Dr Sotirios Foutsizoglou: Plastic surgeon suspended for forging research papers in NHS job applications

Dr Sotirios Foutsizoglou was suspended by a Medical Practitioners Tribunal for 12 months after it found he had edited original research papers in an attempt to support his false claims.

The plastic surgeon had applied for jobs with Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in May 2021 and July 2021 respectively.

In these applications, Dr Foutsizoglou “falsely claimed he was the author or co-author of a number of published research documents” and that he had obtained a PhD in biostatistics and epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health in the US, the tribunal record stated.

During a job interview on August 6 2021, Dr Foutsizoglou was told the Sheffield NHS trust had been unable to find a version of a review, entitled Flap Decisions in Soft Tissue Coverage of the Lower Limb, with his name listed as a co-author.

Dr Foutsizoglou, who had been on the General Medical Council’s Specialist Register for Plastic Surgery since April 2020, falsely replied that there were “many authors for the review and they had only put the top authors’ names on the published article”, the tribunal record stated.

Initial concerns were raised with the General Medical Council on October 15 2021 by the Sheffield NHS trust.

The tribunal also found that the Sheffield job application “clearly gave the impression that Dr Foutsizoglou had completed a PhD at the Harvard School of Public Health when he had not”.

It was also found proven last month by the tribunal that Dr Foutsizoglou had falsified versions of published articles including one entitled “improved hair restoration method for burns” and had lied about working at Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust.

An aggravating feature was that Dr Foutsizoglou’s dishonesty was “developing and cumulative with some sophistication in implementation of forged papers and attempt to conceal his initial dishonesty”, the tribunal stated.

It concluded that the plastic surgeon had shown a “blatant disregard for the safeguards designed to protect members of the public”, particularly in respect of his “attempts to cover up his dishonesty by means of further dishonesty”.

Dr Foutsizoglou’s own evidence was that he had made a “positive decision to mislead and recognises now that this was dishonest”, adding he had put it down to an “ego-driven desire to achieve, and to be seen to achieve to a high level”, the tribunal stated.

The tribunal put “significant weight on the fact that Dr Foutsizoglou now recognises his attitude at the time was unhealthy”, adding that “embarrassment was a cause of his continued dishonesty” and he now “appears to be more willing to be open about his own flaws”.

Dr Foutsizoglou’s counsel Andrew Hockton submitted that he had an “otherwise unblemished career”, that the events had occurred “within the context of Covid and a particularly stressful personal time”, and the “embellishment of these applications was totally out of character”.