The College of Physicians takes eleven cases of fake professionals to court in Alicante

The Official College of Physicians of Alicante (COMA) will always take decisive action against these offences,” said the organisation’s first vice president, Dr. José Luis Bataller. These instances are increasing at a 30% annual rate in the province of Alicante, according to Guillermo Llago, head of legal services for the group that represents over 10,000 physicians in the province.

In reality, they have filed eleven complaints with the courts, several of which are related to cosmetic medicine, such as hair salons that inject hyaluronic acid. It’s crucial to know that Plastic, Aesthetic, and Reconstructive Surgery is a residency speciality with numerous prerequisites. There have also been reports of a chiropractic massage therapist claiming to heal infant colic without being a paediatrician, as well as a few nurses doing medical operations.

Deceptive advertising

All of these cases have been brought to the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s attention, as have those involving pseudoscience, such as people performing supposed therapeutic treatments by placing their hands on patients and utilising Bach Flowers, as well as those involving false advertising.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office processes complaints about alleged illegal activities in Alicante, Elche, Benidorm, and Torrevieja. Patients, doctors, and the college ex officio can report these situations to the courts based on their legal advice. This is a major issue that must be addressed head-on. “Anyone with a mobile phone is acting like a health expert,” Bataller stated.

Agreements

This observatory was established in 2021 and includes the signing of agreements with municipalities in the province such as Alicante, Benidorm, Alcoy, and Elda, which they intend to expand to include more municipalities, to promote joint activities of education, awareness, and information in public health, with a focus on truthful information based on scientific evidence, in order to combat misleading advertising in health matters, pseudosciences, and pseudotherapies.

This is one of the strategic lines established by the Alicante College of Physicians for 2026, with the goal of encouraging the State Security Forces, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the Ministry of Health to be more “proactive” in their investigations.

There is no likelihood of agreement in the trial against the previous manager of the firm.

Hermann Schwarz, head of the College of Physicians, revealed that the institution will seek a nine-and-a-half-year prison sentence in the prosecution of former manager José Manuel Coloma for an alleged 760,000-euro fraud. He explained that lawyers from both parties were summoned to the Provincial Court of Alicante on Wednesday to negotiate a possible plea agreement, but that “no agreement will be reached.” He stated that this is because, “in defence of the interests of the members,” the goal is the repayment of allegedly fraudulent funds and the assumption of criminal responsibility. The trial could take place during the second half of the year.

The aforementioned prison terms are the maximum sentences requested for the five defendants, while the prosecution has reduced its request for the former manager to seven and a half years; one year less for his deputy, Armando Calderón; and five and a half years for the former manager’s wife, as well as an employee and his wife who are also involved in the case. The events became public in 2018.

Harsher penalties

During the presence of the medical representatives, there was talk of attacks on doctors, but no data was provided in preparation for the European day against this scourge, which will be observed in March.

According to the Medical Association’s board, these instances have become more common, and they advise reporting not only physical assaults, but any harassment or insult. Their intention is to broaden collaboration with the State Security Forces to include the Guardia Civil in order to reach all hospitals and health centres; judges are already demanding harsh sentences, pointing out that they are sometimes only given minor offences rather than felony assault charges, forcing them to appeal multiple times.

Medical Statute

The head of the College has called on professionals to participate in the national strike against the Medical Statute, which will take place from February 16 to 20, with a demonstration in Madrid on the 14th. “It is not in support of elitist medical conditions, but in favour of the quality of the health system and for the protection not so much of the workplace, but of the professional standing of the members.”

We are mobilising to improve the quality of the health-care system and to defend our members’ professional standing, rather than their employment status.
Hermann Schwarz

— President of the College of Physicians in Alicante

Schwarz has pushed for practising medicine in the greatest possible conditions, and he believes that the current statute exhausts the professional and penalises both the doctor and the patient.

Other strategic initiatives include offering basic life support courses to the public to reinforce the chain of survival in the event of cardiac arrest, as well as a dedication to sustainability and the One Health method to calculating, reducing, and offsetting carbon footprints. In this regard, they have established a solar village that shares energy with adjacent homes and businesses, as well as planted a forest of native species in Biar.

Schwarz and his board aim to promote MICE tourism by reclaiming the Congress Palace at the college headquarters and increasing LUMED grants from the Funcoma Medical College Foundation and the Navarro Trípodi Foundation to 200,000 euros in November. These grants will support basic and clinical medical research in the province of Alicante, as announced by the second vic.