Doctor faces probe over holiday sickness claims

A doctor is now under investigation after providing ”appallingly inadequate” evidence to support a family’s bogus holiday sickness compensation claim.

Dr Vikesh Kashyap, from Blackpool, has been reported to the General Medical Council, the Daily Mail reported..

He is accused of charging nearly £2,000 for carrying out four telephone consultations with a family who had falsely claimed they had all suffered from diarrhoea while on holiday. But Kashyap never actually met the family in question.

They claimed to have suffered the ailment while on a Tui holiday to Tenerife in 2015/16.

At the court hearing, Judge Peter Gregory did not hold back on his criticism of the doctor, branding his reports as “formulaic, superficial and unhelpful”.

He said: ‘I found his substantive reports in relation to each of the four claimants to be formulaic, superficial, lacking in substance, devoid of expert analysis and frankly, unhelpful. They were appallingly inadequate reports.’

Dr Kashyap, who owns his own cosmetic laser clinic, has given evidence in approximately 800 holiday sickness claims.

He is thought to have earned hundreds of thousands of pounds preparing holiday illness reports.

He then admitted to the court that he was not an expert in gastroenterology, saying he had not had a ‘stint’ in the field, but a year-long spell was adequate.

Nick Longman, managing director of Tui UK & Ireland said: “We welcome this latest judgment. What’s particularly interesting about this case is the judge’s comments about the supporting medical evidence and criticism for the report author Dr Kashyap. We have followed this up by submitting a complaint to the General Medical Council about his conduct.”

The doctor said he is registered with medical reporting company, MedCo.

MedCo chairman, Martin Heskins said: “We will be considering what, if any, action should be taken in relation to this individual and will support the GMC in any investigation.”