voodoo practitioners that can divine that the research was going to be tested on the couples kids.
You also have to ask how many white medical researchers kids they are "protecting."
Their excuse just sounds lame, far-fetched and an evil clutch at straws.

It is obvious that their real target is Dr James Adekola; he seems to be the one most involved in the research (by the womans words and the fact that part of the companies registration mentions Lagos). They only went for Dr Rapinder Adekola, because she was percieved as a weaker target.

IMHO, this is a clear case of racism.

I just saw the posts and thank you for kind words. I have grid to answer back via my website: www.rapinderadekola.yolasite.com and there is more information on there about my life in the UK married to a Nigerian and how the UK State continues to institutionally harass and discriminate against me and my family.

Kilode?!:
I can understand the need to protect patients and children, but this seems pretty harsh.

I wonder why the Dr. is not fighting a legal battle though, like she just gave up and moved away. must be frustrating for her.

Thanks for your kind words. It has been frustrating but I have stated my perspective and background information about my life in the UK on my website: www.rapinderadekola.yolasite.com
Best Wishes
Rapinder