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Doctors in the dock
Are people more aware of their rights? 2002 saw a sharp rise in the number of complaints against doctors to the SLMC. Kumudini Hettiarachchi reports.
A healthy infant dies after being administered the wrong injection instead of a vaccination by a woman doctor. What can the distraught parents do? The child is no more, but they need a fair inquiry and some form of action. Also an assurance that it will not happen again to another child. Whom do they turn to? They, like many others, seek justice from the Sri Lanka Medical Council.

Over the last few years a sharp rise has been recorded in the number of complaints lodged against the medical profession, especially doctors, with the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) by the people of the country.

"There were 59 complaints against medical practitioners in 2002 when compared to just nine against doctors and one against a dental surgeon in 1999,” says the President of the Sri Lanka Medical Council, Dr. H.H.R. Samarasinghe.

Two of the 59 complaints now being inquired into by the SLMC were from the Director General of Health himself with regard to medical negligence, explained Dr. Samarasinghe, adding that the others included an alleged assault by a doctor, lapses in examinations by Judicial Medical Officers (JMOs) and medical negligence charges by the public against five doctors including a surgeon and an obstetrician.

A Vice Chancellor of a university has complained that a medical practitioner cheated at an examination, while the Director General has made another complaint of causing sexual embarrassment against a doctor already dismissed following a request by the Public Service Commission and subsequent inquiry.

"People sometimes complain that doctors don't record all the injuries on a patient when he has been a victim of police assault," said the SLMC President stressing that this could lead to a miscarriage of justice.

Of the 59 complaints levelled last year, 18 were against unregistered persons. "Most of the common complaints we receive are about unregistered practitioners of medicine and we do not have any power to deal with them. So we pass them onto the police for further action," he says.

Greater awareness among the public, a large number of medical practitioners being registered with the council and a substantial number practising medicine without proper registration are attributed by him as leading to an increase in the complaints made to the SLMC.

The procedure followed by the 22-member Medical Council, which is nearly hundred years old, is clear cut. When a complaint is filed against someone who is registered with the SLMC, duly supported by a sworn affidavit, the council studies it and if there are adequate grounds refers it to the Preliminary Proceedings Committee, which will carry out an in-depth inquiry. If this five-member committee, chaired by the Vice President of the SLMC, finds that further action is required, the matter is referred to the 10-member Professional Conduct Committee chaired by the SLMC President.

"If there is irrevocable evidence to indicate serious professional misconduct on the part of the medical practitioner against whom the complaint was lodged, the SLMC may decide to erase his or her name from the register, preventing the doctor from practising. Sometimes we suspend them for a period of time. But before making such an order the professional is given all opportunity to be represented by a legal advisor," says Dr. Samarasinghe.

So what of the doctor who gave the wrong injection to the infant? "The SLMC decided to erase her name from the register but the doctor later appealed to court and it was settled with a suspension for a period of time," he explains.

But medical negligence is not the only issue raised with the SLMC. For Dr. Samarasinghe, an unusual complaint filed some time ago which comes to mind is one where a petitioner took offence against three medical practitioners, not for their action as doctors but for being directors of a finance company where there was a problem with depositors' funds.

"This was not related to medical practice. It only concerned honour, honesty and integrity. The members of this noble profession are expected to conduct themselves in such a manner that it would not diminish the credibility and reputation they enjoy in the eyes of the public," stresses the SLMC President.

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