SA National Prosecuting authorities not equipped to handle medical cases - SA Medical Assocation
Prosecuting authorities not equipped to handle medical cases - SAMA
3 February 2023
by Kenrick James
The South African Medical association is against the criminal prosecution of medical professionals conducting medical procedures.
The chair of Human Rights, Law and Ethics Committee at the South African Medical Association (SAMA), Dr Mark Human, joins Bongani Bingwa to condemn the criminal charges against Professor Peter Beale.
The medical fraternity has condemned the criminal case against Professor Peter Beale, stating that accusations that the surgeon's actions were motivated by financial gain is "absurd".
Beale made a brief appearance in the Johannesburg high court on Wednesday.
The embattled doctor faces three counts of murder and two counts of fraud, after the deaths of three children he had operated on.
The names of these children cannot be published, following a court order.
South African Medical Association chair, Dr Mark Human, believes there's no real grounds for the case.
“If you're talking about a professor who's won an administerial award for services to South Africa's children, who takes on some of the most ridiculously high risk cases where no one else will even venture to go. Presupposing that they're not busy enough to keep themselves, through a flow of income, is just beyond absurd.
Operating on people for purely financial reasons. I don't think there's many people, if any, that do that. That's absolutely absurd.”- Dr Mark Human, Chair of the South African Medical Association
Dr Human explains that due to the complexity of surgery procedures, a prosecuting authority is not equipped to understand or deal with cases when something goes wrong.
“When things go wrong, which they do, sometimes in surgeries....that's a very complex issue and its not an issue that someone from a prosecuting authority can begin to comprehend. There are so many factors that play in.”
He proposes the idea that South Africa should have a specialized court for medical practices.
This case should have started with a professional enquiry which would review the case in terms of correct medical procedure before recommending further criminal prosecution where necessary, he adds.
“We need some kind of specialized medical court to deal with this kind of thing.
The procedure that goes with some kind of a misadventure, or some kind of a complication that can happen, is usually a professional enquiry because of the complex nature of these cases. Once the verdict of that has been handed down then very rarely, can this proceed to either a civil or a criminal charge”
Dr Human explains that criminal charges are a rare occurrence in medical practice because a criminal charge is usually based on the intent to do harm.
“Criminal charges are extremely unlikely because they presuppose that someone intended to do some kind of harm.”
He explains that in technical terms, many medical procedures can be seen as a criminal act but mutual consent and the lack of intent should prevent it from becoming a criminal matter.
“Now you can imagine surgery, you are cutting someone open...technically assault. The NPA can charge you with assault, but we suspend those charges by mutual consent with the greater good in the back of our minds, that we are attempting to fix someone and that you cannot do that without doing something invasive.”
Dr Human states that the backlash of these criminal charges of medical procedures will make healthcare practitioners hesitant to do invasive procedures, and limit access to appropriate healthcare.
Of course if you start to prosecute people it will make healthcare practitioners, doctors, extremely loathed to do anything invasive. Which will mean that anyone that requires any kind of invasive treatment will suddenly have no access to healthcare.
https://omny.fm/shows/the-breakfast-show-702/medical-murder-charge-against-professor-peter-beal