📰 From the news · Impersonating a real college/agent
A three-year-old's prescription, several health centres, a homicide warrant: the alleged fake paediatrician of Barrancabermeja arrested in Medellín, June 2026
In Colombia, every doctor must appear in ReTHUS, the national register of health professionals, and a specialist's title must be registered there too. The register is public, and it is the obvious first check before any clinic grants a doctor access to patients. In Barrancabermeja, an oil city in Santander, a man without those credentials allegedly saw children as a paediatrician at several health centres, after which a three-year-old died.
According to Infobae (16 June 2026), police of the Magdalena Medio department arrested a man known as alias "Yosef" in the Caribe neighbourhood of Medellín under a judicial warrant for homicide. The Fiscalía General de la Nación said the arrest followed months of gathering physical evidence and testimony. According to the official account cited by Infobae, he had posed as a paediatric specialist, attending and diagnosing minors in several health institutions in Barrancabermeja without the required professional credentials; the investigation began with the care and prescribing of medication to a three-year-old boy who later died. Vanguardia (16 June 2026) quoted Lieutenant Colonel Ángel Giovanni Vivas Casas, acting commander of the Magdalena Medio police, describing the alleged conduct: the suspect saw, diagnosed and prescribed treatment for minors at the city's health centres while performing the functions of a medical professional. Canal TRO reported the same day that a judge would decide his legal status and that authorities were still collecting information on his activity in the health centres. Police said that "the life and health of our children are sacred" and that they were checking for other cases.
None of the three outlets explains how he was admitted to the health centres or what documents he presented, and none names the institutions; the published facts are the alias, the role he is accused of performing and the warrant. On the authorities' account he worked in more than one facility, and the reports suggest the alarm came from a death rather than from a credential check.
The lesson for families, and for students who will one day be hired, is the same: in Colombia, ReTHUS is public and searchable by name and ID number, and a speciality that is not listed there is not recognised. Before a child is treated by a "specialist" in a small clinic, ask for the registration and look it up. For medical students abroad, keep in mind that the same register will one day be the test of your own degree; a title from an unrecognised school will not appear on it either.
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This is a news-sourced case summary written by the TrustMBBS team, not a first-person account; see the sources above. They reflect one person's experience and are not a verdict on any institution. Report your own: Report a scam or tell your story.