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)