Unions eye organized medical framework: Expert
KUWAIT: Several medical unions in Kuwait are seeking government support to form an independent dispute settlement center, a specialized court that unifies judicial verdicts and a committee that revises laws related to medical errors, a legal expert said on Monday. Speaking at the conclusion of a forum on medical errors from a legal standpoint, legal consultant Hussain Boureki said a legal framework targeting medical errors was currently being revised.
The forum, organized by Kuwait Institute for Judicial and Legal Studies, grouped consultants and experts specialized in criminal law and medical investigations. Boureki stressed the need for an independent law on medical responsibility, due to its varied ramifications. “It is wrong to hold doctors accountable over a 57-year-old law that has not been developed,” he said. As no legal framework organizing the medical occupation currently exists this puts doctors at risk of unfair accountability, he viewed. Doctors are sometimes wrongfully convicted by forensics investigators who are not specialized, he added. This ruins the reputation of doctors, said Boureki, adding, “therefore, there should be an independent authority, which is technically-efficient and is undisputed by ministries of health and interior officials.” The authority should be able to guarantee the principles of disclosure and transparency to doctors at times they are found in wrongdoing or acquittal. Boureki went on to point out that Kuwaiti laws only incriminate doctors on one article, those who operate without a license.
“The United Arab Emirates, for instance, has a law including 45 articles, while the French law has enacted four laws on medical responsibility.” Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior’s head of medical forensics Assad Taher said there was a need to differentiate between medical errors and medical complications resulting from therapy. The number of civil and criminal cases referred to the medical forensics go up to 450 a month. From 2004 to 2017, medical responsibility cases have increased by 900 percent, mentioned Taher. —KUNA