A MONTH TO DETERMINE CAUSE OF DEATH

Lamenting the lack of a Specialist Register, sources at the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) said that after an investigation against Dr. Nimal Gamage, he had been warned verbally by the Professional Conduct Committee in December 2013.

The SLMC warned him to be on good professional conduct, while taking note of the fact that his probation period in the US had expired.

When asked why the SLMC which is the guardian of medical standards did not see it fit to in- form the public, the source said that no complaints about Dr. Gamage’s practice here had reached them.Pointed out that the Association of Plastic Surgeons had copied to the SLMC its complaint to the Health Ministry, as far back as 2011, the source said it had not submitted an affidavit as was required.

However, when a private sector physician informed the SLMC that Dr. Gamage was under a cloud in the US, the SLMC had written to the Medical Board of California and got the details. On a com- plaint made by the then Registrar, as was possible under the regulations, the SLMC initiated an inquiry against Dr. Gamage.

When persistently questioned as to how an MBBS doctor pretending to be a Plastic Surgeon was treating patients, the source said that only a Specialist List was available and many requests made to the Health Ministry to amend the Medical Ordinance to regulate specialist practice, after establishing a Specialist Register. But the ministry was dragging its feet. latter allegedly launched an advertising blitz about the wonderful procedures he was capable of.

This had followed an article in a newspaper headlined, ‘Nimal Gamage medical center.......a modern miracle capable of rolling back years to make you look great!!!’ which appeared in connection with the National Healthcare Exhibition 2011 organised by the Department of Health, Western Province.

The complaint had also been copied to the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) and several other institutions including private hospitals, the newspaper concerned and several electronic media groups.

It had been of no avail. Although the Association of Plastic Surgeons pointed out that Dr. Gamage was not a surgeon, that he was a private practitioner in internal medicine and cardiology and did not have a post-graduate degree in surgery either from the United States of America (USA) or Sri Lanka, that he has had no training in plastic surgery from any recognised institution and has never been a board certified specialist and there was blatant advertising violating medical ethics, no action seemed to have been forthcoming.

Dr. Gamage continued to advertise on his website ‘Lanka Cosmetic’ that he had 25 years of experience in the USA and was trained in the latest techniques of cosmetic laser and cosmetic surgery.

His website also stated: “Liposculpting with local anaesthesia provides patients with safe liposuction with less pain. No risk to life, faster recovery and better results compared to traditional liposuction performed under general anaesthesia.

“My technique of tumescent liposuction is unique. Having trained as a cardiologist in USA provides me with skills required to evaluate patients preoperatively. I do not use any sedatives or other analge-

The post-mortem examination on the woman doctor was conducted by Colombo’s Chief Judicial Medical Officer, Dr. Ajith Tennakoon, on Wednesday.

Sources at the Judicial Medical Office said that the cause of death will be known only after the examination of tissue samples taken from the body. The investigation will possibly take about a month.

Meanwhile, Government Analyst Sakunthala Tennakoon said that she was awaiting specimens from the postmortem. sics........”

Having secured his MBBS from the Colombo Medical Faculty in 1982, what Dr. Kevin Nimal Gamage, as he was registered in the USA, he conveniently failed to reveal was that he had board certification in the USA for internal medicine but no qualifications as a specialist in plastic and cosmetic surgery.

Another crucial factor was that Dr. Gamage’s licence had been revoked in June 1995 by the Medical Board of California for many malpractices including sexual misconduct and fraudulently creating medical records and insurance claims. In 2005 he had been placed on a seven-year probationary period. In 2009, his appeal to terminate his probation had been turned down. It was then that he returned to Sri Lanka.

The strictures on him as laid out on March 3, 2004 by the Medical Board of California included “no solo practice, no physician assistant supervision, 3rd party chaperone present while consulting, examining, treating female patients”.

However, back in Sri Lanka, he had become a so-called popular cos- metic surgeon, firstly working from a medical clinic in Colombo 7 and later moving to Visakha Road, having his clinic in one apartment building and his residence in another apartment building down the same road.

Not only didn’t the Health Ministry heed the warnings of the Association of Plastic Surgeons, but a senior health administrator and an oft-quoted nurse in a premier Government hospital in Colombo took upon themselves the task of extolling the virtues of this “unqualified specialist” on national TV at prime time, doctors alleged.

A young woman who “nearly went” to Dr. Gamage for treatment last year after seeing the hype on TV told the Sunday Times, “Just check the Youtube”. The Sunday Times found that throughout 2012, 2013 and even as recently as May, this year, the television publicity was immense.

When this young woman and her mother rang the bell of the apartment in June, last year, what met their eyes had confused them. “Several young women in clothes which did not seem to suit a medical clinic were moving about,” she said, while after a cursory chat and not a single test, Dr. Gamage allegedly told her that her hands were blocked with fat. He had assured her that not only her hands can be cured but he can also make her more beautiful. The booking fee for the procedure was Rs. 10,000 and the arms liposuction Rs. 80,000.

This young woman never went back, but many including politicians, both men and women, and VIPs have been frequent clients of Dr. Gamage, sources said.

Several who had various issues after Dr. Gamage’s procedures have been treated at the National Hospital and other hospitals, the Sunday Times understands.

With the clinic being sealed this week, many doctors pointed out that the vital basis on which medicine is practised, ‘Do no harm’, had not been adhered to, while the health authorities had turned a blind eye.