Independent medical council proposed
Dewi Santoso, Jakarta
The country's medical association and legislators agreed in a hearing on Tuesday that a medical council to be established under a health bill should be independent in order to protect public interests.
"It is in line with the bill on the principles of medical practice, which are to protect the people, to guide doctors and to empower medical institutions and associations," chairman of the Indonesian Doctors Association Farid Anfasa Moeloek said in a hearing with members of the House of Representatives.
Independence is necessary to avoid possible intervention from the government, Moeloek said, but added that the council would report to the president.
Deputy chairman of House Commission VII Achmad Sanoesi Tambunan said in the hearing that the council would also have the authority to determine whether a suit filed by a patient would be regarded as a case of negligence, accident or malpractice.
Both parties were referring to the proposed Indonesian Medical Council, which will be tasked with handling lawsuits from patients.
The bill, however, has yet to spell out the council's authority in processing lawsuits. It only says that the council has several powers, including the drawing up of educational standards for the medical profession, and issuing and revoking registration certificates.
Malpractice is not uncommon in Indonesia with patients almost always ending up in a disadvantageous position because of the weak legal system. A man sued three hospitals in March after his wife died in one of Jakarta's hospitals. A doctor in the hospital inserted a catheter into his wife's neck to administer an anesthetic. The man claimed that the doctor was a general practitioner and not an anesthesiologist.
Other incidents in recent months included a university researcher in Jakarta who was paralyzed from the waist down after receiving an Enoxaparin Sodium injection when doctors treated him for a supposed heart attack. Doctors in Singapore later found nothing wrong with his heart and said that he was only suffering from fatigue.
In West Java town of Cirebon, a cancer patient died following surgery after receiving a blood transfusion of type A blood, while the patient's blood type was actually O.
Sanoesi said that if the council decided that the complaint was a malpractice case, then it would bring the case to court. Otherwise, in cases of negligence or accident, they would go to the Medical Profession Disciplinary Court for further proceedings.
However, a coalition of six non-governmental organizations (NGOs) had earlier rejected the idea of passing a lawsuit to such a court saying no doctor would be willing to testify against his or her peers. The NGOs include the Indonesian Health Consumers Empowerment Foundation (YPKKI) and the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI).
The bill also spells out punishment for errant medical practitioners that include revocation of medical licenses or assignment to other tasks for up to one year and compulsory education in medical school. The sanctions were considered too lenient by the coalition compared to the possible losses suffered by the patients.
What is needed, according to the coalition, is a bill on medical services, not a bill on medical practices.
As an effort to improve the quality of medical services, the council is expected to manage, determine and improve the level of competency of doctors.
The council will consist of 25 persons, of which 15 are doctors, four are staff members of the Ministry of Health, four are staff members of the Ministry of National Education and two are citizens.