A doctor from Wolverhampton has been suspended from the medical register after becoming hooked on cough medicine and later methadone, it emerged today.
Dr Janusz Rogowski needed the methadone to help wean him off the cough medicine without side effects but is now addicted to it.
The 46-year-old divorcee applied for permission to work as a doctor in this country 19 years after qualifying. His name was then added to the General Medical Council official register last month.
But he was suspended pending an investigation into his case just 28 days later. It could now be 18 months before experts decide if he can continue to work.
Dr Rogowski, who has never practiced medicine in this country, said his problems started at Leeds University in 1984. “I ate my lunch very quickly one day and had stomach cramps,” he said.
“I went to a chemist and was given a bottle of medicine that contained some morphine. It made me feel warm and slightly calmer and after that bottle I bought another and then another.
“I thought it was the chloroform water in the mixture and only realised it was the morphine when it was too late and I was hooked.”
He then switched to a more powerful cough linctus that was also available over the counter but failed his medical degree.
“I went to Poland to qualify where I also worked as a pre-registration hospital house officer,” he said.
“I halted the cough medicine addiction while in Poland but it started again when my wife and I returned to Wolverhampton in the 1990s because of domestic pressures caused by the relationship breaking down.
“I sought professional advice which led to me being prescribed methadone. I am certain that my methadone dependency does not impair my ability to be a doctor.”
Wolverhampton-born Dr Rogowski, who lives alone in a council flat in Merry Hill on £168-a-fortnight income support, intends to fight to win back his medical registration.
By John Scott
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