Brazilian doctor Victor Sorrentino – detained in Egypt for sexually offending a Muslim saleswoman in a video posted on his social networks – has offered consultations in Portugal without having his medical degree validated in the European country.
Each consultation costs up to 350 euros (approximately R $ 2,100).
In addition to promoting the services in Lisbon and Porto via social networks, Sorrentino also had a space dedicated to making appointments in Portugal on its website.
The page was however deleted this Friday (4) after questioning the report.
The name of Victor Sorrentino does not appear on the list of professionals authorized to legally practice medicine in Portugal.
The Medical Association, the body that regulates the sector, has confirmed that he is not among the registered professionals in the country.
Doctors who have graduated from Brazilian universities, like Victor Sorrentino, are required to go through a rigorous process of validating their degrees before they can work in Portugal. In addition to analyzing the faculty’s documentation, they must pass theoretical and practical exams.
The Order of Physicians can only lodge a complaint and take disciplinary action against duly registered professionals. Complaints about possible illegal practice of medicine should be referred to the court.
On social media, patients recorded photos of appointments between 2017 and 2019. Dressed in a lab coat, Sorrentino usually appears smiling in the images.
The article obtained emails exchanged, in March 2018, between a Brazilian interested in consultations in Portugal and the woman who looked after the Portuguese agenda in Sorrentino. At the time, the service was provided in partnership with a Brazilian nutritionist, also passing through Portugal.
“The consultations will be continuous, that is to say that the professionals will come 2 to 3 times a year in Portugal, thus guaranteeing a follow-up and an efficiency in the treatment of the patients”, indicates an extract of the message.
To guarantee the place, it was necessary to send proof of payment in advance for the consultation, in the amount of 350 euros.
A Portuguese doctor, who asks not to disclose his name, says that the appointments of Victor Sorrentino without validation of his diploma have been known for more than two years among several professionals in the sector.
He expresses his own indignation and that of his colleagues, drawing attention to the fact that in Portugal a consultation with a specialist doctor normally costs around 100 euros (around R $ 616) in private practices.
In Portugal, in addition to consultations, Victor Sorrentino also brought together large groups in conferences with paid tickets, which are events that do not require a diploma to be validated.
Although his website made it clear that it was possible to make appointments, the promotional material on social media was often ambiguous, only talking about his presence in Portugal and leaving a phone and email for him. contact.
The ambiguity also appears in the explanation of his university career: “The gaucho doctor Victor Sorrentino carries in his DNA the relationship with plastic surgery. Son of a renowned plastic surgeon, he breathed this medicine from an early age and continued his training by specializing in Rio de Janeiro “, according to his professional page.
Plastic surgery may even be in the DNA, but it’s not in their professional records. Both at Cremesp (Regional Council of Medicine of the State of São Paulo) and Cremers (Regional Council of Medicine of the State of Rio Grande do Sul) it is identified as having an “undefined specialty”. At Cremerj (Regional Medical Council of the State of Rio de Janeiro), the field is not filled.
Since the start of the pandemic, Sorrentino has advocated the use of treatments that have been shown to be ineffective against Covid-19 and publicly supported the use of hydroxychloroquine against Sars-CoV-2.
Asked by the report on the consultations in Portugal and on Victor Sorrentino’s medical specialization, the doctor’s family informed, via the press service, that they would not comment on professional matters for the moment.
“Professional questions regarding Dr Victor Sorrentino will be dealt with and answered in due course. Right now, the doctor’s team, along with family members, are focused on resolving and clarifying the situation in Egypt, ”the note said.
THE CASE
With nearly a million subscribers, including celebrities and even a Portuguese MP, the Brazilian doctor’s Instagram began to have restricted access after the controversy in Egypt.
The doctor used the social network to post a video of a conversation between him and a papyrus seller in the Arab country. The young woman was a Muslim.
Laughing, the doctor asked sexually suggestive questions, such as “You really like hard stuff, don’t you?” And “Long is also nice, isn’t it?” The long papyrus ”. Not understanding the comments, the young woman appears consenting and smiling.
With the aftermath of the case, the doctor deleted the video and apologized, saying he was “very playful.”
Sorrentino ended up being detained last Sunday (30) by the Egyptian authorities. The country’s public prosecutor has indicated that the Brazilian is accused of having made sexual innuendos, “of attacking the precepts and values of the Egyptian family and society, of having violated the privacy of the seller and of to have used an electronic account to commit these crimes “.