Breathe
By Juana Ramírez
Marilyn Cote managed to become a celebrity, not thanks to the advertorials she paid for in various media in which she boasted of being an illustrious neuropsychiatrist multi-awarded worldwide, nor to her unattractive publications with photomontages in which she posed with a medical colleague in the style of Grey's Anatomy, or demonstrated her martial arts skills, or her training at the FBI. It was actually thanks to the account "Charlatanes Médicos" @CharlatanesMed on X, -recently opened (September 2024) and with a little less than 50 thousand followers-, that in Mexico and abroad we learned about the case of Marilyn Karina Cote Mendieta, a lawyer graduated in 2000 from the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, She decided to practice as a psychiatrist for years without being one, diagnosing patients who came to her office and prescribing controlled medications using false professional credentials or that of her own psychiatrist. A soap opera story.
With Monday's newspaper "we are all champions" and therefore today it is common to hear on the street phrases such as: "I can't understand why people believe in these people", "but it's as simple as looking at their photos on social networks, you can tell they are photomontages" and so on.
But what makes a patient come to these fake doctors, accept and pay for their treatments? The main and painful reason is that these people indeed have a physical or mental health need that they want to solve. No one goes to the hospital for pleasure, nor takes medication for pleasure, nor undergoes surgery just for the sake of it, everyone, even when it comes to cosmetic treatments, has a need to be addressed.
When it comes to acute ailments, those that cause intense pain, fever or incapacity for normal functioning, we tend to rush to seek medical attention. Mexicans of all ages and socioeconomic levels frequently go to the doctor's offices adjacent to pharmacies, where today at least 50% of all first contact consultations in the country are generated, because they offer greater proximity and immediacy than the public sector. These same patients pay out of pocket for medicines to feel better, typically painkillers, antibiotics, antihistamines and anti-inflammatory drugs. They are all looking for a quick and accessible solution.
But if the symptoms do not improve or if they are chronic conditions that require surgical or high-cost care, most will go to public health services depending on their affiliation and/or entitlement. However, waiting times and problems of access to public services are a perfect breeding ground for those who offer on social networks and even at the exit of hospitals, from miracle remedies and cleanings, to treatments and surgeries that promise to cure.
For patients with mental health problems things are even more difficult. Psychological and psychiatric services are unavailable or overcrowded, and even private insurance does not regularly cover such consultations and medications. Moreover, while medicine is not an exact science, in the field of mental health it is even more complex to reach clinical diagnoses without the intervention of highly qualified professionals. Studying psychology can even be insufficient, because there are curricula that focus on other fields of this profession, such as labor or education, which do not train their graduates to make a clinical diagnosis. However, on the psychiatrists' side, it should be simpler to validate their competence, since they have professional licenses as physicians and as specialists in psychiatry.
Another no less important element are the digital platforms that connect patients with health professionals. Marylin Cote was found by several of her patients on Doctoralia Mexico, a famous website that charges doctors to publish themselves promising an increase in their consultations and online reputation, boasting almost 2 million monthly booked appointments and a traffic of 11 million visits per month thanks to its promotion as a 100% reliable platform with "the best specialists".
Office towers, a profitable business model for private hospitals across the country, are another site patients frequently turn to for private care because. "if it's in a hospital, it must be a certified and trusted specialist" or is it? Marilyn Cote's patients used to receive psychiatric care at her office at Fifty Doctors Hospital in the exclusive Angelópolis area of Puebla City. Today, both organizations only limit themselves to affirming that they have no responsibility, each one with their own arguments. And of the pharmacies that sold controlled medications prescribed by this woman, it is better not to talk about them anymore.
Haven't Doctoralia, Fifty Doctors and the pharmacies learned about the responsibility of being a health care provider? In the last few days their weak voices have been heard with reasons and excuses and others are running scared hoping that the lack of teeth of Cofepris will save them.No excuses ladies and gentlemen! The case of Marilyn Cote is just one of many usurpers posing as health professionals to deceive, abuse, steal and put people's health at risk. As simple as requesting documentation and validating it, because it is their obligation. If not, they had better change their sector.
Just in case, here I leave you all the National Register of Professionals https://www.cedulaprofesional.sep.gob.mx/cedula/presidencia/indexAvanzada.action and that of Specialists https://conacem.org.mx/ . If you are a patient, ask your doctors to share their professional license and verify it. If you can't find them, hesitate and look for someone else.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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