GMC decision on Egyptian doctor overturned by High Court
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《英国医生杂志》
A doctor who was struck off the medical register by the General Medical Council for using forged prescriptions to obtain morphine and other drugs had the penalty quashed and a 12 month suspension substituted by the High Court in London last week.
Sammy Abrahaem, who qualified in Egypt but had practised in the United Kingdom for more than eight years, admitted taking blank prescription forms while working as a locum specialist registrar at Bedford Hospital and as a locum consultant physician at Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent. He used them to obtain prescription drugs from various dispensing chemists, using false doctors?names and false patients?names and addresses. He had also attempted to disguise his handwriting.
Various prescription and non-prescription drugs, including morphine, were found in his accommodation. He was prosecuted and found guilty of possession of drugs, but the conviction was quashed on appeal because of a procedural irregularity.
Dr Abrahaem抯 defence was that he had taken the blank prescription forms in case a member of his family fell ill and needed prescription medicine, and he was keeping the drugs because he was involved with a charity collecting drugs for the Palestinian territories. The charity had since disbanded, but he had not discarded the drugs.
The GMC抯 professional conduct committee questioned his explanations and erased his name from the medical register.
He appealed to the High Court, represented free of charge by a barrister from the Bar pro bono group. He submitted that the penalty was disproportionately severe and that the professional conduct committee had taken into account irrelevant circumstances in reaching its decision. He argued that the decision was a violation of his human rights.
The GMC contended that he had not shown sufficient insight into how serious his conduct was.
Mr Justice Newman ruled that erasure from the register was disproportionate, taking into account the need to protect the public interest. A 12 month suspension was appropriate.
The judge said Dr Abrahaem, who practised in Gillingham, Kent, had not endangered the public by his misconduct. The court accepted his explanations for his conduct and held that he had to be sentenced on the basis of those explanations.
If the GMC considered during the suspension period that Dr Abrahaem had no more insight into his conduct, it could revisit the matter, the judge said, and would have the option of increasing the suspension period by up to an additional 12 months.
· Giridhar Katti, a surgeon carrying the hepatitis B virus who was struck off the medical register by the GMC for performing operations that put patients at risk, went to the High Court in London this week to challenge his removal from the register.(BMJ Clare Dyer legal corr)
Sammy Abrahaem, who qualified in Egypt but had practised in the United Kingdom for more than eight years, admitted taking blank prescription forms while working as a locum specialist registrar at Bedford Hospital and as a locum consultant physician at Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent. He used them to obtain prescription drugs from various dispensing chemists, using false doctors?names and false patients?names and addresses. He had also attempted to disguise his handwriting.
Various prescription and non-prescription drugs, including morphine, were found in his accommodation. He was prosecuted and found guilty of possession of drugs, but the conviction was quashed on appeal because of a procedural irregularity.
Dr Abrahaem抯 defence was that he had taken the blank prescription forms in case a member of his family fell ill and needed prescription medicine, and he was keeping the drugs because he was involved with a charity collecting drugs for the Palestinian territories. The charity had since disbanded, but he had not discarded the drugs.
The GMC抯 professional conduct committee questioned his explanations and erased his name from the medical register.
He appealed to the High Court, represented free of charge by a barrister from the Bar pro bono group. He submitted that the penalty was disproportionately severe and that the professional conduct committee had taken into account irrelevant circumstances in reaching its decision. He argued that the decision was a violation of his human rights.
The GMC contended that he had not shown sufficient insight into how serious his conduct was.
Mr Justice Newman ruled that erasure from the register was disproportionate, taking into account the need to protect the public interest. A 12 month suspension was appropriate.
The judge said Dr Abrahaem, who practised in Gillingham, Kent, had not endangered the public by his misconduct. The court accepted his explanations for his conduct and held that he had to be sentenced on the basis of those explanations.
If the GMC considered during the suspension period that Dr Abrahaem had no more insight into his conduct, it could revisit the matter, the judge said, and would have the option of increasing the suspension period by up to an additional 12 months.
· Giridhar Katti, a surgeon carrying the hepatitis B virus who was struck off the medical register by the GMC for performing operations that put patients at risk, went to the High Court in London this week to challenge his removal from the register.(BMJ Clare Dyer legal corr)