Can we hear anything worse of this institution?

Nov 13, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
It is apparent that some well educated and respectable members of society, who we would expect to, have the nation and its well being at heart, simply doesn’t.
I refer to the recent case where a medical doctor practicing in Guyana’s largest and busiest hospital was convicted after sexually abusing a child and is still functioning as a doctor.
According to what has been reported in the media, (and I stand corrected if the information is misrepresented) the doctor’s licence to practice was revoked in the US following his conviction as a sex offender in that country.
Firstly, this doctor must have been aware that an act or tendencies of this nature will pose a serious threat to the practice of his profession.
His profession is of such that a person’s body in its fully conscious, semiconscious, unconscious or dead state is almost left to the doctor’s whims and fancies. At this point, he (the doctor) performs or prescribes whatever his studies may have thought him to employ in that particular situation.
Therefore the huge issue of trust comes into play, since in many instances, depending on the severity of the illness, persons care less of what measures have to be taken, just as long as they feel better and the symptoms are alleviated.
With all of this in mind, how can a person fully cognizant that he possesses these harmful tendencies not seek to heal himself before engaging in such a noble and sacred profession?
One of his arguments is that the sex abuse act that he was convicted of did not take place at work. He further stated that the act was committed on a child and that his patients are adults.
Is he therefore saying that he can only be trusted among adults but not children? If my memory serves me correctly, isn’t this the same doctor who was instrumental in a recent successful surgical delivery? The last time I checked, ‘a baby’ was still considered a child at its most vulnerable and innocent stage.
However, the part of this story that peeves me to the core is the fact that hospitals and by this I mean Dr. Madan Rambarran admitted that he is fully aware of the doctor’s “secret”.
Furthermore, he claims that the Medical Council was quite aware of this “secret” before the doctor was employed.
Did these people realise that this guy had already breeched the medical code of conduct? Why are we so reactive in this place?
And this state of reactivity is by far selective since I know of others with impeccable track records that are still waiting in the line for employment.
Why do we see danger eminent and still flirt with it? I thought that by now the Neesa Gopaul’s case would have caused professionals across the length and breadth of this nation to wake up and stop treating their profession in a precarious manner.
I see a definite pattern when looking at the manner in which Government and public officials carry out their jobs in this country.
I am not sure whether or not the thinking is that the poor or less fortunate in Guyana can be exposed to whomever or whatever since the services are free.
This nonsense has to stop. If Dr Rambarran and the entire Medical Council so believe and trust this guy then why not contract him as their family doctor and not throw him on us.
Our leaders and persons in authority need to make decisions with the citizenry’s best interest at heart. Recently, employees at the Georgetown Public Hospital have been under immense scrutiny and blamed for the death and maltreatment of patients. Can we hear anything worse of this institution? Do we want to find out?
I know persons will pose the argument that this country is already short of medical personnel, however, my contention is that Mr. Vishwamintra Persaud should have never been granted the opportunity to practice here since the country who granted him his licence found just reason to have them revoked and branded him unfit to practice.
Trudy Abrahams

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News