UK Doctor Struck off Medical Register over Airline SARS case

It might be acceptable for the epidemiologists and field-workers of CDC (The US Center for Disease Control) to gad about in full-on protective gear, but a UK medico was found guilty of unnecessarily alarming the other passengers when he donned his Man from Mars garb and boarded an aircraft at Heathrow in 2003 to examine a passenger with suspect symptoms of the SARS virus. Dr Panis boarded the flight in goggles, overalls and overshoes. The General Medical Council has found 49 yo Dr Egidius Panis guilty of inappropriate conduct, and suspended his registration as "unfit to practice" - with immediate effect. The panel ruled it was likely passengers would have been unduly alarmed at the sight of a doctor in full protective gear. Dr Panis was a senior clinical medical health officer at the airport's health control unit.

Dr Panis' job at Heathrow was to screen immigrants for infectious diseases. He is also alleged to have carried out an 'inappropriate' breast examination on a young student while checking her for tuberculosis.

The Dutch doctor is further accused of forging his manager's signature on reports and trying to bully two of his bosses after they asked for explanations for his eccentric behavior. The hearing was told that, in a series of 'bizarre' emails and letters, Panis had said one had lost his memory and he accused the other one of stalking him. He is also said to have harassed Metropolitan Police officers when he advised them to wear gloves and gowns when attaching identification tags to coffins from the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.