British Celebrity and TV psychiatrist Raj Persaud admits to plagerism, says he copied work from books

This is turning into a major scandal for psychiatry in the UK. As reported in the Times OnlineRaj Persaud, the celebrity psychiatrist, yesterday admitted copying the work of other scholars for publication in his book and in articles that he submitted. appearances on television shows such as This Morning, admitted plagiarising four articles in From The Edge of the Couch, a book published in 2003.

A hearing at the General Medical Council (GMC) in Manchester was told that Dr Persaud also admitted passing off other scholars’ work as his own in articles published in journals and national newspapers. Dr Persaud, who appeared regularly on the BBC Radio 4 programme All In The Mind, said that his actions were neither dishonest nor liable to bring his profession into disrepute. For some of the duplication Dr Persaud blamed a computer “cutting and pasting” error, the panel was told.

Jeremy Donne, QC, counsel for the GMC, said that Dr Persaud had benefited financially from the “hard work and scholarship” of other people.

“The articles, we say, speak for themselves and they all demonstrate the extent Dr Persaud has appropriated the work of others as his own,” he said. “We further allege that Dr Persaud has been dishonest. Dishonesty can be inferred from his repeated conduct in plagiarising the work of academics . . . thereby enhancing his professional reputation and standing with the public as well as enhancing himself in the press.”

Mr Donne said that Dr Persaud blamed subeditors after an article that he wrote for The Times Educational Supplement (TES) in February 2005 did not acknowledge the scholar whose work he copied. Thomas Blass, a professor at the University of Mary-land in America, complained and was told, in an e-mail by Dr Persaud, that he thought he had given him a mention.The TES acknowledged that Dr Persaud had copied the work of another scholar, Mr Donne said. “It’s quite clear that the TES were not taking responsibility for subbing errors in their apology.”

The GMC panel was told that allegations of plagiarism against Dr Persaud were first made in an article in The Sunday Times in April 2006. At the time Dr Persaud was a consultant psychiatrist for the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, a position he still holds. He was also a director of the now defunct Centre for Public Engagement in Mental Health Sciences at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College, University of London. He withdrew from this honorary position after the allegations emerged.

Mr Donne said that Dr Persaud was being disingenuous by claiming that he had acknowledged the original con-tributors to his book. He revealed that Dr Persaud asked for and received permission to quote an article by a Professor Bentall for his book. “Professor Bentall gave his permission assuming that Dr Persaud . . . would know that quotations would have appeared in parenthesis and be properly attributed.” Having seen the passage Professor Bentall was astonished that a substantial portion of his paper had simply been copied into the book in what he believes was a deliberate act of plagiarism.”

Mr Donne said that the British Medical Journal was forced to issue an “unequivocal retraction” in September 2005 after publishing an article by Dr Persaud in which he failed to attribute his work correctly. The journal subsequently declined to publish another of his articles.The hearing continues.