Letters by RS
With reference to media reports of a doctor being convicted for not registering his clinic, (Jan 19th 2008), it is incomprehensible that this registered doctor was fined a whopping RM120,000 for not registering his clinic. And since he couldn’t come up with the fine, he was sent off to serve a three month jail term at Kajang Prison.
In April of last year the DG of Health, asserted that the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (PHFSA) was enacted to direct private hospitals to carry out their social responsibilities and was not meant to be punitive or detrimental in nature.
He and the previous Health Minister, Chua Soi Lek, further assured the medical community that since the Act was outdated, changes would be made and ratified by the Attorney-General’s chambers.
These changes have yet to be agreed upon or ratified but the Act has already been applied leading now to a doctor being convicted on a technicality.
Will the DG now tell the judge, that she should not have passed this type of sentence? Of course not, because that is not how the law works once an Act is passed.
This is the end result of laws that are not debated transparently or done so secretly or in a callous manner. Someone down the road will have to bear the consequences and this unfortunate doctor will now have to pay a heavy price.
And what was this doctor’s “crime”? It was not that he performed an illegal operation, killed or maimed a patient, knocked off a baby’s arm or transfused HIV blood into a trusting patient.
He apparently is a qualified doctor registered with the MMC with a valid Annual Practicing Certificate, quite unlike some sinsehs, bomohs or beauticians who masquerade as one and carry out clinical procedures.
His crime is reportedly a technical one. He did not register his clinic. His first duty would have been, like any other doctor, to see to his patient’s health. It doesn’t bear logic that not registering his clinic would kill his patient.
Many doctors were wary of the implications of these punitive punishments when Chua Soi Lek and the current DG, Ismail Merican, were actively campaigning for this law.
All their assurances that doctors will not be punished on technicalities has now come to naught as evidenced by the lop-sided punishment this doctor, who apparently didn’t have the financial means to appoint a counsel, received. Not only will his family be left to fend for themselves but his career as a doctor may come to an end.
This Act was passed in a rush and now has clearly been applied in bad faith. Without doubt, this incident will only erode further the trust doctors will have on an already disorganized Ministry of Health.
This blatant betrayal of trust by the DG and the previous Health Minister needs clear explanations. The DG may have his own runaway Little Napoleans in his Ministry and may not be in control.
It is left to the current Acting Health Minister, Ong Ka Ting to explain this transgression to the medical community and he must state if he will review or repeal this acrimonious Act.