Medical Council Wants New Law To Protect Doctors From Criminal Charges

[sbk]

MALPRACTICE CASE / PRACTITIONER JAILED

Medical Council wants a new law to protect doctors

APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL

The Medical Council is pushing for a law aimed at protecting doctors from possible criminal charges over treatment following a recent court verdict in which a rural doctor was jailed for making a medical error.

Bangkok Post here for rest: www.bangkokpost.com/News/15Dec2007_news06.php

And related to the above article:

Nakhon si thammarat

Ministry to help jailed doctor

The Public Health Ministry is throwing its full support behind a doctor in Nakhon Si Thammarat who was convicted of criminal medical malpractice last Thursday.

"The Health Ministry won't let her fight alone," Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said yesterday.

The ministry will provide a lawyer and legal assistant and set up a legal fund with donations for Dr Suthiporn Kraimak, he said.

The Thonsong court sentenced her to three years in jail for causing the death of a patient by mistakenly injecting an anaesthetic into the patient's spinal canal.

Mongkol said he had talked to her and found she had enough grounds to appeal.

The ministry has formed a committee to negotiate with the victim's relatives over compensation.

He said the ministry had to take responsibility for this case because Suthiporn had practised at Ron Phibun Hospital, which was under the ministry.

For long-term assistance, the ministry would accept the Appeal Court's verdict and help Suthiporn change her workplace or study abroad if she so desires.

However, Mongkol said he was worried about the impact of Suthiporn's case on the medical fraternity. He said doctors in state hospitals across the country would lack the confidence to treat patients, fearing a similar fate if they made any accidental medical mistakes.

Source: The Nation

[tim armstrong]

MALPRACTICE CASE / PRACTITIONER JAILED

Medical Council wants a new law to protect doctors

APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL

The Medical Council is pushing for a law aimed at protecting doctors from possible criminal charges over treatment following a recent court verdict in which a rural doctor was jailed for making a medical error.

Bangkok Post here for rest: www.bangkokpost.com/News/15Dec2007_news06.php

And related to the above article:

Nakhon si thammarat

Ministry to help jailed doctor

The Public Health Ministry is throwing its full support behind a doctor in Nakhon Si Thammarat who was convicted of criminal medical malpractice last Thursday.

"The Health Ministry won't let her fight alone," Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said yesterday.

The ministry will provide a lawyer and legal assistant and set up a legal fund with donations for Dr Suthiporn Kraimak, he said.

The Thonsong court sentenced her to three years in jail for causing the death of a patient by mistakenly injecting an anaesthetic into the patient's spinal canal.

Mongkol said he had talked to her and found she had enough grounds to appeal.

The ministry has formed a committee to negotiate with the victim's relatives over compensation.

He said the ministry had to take responsibility for this case because Suthiporn had practised at Ron Phibun Hospital, which was under the ministry.

For long-term assistance, the ministry would accept the Appeal Court's verdict and help Suthiporn change her workplace or study abroad if she so desires.

However, Mongkol said he was worried about the impact of Suthiporn's case on the medical fraternity. He said doctors in state hospitals across the country would lack the confidence to treat patients, fearing a similar fate if they made any accidental medical mistakes.

Source: The Nation

As indeed the medical profession would like a similar law in most western countries. Its a difficult one, but as professionals, doctors should be accountable like anyone else for their actions. The difficult area of course is to prove neglect, mismanagement or incompetence was avoidable, particularly where a patient died or was left with a serious or permanent disability. In addition who is really competent and independent enough to judge these cases, - except another doctor ? Having worked with doctors for most of my career, I think they (including thai doctors) are mostly competent, diligent and do their best under sometimes overwhelming circumstances. But its also true that expectations on rural doctors in many countries are often unreasonably high in terms of procedures being performed without adequate safeguards or equipment.

On the other hand they are mostly aware of the status they hold in most communities and should be accountable to their peers and their patients. Tim