Durban – Top medical bodies have condemned the arrest of a doctor after a patient died in 2019.
The medical professional, who operates as a general surgeon at a Richards Bay hospital faces a murder charge following the 35-year-old patient’s death.
They have expressed concern that the implications of the arrest could pose a serious risk to surgeons that they could face legal repercussions if a patient died unexpectedly.
The SA Private Practitioners Forum, Surgicom and the Associations of Surgeons of South Africa are calling for the director of public prosecutions and the SAPS to withdraw the charges.
“The surgeon has always insisted that the patient’s death, while unfortunate, was not due to any act or omission on his part,” said SAPPF and Surgicom chairperson, Philip Matley.
He explained that murder implies the intentional and pre-meditated killing of another human being and is not appropriate for the unexpected death of a patient following medical treatment.
“Deaths which occur post-surgical procedures require investigation in accordance with South African law and if negligence can be proven, health care practitioners should face appropriate sanction.
“However, if this arrest signals the intention of the Department of Public Prosecutions to pursue medical professionals for alleged serious complications of treatment as criminal acts, the implications for healthcare practitioners are very serious,” he said.
Medical experts said where it is necessary for health-care practitioners to appear in court, their attendance can be secured by summons rather than arrest.
“We call upon the director of public prosecutions and the police to withdraw these charges and allow the on-going civil and HPCSA processes to continue to completion,” Matley said.
In an interview with Radio Islam, Health Professionals Counsel of South Africa Forum CEO Dr Simon Strachan said no doctor intends to lose a patient.
Strachan said if it does happen, there are avenues through which these events can be aired and interrogated and decisions made.
He added that in this case, there was no intent to prove whether the doctor was found to be accused of culpable homicide and murder.
He said culpable homicide was defined as the unlawful killing of a person due to negligence, while murder was defined as the unlawful killing with intent.
Strachan said these terms should have only been applied when there had been a clear airing of the entire case.
IOL