The change in the legislation, regarding the procedures for carrying out an audit in case of a serious complaint against doctors, is sought by the Pancypriot Medical Association, so that it is able to intervene immediately and effectively, where and where it deems important. In this direction and the meeting that will take place at the Ministry of Health next Monday, with the Legal Service and the Medical Council. At the same time, there is frustration among the medical world regarding the legislative framework for quack doctors, with those in charge talking about ridiculous penalties.
The Ethics Committee of the PIS has prepared, from August 2021, in collaboration with the legal advisers of the Association, a series of recommendations, in order to amend the legislation and have more weapons in their quiver. The aim is for them to have the necessary supplies, so that they can intervene immediately, in cases involving doctors, who are faced with serious complaints.
“We proposed an amendment and it is in the Legal Service for examination. We want to see if it will be forwarded to the Parliament for discussion and it concerns the possibility of the PIS and the Medical Council, to exercise disciplinary control, before a case is heard in the Court. I am talking about serious misconduct by our members, not in the slightest, any complaint we receive. We are talking about misdemeanors, which we also consider serious and will be judged by a judge, before this decision is issued”, explained to REPORTER the president of the Ethics Committee of the PIS, Michalis Anastasiadis.
The reason for recommending amendments to the legislation was the case of the doctor, who was arrested for providing fake vaccination certificates to patients during the pandemic, as a result of which some of them presented a significant deterioration in their health condition, while others died .
“At this time we cannot conduct an investigation for a criminal case. We have the possibility, based on the current legislation, to deal with issues related to the issues of our code of ethics. When a doctor commits a civil or criminal offense, they also have a disciplinary aspect. For example, if a doctor practices his profession under the influence of alcohol or another substance, he also commits a disciplinary offence. If he operates on someone and kills him, he also commits a criminal offense. This case will go to court and we will review the disciplinary part of the case and make decisions. There is no reason to review the criminal part of the case after the court has examined it”.
However, from the PIS point of view, it is clarified that these procedures will be followed, when they receive complaints about serious cases. “We are optimistic that if nothing else, if not all of them, a significant part of our suggestions will be accepted, so that we too have the opportunity to exercise more effective and quick disciplinary control, in serious cases”.
< p>A hypothesis is difficult to establish
In the meantime, an important obstacle encountered on their way, both by the PIS and the Prosecuting Authorities, in terms of solving the case, is the fact that it will be difficult to find witnesses who will testify against the doctors, so that a case can be established.< /p>
“It has to be cases where someone is caught red-handed committing an offence, or there is a very serious suspicion that they have committed that offense and that you might allow them to do it again, practicing medicine and being a danger to other patients as well. I think there will be individual cases. If a doctor is accused of murder, even if we are wrong, no one will accuse us of suspending his license or if someone is accused of fraud”.
Mr. Anastasiadis made it clear that what they seek is modernization of the legislation, in order to have the right in obvious cases, to be able to exercise disciplinary control, at a faster pace.
Fake doctors chapter
Another important and big chapter, which has been plaguing the health sector for several years, is the fake doctors and charlatans, who provide treatments to unsuspecting citizens and this results in their health being significantly affected.
“We demand the cooperation of the prosecuting authorities as well. Whenever we become aware of such complaints, we proceed with an official complaint. The investigation of these cases is delayed. Recently, a charlatan had a daily broadcast, through a show on a global channel, and the Radio and Television Authority intervened and in this way indirectly punished the person in question. It was a known case that we had reported to the Police and they did not do anything or a real investigation”.
Although there is currently no pending case, Mr. Anastasiadis did not rule out the possibility that there will be other cases that will be brought to justice, as charlatanism, as he mentioned, is something that is observed all over the world.
“At times, it seems that some people promote natural remedies or alternative medicine methods, which we all know have no effectiveness and can delay the administration of medication to someone who really needs it. This is done, of course, with a hefty fee. A big gap is that the penalties provided are not only not deterrent, they are ridiculous and this is within our requests to be improved. We made suggestions and proposals and we expect the legislature to adopt them, following the standards of other developed countries”.
