News24: PODCAST | THE STORY: A series of botched surgeries:The heartbreaking claims against Dr Beale
This South African national media outlet posted the podcast 25th Oct 2019. This podcast details some of the investigative processes used to produce the national media house’s reporting on the matter up to the “arrest” of the two doctors five days later.
There were multiple concerns raised by the assumptions made in this podcast.
The original podcast was “amended” and then reposted recently.
Contents of this post:
A)The concerns raised over the podcast.
B)The Original transcribed podcast.
(original podcast has been removed)
C): The ”Amended” podcast link attached.
(reposted by News24)
A): Concerning statement made in the podcast:
1): These emails are heart breaking. They say that they have either lost children, or that their children are now living with a long-term consequences of botched surgeries, negligence.
(Accounts taken from non medical emotional parents, assumptions of botched surgeries and negligence.)
2): I didn’t know how deep this went or how many families have been affected by him. I concentrated on the HPCSA because they are extremely backlogged. They take a long time with cases and often or sometimes those cases are not investigated properly.
(Assumptions and implies the HPCSA does not investigate properly.)
3): So, I did a quick up and down story just to get something out and get a deeper look. Then Monday came, and my email were just completely flooded by parents who had been through the exact same thing, who either lost their child after going under the knife with Dr Beale, or , or their child had permanent impediments for the rest of their life afterwards.
(Assumptions by a non medical person that all the parents underwent exact same thing, lost, impediments etc.)
4): Well, the medical fraternity are so tight-lipped. It’s really hard to get any information from them.
(In view of a medico-legal investigation and criminal charges, all patient files and information can only discussed within confidential medical terms and processes.)
5): I guess you’d have to put a proper number on that you know to really figure that out. Has he killed more patients than the average doctor? Has he hindered more patients than the average doctor?
(What is average amounts a doctor should kill or hinder. How is a non medical person able to make that call or assumption.)
6): I think that suspension (from Netcare) is an indication of that. I think maybe he has and maybe that makes it so special because there are so many parents that’s joining forces together to do something about Dr Beale. Which I think is also an indication of how many it’s affected.
(The private hospital group has come under criticism for the suspension, this was done the day after the patient passed possible due to the protests in the hospital the next day and this was used to base their assumed guilt.)
7): ....father of the 10 year old boy who died recently on Wednesday and he was saying that his uncle is also a paediatric surgeon and has operated on thousands of children. And the 35 years that he has been practicing hasn’t killed one of them.
(There is no pediatric surgeon or any surgeon in the world that has operating for 35yrs and performed thousand of operations without a complication or a “kill?”)
8): Obviously, the more work that he takes on, the thinner he’s spread, and the more space there is for mistakes, again, or speculation? Can you tell us a bit more about that? I mean, how does that factor in to this specific case?
(How is this obvious, what cases and how complicated are the cases for non medical person to call this obvious?)
9): she was really graciously welcomed into their home and given an opportunity to spend time with the family and whilst she was there she also got the opportunity to speak to their lawyer....
(This is very concerning for a neuteal reporter to allow this to happen, so information was given to the reporter and the opposing side was tight lipped, hence is became obvious.)
10): As we know, he has been suspended from Netcare after the boy’s death. Both him and the anaesthetist. And there is also a pending peer review process going on into his surgeries. What the family want to do now is to get as many people as possible and tell their stories. Are there criminal procedures against Dr Beale and they are also seeking application to the HPCSA to suspend him pending an investigation into his fitness to practice. Essentially what they want to do is revoke his licence and Dr Munshi’s licence.
(The late Dr Munshi is mentioned once in the report, so what was his role related to other cases mentioned?)
B): The transcribed original podcast:
Podcast/The Story. What we saw, heard and uncovered this week. | Transcribed by A.S. du Plessis- Faurie, 22 September 2020
Interviewer
Look, an overcrowded inbox is nothing new for journalists at News 24, or any journalist really. But, this was the sound that our reporter, Azara Karrim, was met with, when she opened her inbox on Monday morning: (Multiple beeps).
It’s just email (beeps), after email (beeps), after email, flooding her inbox (beeps). And, in the subject line, there is a common thread. A common name. Dr Peter Beale.
These emails are heart breaking. They say that they have either lost children, or that their children are now living with a long-term consequences of botched surgeries, negligence.
A couple of these emails praise Dr Beale. They’re saying that they owe their children’s life to this man who saved them essentially.
But really: most of them are urging Azara to investigate further, to do more probing about this man.
1 Male voice
The bottom line is that it’s been happening, it’s been happening way too many times to way too many children. Those grieving families that have lost their loved ones still don’t have closure because Beale is still allowed to operate.
2 Male voice
1 Female voice
(inaudible) He is a really, really bad mannered Doctor I have ever encountered. He, he doesn’t, doesn’t care, if he, he, he is on another level. He’s just on another level.His personality is very cold. I don’t think he has any compassion. (Inaudible). He just did not care.
1 Male voice
The facts are the facts. The facts remain that it’s been happening one too many times. There’s no closure for those parents that have lost their children. They’ve tried to speak to the media. They’ve tried to launch an inquest with the SAPS, and there’s nothing that has come off it.
Interviewer
His a 73 year old paediatric surgeon at a prominent institution. This hospital is well-known, people come from all over the country to be treated here. And, despite the fact that he had to pay an R80 000 medical malpractice suit, as ordered by the HCPSA, he denies any negligence or wrongdoing on his part. Through his lawyer he said that his always maintained the highest standards. But, as the story unravels, we see strange links. One to a Ponzi scheme, and another, to Julius Malema.
You’re listening to The Story. It’s News Podcast. Every week. Where we take you inside our newsroom. We’ll speak to journalists and experts about the bigger story.
This is what we saw, heard and uncovered this week.
So, we managed to convince Azara to close her emails for a few minutes and come and chat to us in studio.
Thanks for joining us Azara.
Azara Interviewer
Thank you for having me.
It’s such a complicated story and there is so many families involved. Let’s just go back to the very beginning. When was the first time you heard about this story? How did you land up with it?
Azara
Earlier this year in about June, a family contacted News 24 just out of pure desperation. They didn’t know what to do anymore. They had lost their little girl, Alissa Strydom, after routine operation with Dr Beale. They went to the HPCSA and laid a complaint. But they had now waited 3 years for their complaint to get anywhere. They did not even know how their 3 year old baby girl had died. So, I started working on the story. By then, I didn’t know who Dr Beale was.
I didn’t know how deep this went or how many families have been affected by him. I concentrated on the HPCSA because they are extremely backlogged. They take a long time with cases and often or sometimes those cases are not investigated properly.
So I published that story in June. Not even 2 weeks ago, a family contacted me and they told me ‘our 10-year old son has died that Friday by the exact same Dr you mentioned in June’. And they added that Dr Beale, as well as the anaesthetist on operating on the boy were both suspended.
So, I did a quick up and down story just to get something out and get a deeper look.
Then Monday came, and my email were just completely flooded by parents who had been through the exact same thing, who either lost their child after going under the knife with Dr Beale, or , or their child had permanent impediments for the rest of their life afterwards.
interviewer
Alright, so, from a News 24 perspective, we’ve got multiple families who are saying that they had either lost children or their children suffered under the hands of Dr Peter Beale. But at this stage, we do not know exactly how much cases or complaints there are. Officially, against him, right? Why is that the case?
Azara
Well, the medical fraternity are so tight-lipped. It’s really hard to get any information from them. But, what we do know, is that Dr Beale has been suspended before, from Medi-Clinic, while, it seems he was practicing at both Medi-Clinic and at Netcare.
Interviewer Azara
So these are the 2 big private hospital groups in South Africa?
Exactly. The, the reasons are unclear, but it gives us an indication that this has happened before. Families have been inflicted...
...In fact, last year, he was ordered to pay R80 000 by the HPCSA?
...Yes
interviewer
Now, it’s kind of complicated to understand as a non-medical professional ‘cause obviously South African doctors are accused of all sorts of things. That is why they’ve got medical insurance. And there are people that contacted you and said that Dr Beale is a really upstanding man, he is really helped their families. So, what are we looking at here, is this a case of really a man that’s got too many medical malpractice cases or charges or complaints against him? Or is this typical in the day-to-day work of a surgeon, especially a paediatric surgeon in South Africa?
Azara
I guess you’d have to put a proper number on that you know to really figure that out. Has he killed more patients than the average doctor? Has he hindered more patients than the average doctor? I think that suspension is an indication of that. I think maybe he has and maybe that makes it so special because there are so many parents that’s joining forces together to do something about Dr Beale.
Which I think is also an indication of how many it’s affected.
I was talking to Mohammed Saheed, the father of the 10 year old boy who died recently on Wednesday and he was saying that his uncle is also a paediatric surgeon and has operated on thousands of children. And the 35 years that he has been practicing hasn’t killed one of them.
Interviewer
Azara, one of the more bizarre facets of this case is the allegations that Dr Beale was involved in the Tannenbaum Ponzi scheme and that, because of that scheme, he has lost a lot of money, maybe all his money, and that his taking on more and more work to try and recoup some of that loss. Obviously, the more work that he takes on, the thinner he’s spread, and the more space there is for mistakes, again, or speculation? Can you tell us a bit more about that? I mean, how does that factor in to this specific case?
Azara
That allegation has been made by a couple of people and there is apparently a book by a journalist Rob Rose in which a chapter has been dedicated to Dr Beale. So when I reached out to Dr Beale, he couldn’t comment and referred me to his lawyer, Jeanne Albertse from Macroberts Attorneys. And she essentially said that Dr Beale does not want to comment on these claims saying that it is a calculated attempt to vilify him basically. She says that it unjustifiable she says it is baseless it’s disparaging of Dr Beale.
If true though, these are things we should be considering because especially with Zayyaan’s case, Zayyaan Saheed, the boy who died not too long ago, his father was saying you know Dr Beale ordered all these tests on him. In the end, the tests proved negative and it weren’t even necessary he says. So, it’s something to consider in this case. Was he taking on more that he could handle and then failing at these procedures and surgeries.
Interviewer
No, there is one seemingly weird link to this whole story and that is that a lot of people tweaked on to it when Julius Malema tweeted about it. It seems like a strange connection, you know, the EFF being very concerned about a private hospital and by all accounts a kind of affluent doctor not exactly the kind of issue the EFF usually gets involved in. but Malema has been quite verbal on it on social media. Why now? Why this case? What is the Malema link?
Azara
So, I don’t think that the family hide that they are powerful and that they have connections. Mohammed Sayed’s, Zayyaan Sayed’s father of the 10 year old boy who died recently under the knife of Dr Beale, is a director of a company called Carnilinxs. And he has business partners with Adriano Mazotti.
Azara Interviewer
Ah, ok, that’s the Malema link. We know that Malema is close to Mazotti and that he has defended him as a friend before and off course is Carnilinxs is Mazotti’s tobacco company. That makes sense that is the Malema link.
But at the same time, we must remember that it’s a humanitarian case.
It’s so complicated Azara. So where does the story stand now and going forward?
Azara
As we know, he has been suspended from Netcare after the boy’s death. Both him and the anaesthetist. And there is also a pending peer review process going on into his surgeries. What the family want to do now is to get as many people as possible and tell their stories. Are there criminal procedures against Dr Beale and they are also seeking application to the HPCSA to suspend him pending an investigation into his fitness to practice. Essentially what they want to do is revoke his licence and Dr Munshi’s licence. A lot of people have also said that Dr Beale is 73 years old. He should have retired a long time ago. That is a very big part of the case, why did they let him practice for so long if he was capable so many children and if he was at retiring age, doctors’ need steady hands, you know what I mean?
Interviewer
Azara
Interviewer
Azara, where can our listeners get in touch with you? But of course, this is an eventful story. So if somebody wants to get in touch with you where can they do that?
They could contact feedback@news24.com or they could catch me on Twitter @azarak.
Azara, thank you so much. And, good luck...
Thank you
Azara mentioned that she spoke to the Sayed family on Wednesday. In fact, she was really graciously welcomed into their home and given an opportunity to spend time with the family and whilst she was there she also got the opportunity to speak to the Sayed family lawyer, that is Robert Kanarek This is what he had to say, his speaking at the family home with Azara
Robert Azara
So many people are asking is this a witch hunt.
It definitely is not a witch hunt. I mean, how can you call this a witch hunt? We are doing our utmost to protect the public, it’s got nothing to do with a witch hunt. There is no reason to embark on a witch hunt.
Right
How can you embark on a witch hunt on guilty people?
That it it’s not an isolated incident
Not at all
His been doing this it seems like for a while
The Story is a weekly podcast, hosted...
(End of interview).
Robert
Yes and there are everyday there are more grieving parents coming out of the woodwork and they are starting to ask questions. So that is actually what’s happening now. And there are a lot of unhappy grieving parents at this point in time. What we are also preparing is an application to the HPCSA in terms of which we will ask for their suspension of namely the two doctors: Dr Beale, 73 year old who in my opinion has reached his sell-by date, who has made too many mistakes and should not be allowed to practice. He lacks the expertise and professionalism was required to do the operation so what is to ensure that it does not happen again.
C): The “amended” podcast has been reposted
Link attached: