House deliberates bill on medical practice
House deliberates bill on medical practice
JAKARTA (JP): The government, together with the House of
Representatives, is currently debating a bill on medical practice
which would not only regulate the profession and protect
patients, but also allow the screening of foreign physicians
seeking to practice here.
However the bill, which has undergone two hearings, is not
expected to be approved by the legislature for another year.
One of the drafters of the bill, surgeon R. Sjamsuhidajat,
told The Jakarta Post and Jakarta-based Warta Kota daily on
Friday that the introduction of such a law was crucial and could
be commonly found in many other countries.
"Other countries in the region, even the smaller ones compared
with Indonesia, already have a medical practice law to protect
patients and the profession itself," he said at the sidelines of
a seminar here on the bill.
Among the notable features of the bill would be the
introduction of a separate judicial body specifically to deal
with cases relating to the medical profession.
Sjamsuhidajat noted that the existing Honorary Council for
Physicians Code of Ethics (MKEK) had little legal leverage to act
against negligent or undisciplined doctors.
"In one case, a physician suspected of negligence threatened
to sue the Council if we had opened the case and brought it to
court. That's why we need a legally endorsed judicial body,"
Sjamsuhidajat said, adding that most potential disciplinary cases
related to alleged sexual harassment.
The penalty proposed in the bill would vary from a fine to
imprisonment.
Sjamsuhidajat, who was also a speaker in the seminar,
maintained that the current court system was insufficient in
trying malpractice or ethical code violations in the medical
profession.
He pointed to alleged corroboration between doctors and
pharmaceutical suppliers as an example of an ethical code
violation that was not specifically covered by the criminal code.
Another speaker in the seminar, law expert Loebby Loqman,
however, was not wholly convinced of the need to establish a
separate judicial body for the medical profession.
He instead contended that it might not be necessary if the
profession's Honorary Council proved clearly that malpractice or
violation of ethics had occurred.
"The case could then be filed with a general court," Loebby
remarked.
Sjamsuhidajat also revealed that the bill will regulate the
establishment of an Indonesian Medical Council (KKI) to control
registration of both local and foreign doctors. (bby)