Weeks on the wards, an injection, operating theatres: the 18-year-old who posed as a medical student in Székesfehérvár hospitals, detained for quackery

Hungary's state hospitals answer to the National Directorate General for Hospitals (OKFŐ), and anyone taking part in care on a ward is supposed to be identified and badged. In December 2024 a teenager in Székesfehérvár showed how easily that can be bypassed by someone who looks and sounds the part, and the case ended with a police investigation for quackery and an OKFŐ instruction to every affected hospital.

According to 10perc.hu, reporting on 19 December 2024 and citing 24.hu, a man spent weeks in hospitals in Székesfehérvár passing himself off as a medical student or a doctor. He attended clinical practice sessions, entered operating theatres and gave a patient an injection. In paramedic-style clothing he also transported patients to the Szent György University Teaching Hospital and noted their details and telephone numbers. He was found out at more than one hospital, yet no formal complaint was lodged, although the institutions notified the police. RTL Híradó was reported to have broken the story on 15 December.

Népszava reported on 19 December, citing the Fejér County police on police.hu, that the suspect was 18 years old, had presented himself sometimes as a doctor and sometimes as a medical student, and had provided health services without any qualification entitling him to do so. Officers from Székesfehérvár detained him on 17 December in neighbouring Veszprém County and questioned him as a suspect on reasonable suspicion of the offence of quackery (kuruzslás). The police statement, as reported, did not name the hospitals or say how many patients he dealt with.

OKFŐ's statement, quoted by 10perc.hu, said it had learned of the "regrettable and at the same time outrageous events" from extraordinary reports and the press, and had ordered internal investigations at every affected institution in western Hungary, some already concluded. On the findings so far, the stranger's presence had caused no additional harm to any patient's health. Hospitals were told to review the entry rules for buildings and individual wards, and managers were told to remind staff to check who is providing care, including identification badges, especially when an outside person takes part in treatment. Hospitals were also told to support the police investigation with every means at their disposal.

What failed was the assumption that a white coat and the right vocabulary equal a student on placement; the reports do not say how he got through the doors, and OKFŐ's order to check badges and identities whenever an outsider joins the care team is the clearest statement of what was not being done. For students, including international students at Hungary's medical universities, hospital placements are a privilege attached to a registered enrolment, arranged through the faculty, and posing as a doctor or student is a criminal offence. For patients and families, it is reasonable to ask the person holding the syringe for a name, a badge and the department that sent them.