Japanese surgeon 'who didn't treat pope' probed

(ANSA) - Salerno, April 5 - Japanese neurosurgeon Takanori Fukushima, who briefly hit international headlines last year due to false reports he diagnosed Pope Francis as having a brain tumour, is under investigation in the southern Italian city of Salerno in relation to a separate case, ANSA sources said Tuesday. Fukushima is among a number of doctors implicated over allegations they demanded money from patients so that they did not have to wait for their names to come up from the bottom of long waiting lists. Two doctors, including a department head at Salerno's Ruggi d'Aragona hospital, and a nurse were put under house arrest on Tuesday and another health worker was suspended for nine months. Prosecution sources said there was "serious" evidence of wrongdoing by Fukushima, but added that no arrest warrant had been issued as the physician is a resident in the United States and has no fixed abode in Italy.
    They added that the arrest of the people involved meant there was no danger of the consultant repeating the crimes he is accused of.