A doctor who uploaded an image of himself performing brain surgery on a patient to a dating site without their consent has been struck off.
Dr Sayed Talibi, from Tamworth, Staffordshire, admitted to uploading the photo showing a patient’s exposed brain during live surgery alongside a description of himself as a “28-year-old brain surgeon” to the site without the patient’s knowledge in September 2017.
He was also found by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) to have threatened a woman with waterboarding, made racist comments, and posed for pictures of himself with weapons in a number of examples of misconduct. Several of the allegations related to an unnamed woman, who accused him of “forced sex” and “abusive” behaviour towards her.
He was struck off the General Medical Council (GMC)’s register with immediate effect.
Dr Talibi first raised concerns with the GMC himself in October 2017, when he informed the body, which regulates doctors, of an ongoing police investigation following what he called “totally unfounded” allegations against him by an unnamed woman.
In July 2018, West Midlands Police informed the GMC that Dr Talibi had been arrested “on suspicion of coercive and controlling behaviour and three allegations of rape”. His devices were seized, and police uncovered several images of him with knives, an axe, and replica guns.
During the tribunal hearing, Dr Talibi was found to have behaved in a threatening or abusive manner towards a woman, including stating that he would subject her to waterboarding – a torture technique where water is poured onto a person’s face – and physically assaulted her in 2016-17. He was also found to have “intentionally penetrated the woman without her consent” in 2017 and breached an order banning him from contacting her in 2018. The tribunal heard police decided not to lay any charges in relation to the allegations.
Dr Talibi was also found to have downloaded and or viewed video footage of beheadings and killings, and an image of a waterboarding device.
The panel found Dr Talibi made a series of racist or derogatory statements, including “I hate Afghan culture” and “I hate kuffar [non-Muslims] and white people” or similar between January 2016 and August 2017. He was also found to have stolen £23.50 worth of milk powder from a branch of Asda in Tamworth in May 2017, and provided false information to his energy provider over a £770 bill in June 2017.
MPTS panel chair Andrew Lewis said it would be “inconsistent with its findings regarding the seriousness of Dr Talibi’s misconduct and the risk of repetition if Dr Talibi were to be able to return to unrestricted practice”.
He added it was “necessary” to erase Dr Talibi immediately from the GMC register to “maintain public confidence in the profession”. Dr Talibi has 28 days to appeal against the decision.
