Florida Teen Charged With Posing as Doctor

Feb. 17--WEST PALM BEACH -- Malachi Love-Robinson, the teenager accused of masquerading as a doctor, had an online profile on a health resource on which he claimed to treat several illnesses and accept insurance at his West Palm Beach medical practice.

Love-Robinson submitted a statement and information regarding his practice to Health Grades, a site that provides information about physicians.

On the site, he claimed to use methods such as psychotherapy, minor surgery and natural medicines, among several other forms of treatment.

"This excludes major surgery, therapeutic use of x ray (sic) and radium, and use of drugs ..." he wrote in his statement on the site.

His Health Grades profile also claims to accept several major insurances. He does not list any schools attended in the profile, but does claim to have a "PhD."

After Love-Robinson's release from jail Wednesday morning, he appears to have taken down the Facebook page for his medical practice, New Birth New Life Holistic and Alternative Medical Center.

Love-Robinson claimed on both his personal Facebook profile and his medical practice's profile to have a Naturopathic License, or as many refer to it, an N.D. rather than an M.D.

Late Tuesday, however, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office tacked on additional charges in Love-Robinson's arrest, including fraudulently obtaining a Naturopathic Medical License, jail records show.

Love-Robinson, 18, has pretended to be a doctor on more than one occasion, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office says. He was arrested for practicing medicine without a license out of a physicians' building across from West Palm Hospital.

He was released just before 3:30 a.m. on $21,000 bail, jail records show. The sheriff's office also arrested Love-Robinson on charges of fraud and grand theft, although details of the additional charges haven't been released.

Love-Robinson is expected to return to the Palm Beach County Jail complex on Gun Club Road later today to appear in front of a judge for his first appearance.

The Palm Beach Narcotics Task Force arrested Love-Robinson, of West Palm Beach, after conducting an undercover investigation at his medical office at West Palm Medical Plaza at 4700 N. Congress Ave., just north of 45th Street.

Love-Robinson called his practice New Birth New Life Holistic and Alternative Medical Center & Urgent Care and claimed on the building's office directory to have a Ph.D and to be a doctor of psychology.

A person with knowledge of the situation said Love-Robinson also pretended to be a doctor last year at St. Mary's Medical Center. Investigators at the time said the then-17-year-old wandered the hospital's halls wearing a coat and stethoscope, but did not enter any patient rooms or perform any medical treatments. No charges were filed.

At the time, his mother told police he was diagnosed with an illness and refused to take medication. The name of the illness was redacted from an incident report.

Love-Robinson also was issued a cease-and-desist order in October after he allegedly operated a medical practice at 1101 N. Congress Ave. in Boynton Beach, near the Boynton Beach Mall, the Florida Department of Health said Tuesday.

The narcotics task force and the health department's Unlicensed Activity Unit launched another investigation this month after receiving a tip from the Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County hotline.

"A caller let us know that an 18-year-old man was posing as a 25-year-old doctor," said Brad Dalton, deputy health department spokesman.

On Tuesday, Love-Robinson was charged after he allegedly performed a physical examination on an undercover agent at his West Palm Beach office and offered medical advice. He did not prescribe any medication to the undercover agent, and it was not known whether he prescribed medicine to other patients, Dalton said.

Copyright 2016 - The Palm Beach Post, Fla.