Independent medical council proposed

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.