A north London doctor who sent 'deplorable' Islamophobic messages to a colleague and accused them of anti-Semitism has been suspended.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) gave Islington GP Cinderella Nonoo-Cohen a four-month suspension on Friday February 20 over remarks she made to a colleague on WhatsApp more than two years ago.
The General Medical Council (GMC) received a series of allegations against Dr Cohen over messages sent to a clinicians' group chat. The claims included that she had been 'objectively' Islamophobic towards a fellow GP, and that this stemmed from a hostility towards Palestinians and their supporters.
The fallout came in the days after the Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023. Dr Cohen had criticised her colleague, referred to as 'Dr A', for 'bringing politics' into the group chat by promoting a petition that objected to the Department of Health and Social Care displaying the Israeli flag.
After Dr A denied she was making the forum political, Dr Cohen said it was 'typical of you Muslims to gaslight'. The panel ruled this phrase was 'objectively' Islamophobic, and rebuked Dr Cohen for making 'seriously offensive' remarks that attempt to portray her colleague as an anti-Semite who supported Hamas's 'barbaric acts'.
The tribunal also found Dr Cohen had, on a separate occasion, posted something on X, which stated that minorities had 'precedence over the whites'. The tribunal ruled that the post itself demonstrated racial hostility but the panel did not find that the post was motivated by racial or religious hostility.
