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BRISBANE, AAP: The rogue surgeon dubbed Dr Death has been sighted in the United States as Queensland authorities yesterday moved to quell mounting concerns from his victims over compensation.
Media reports yesterday said a resident of Portland in the north-western state of Oregon spooted Dr Jayant Patel, who has been linked to 87 deaths at Bundaberg Base Hospital and is one of Australia’s most wanted men.
Queensland authorities want Dr Patel to be extradited and charged with murder and other offences.
Reports said a neighbour of Dr Patel had seen the doctor showing people through a house for sale a short distance from his upmarket home.
It is the first positive sighting of Dr Patel, who fled Australia on April 1 and was believed to be in either the US or India.
The resident, who declined to give her name, said Dr Patel and his wife showed two people through the open house on May 29 in the Bronson Creek estates in Portland.
“He just walked down the street, he just walked in … he looked exactly the same as he looked on television,” the neighbour said, “It was creepy.”
Tony Morris QC, who heads a commission of inquiry into Dr Patel’s employment at Bundaberg Base Hospital, has recommended he be extradited and charged with murder, a negligent act causing harm, fraud, and providing misleading information.
Queensland police are monitoring his movements while international airports and police around the world have been alerted by Interpol.
The sighting came as victims of Dr Patel’s threatened noisy protests over claims they would not receive fair compensation after suffering botched surgery at his hands.
Law firm Carter Capner, which is representing 122 of Dr Patel’s former patients, said those who suffered most would be lucky to receive payments of more than $10,000 because of changes to Queensland’s personal injury laws. But Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Rod Welford said lawyers were simply “scaremongering” and reassured patients fair compensation was available to all.