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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad--Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said Saturday the alleged removal of seventeen cocaine pellets from a patient by a doctor raises several issues.
"I am heartened to know that the Commissioner of Police has not closed this investigation and that enquiries are continuing. As the legal guardian of the public interest, I think it is necessary to provide some clarification about the responsibility of doctors when they are confronted with delicate and difficult situations which might involve the suspected commission of criminal offences," he said in a statement.
"I am in agreement with the statements made recently by secretary of the Medical Board of Trinidad and Tobago (MBTT) Dr. Hariharan Seetharaman, who indicated that: 'A doctor could not hide under the refuge of a breach of confidentiality" and that "whenever there is a legal scenario, the doctor must inform the police.'"
The MBTT website outlines the Code of Ethics in the Practice of Medicine and states under the heading "Whistleblowing" that: "Where there is a suspicion that criminal activity has taken place, and in particular in cases of alleged sexual assault, a police report must be made," he pointed out.
"I urge all doctors to be guided by these professional guidelines especially when it involves suspected criminal activity.
"I wish to reject outright the suggestion that doctors are not under any obligation to report a suspected crime which manifests itself during the course of their interaction with patients. Failure to notify the relevant authorities of such matters would violate both the professional code, if not the law," Ramlogan said.
He said principles of confidentiality, which govern the normal doctor-patient relationship, cannot and do not apply in situations where medical practitioners operated under duress. In other words, if the doctor and his staff did not voluntarily assist, but did so out of fear for his life, they are in fact victims of a most serious criminal offence (assault and/or battery).
"A doctor-patient relationship genuinely exists when a medical practitioner chooses to serve a patient's medical needs by mutual consent with the patient or his/her legal representatives. This privilege is voluntary and created by either an expressed or implied agreement."
Ramlogan said: "Whilst the medical personnel might not have known the nature of an ingested substance, transportation of drugs by ingestion is a fairly well-established occurrence and at minimum, the doctor's suspicion should be aroused. If he is forced to perform the operation at gunpoint and the gunman escapes with the extracted pellets, this should concrete his suspicion that they were unwittingly forced to play a role in what can be considered a criminal enterprise."
The police should be immediately notified, so that the suspected drug mule could be apprehended and placed under police guard before or after he is transferred to a public hospital, he said, adding: "Alternatively, police could keep the suspect under surveillance and monitor his movements. At the appropriate time, he could be questioned by the police and interrogated on the identity of his accomplice." ~ Trinidad Express ~
