GOC panel censures DO

Dispensing optician Sheraz Malik has had a number of conditions imposed on him by a fitness to practise committee of the General Optical Council.

His fitness to practise as a DO was found to be impaired after failing to notify the GOC of a conviction of possession of cocaine and cannabis at Stevenage Magistrate's Court on July 8, 2010.

The committee found Malik to be neither 'an impressive nor truthful witness', and stated that despite his attendance at a drug rehabilitation centre, there was no evidence to support his claim that he had remained drug free since last May. It heard he had been found in possession of large quantities of cocaine and cannabis. The committee also heard that he had failed to disclose his convictions to all of his employers or his parents and that he 'lacked insight into the effects of his drug use on himself or those around him'. It also attached particular importance to the fact that Malik 'flatly denied even the possibility that his drug usage may have had an adverse effect on his patients and customers'.