Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Now fewer that 17 medical doctors have been invited by the disciplinary committee of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to answer questions that borders on allegation of professional misconduct against them.
The sitting of the disciplinary committee which is scheduled to hold at MDCN headquarters in Abuja, will begin on Monday and last till Thursday, when judgements would be delivered on some concluded cases, while others would be adjourned to another date.
The doctors’ invitation was based on reports/petition received from either an unsatisfied patients or concerned party regarding the professional engagements of the affected medical doctor, thus demanding for a deeper look into the matter by the MDCN.
Some of the doctors are appearing before the MDCN disciplinary tribunal for the first time after their alleged professional misconduct was reported to the MDCN for disciplinary action, while some others are “carry over” cases from previous sittings of the tribunal that awaiting judgment or conclusion.
The tribunal is made of senior members of medical and dental professionals led by the Chairman, Prof. Abba Waziri, who usually assure the doctors that the tribunal was not out to witch-hunt or ridicule anybody’s carrier, but to give opportunity to the accused persons to explain themselves, thus giving the tribunal bases for judgement.
While some of the accused doctors appeared in person to defend themselves, others who could not be present at the tribunal sitting are allowed to be represented by their Counsels.
A senior official of MDCN who pleaded anonymity expressed fear that the alleged offence committed by some of the doctors could led to outright withdrawal of their practicing licences and de-registration of their name from MDCN register.
In September 2019, the MDCN tribunal ordered the immediate withdrawal of the practicing license of a medical doctor based in Adamawa state, Dr. Yakubu Hassan Koji, after he was convicted for “gross” professional misconduct.
The tribunal also ordered that the name of the convict be immediately struck out of the MDCN register as his practicing licence was being withdrawn.
Dr. Koji was said to had ignored some professional rules when he engaged in a surgery that led to the damage of kidney of one Isa Hamma, now deceased.
He was said to had engaged in a surgery without prior information to the patient of the nature of the operation and risks involved.
Tribunal chairman who presided over the sitting, said the respondent violated sections 29.4d, 29.4a, 29.4g, 29.4h, 29.4i, 31, 33, 33.1, 33.0 and 43.3, of medical ethics code in Nigeria, adding that the tribunal had no difficulty in resolving the issue against the respondent and in favour of the prosecutor who successfully proved all the 12 count charge against the respondent.
He explained: “The respondent exhibited incompetence in the assessment of late Isa Hamma. He also failed to correctly diagnose the illness of the patient before commencing treatment.
“In addition to that, he failed to obtain the consent of the patient before undertaking the surgical operation which later led to kidney loss. The convict also failed to disclose medical details and history of the patient to Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, when he referred the patient to the hospital after several delay.”