Medical Council wants a new law to protect doctors

General News - Saturday December 15, 2007

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.

The Thung Song criminal court last week sentenced Suthiporn Kraimak, a rural doctor at Ron Phibun Hospital in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, to three years in jail for injecting an anaesthetic into Somkuan Kaewkongchan during an appendicitis operation five years ago. The patient later died because of an incorrect dosage of the anaesthetic.

It was the first time a doctor has been sentenced to a jail term for medical malpractice.

Somsak Lohlekha, the Medical Council chairman, said yesterday there should be a law providing doctors with immunity against criminal charges in case any unfortunate incidents happened.

He vowed to push for the drafting of such a law to protect doctors from any criminal charges involving medical malpractice.

''It's unfair for doctors who dedicate themselves to helping patients to be at risk of criminal punishment. They have to be protected otherwise patients themselves will be the ones losing benefits,'' he said.

Dr Suthiporn's case sparked a furore among rural doctors right after the court's verdict was handed down. The Rural Doctors Society said they would stop doing any operations at rural hospitals and would refer patients to larger-scale hospitals in urban areas instead.

Doctors are intimidated by operating at remote rural hospitals, usually lacking the necessary medical equipment and specialists, as they are afraid of criminal charges, they said.

Meanwhile, the Public Health Ministry has established a 600,000 baht fund to help Sirimas Kaewkongchan, the victim's daughter.

Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla yesterday made the decision after a two-hour talk with Ms Sirimas.

The amount of financial aid is equal to the compensation the Civil Court ordered the ministry to pay to the victim's family as remuneration. None of the payment had been made to the patient's family so far, he said.

''This case cannot point out who's right or wrong. It's because the public health system has gone wrong, which is making both sides hurt,'' Dr Mongkol said. He also gave Ms Sirimas an additional 10,000 baht in financial help after the talk with her.

The health minister said he would meet the National Health Security Office on Dec 27 to discuss setting up a committee on dispute mediation between doctors and patients over damages caused by treatment under the government's universal health care scheme.

The committee would comprise medical professionals from both state and private hospitals and representatives from the public sector.

''I do not believe that any legal amendment would be a solution to the dispute between doctors and patients over treatment,'' he said, referring to the Medical Council's proposed drafting of a law to safeguard doctors from criminal charges.

Ms Sirimas said she was satisfied with the ministry's solution.

''I am glad that at least there is a doctor who cares about what it feels like to lose a loved one from treatment and listen to our problems. All we want is a discussion and explanation from doctors why our mother had to die because of the treatment, not money,'' she said.

She said she would use the funds for educational purposes for herself and her siblings.

Bangkok Post