The Medical and Dental Council (MDC) has finally commenced hearings into the case brought against a Medical Doctor at the 37 Military Hospital on charges of extortion and medical negligence, four years after a complaint was filed.
The Doctor was responsible for managing the case of Solomon Asare-Kumah, who was admitted on August 22, 2019 and passed away on October 21 of the same year.
The medical officer is accused by the family of illegally charging the family GH¢40,000 for a procedure that they ended up paying for again to the hospital, contrary to assurances that the payment was for the entire management of the patient, including his surgical procedure.
The hearing followed the consideration by the Penal Cases Committee of the MDC on August 28, 2020 which “unanimously agreed that the case should be forwarded to the Disciplinary Committee for a full inquiry,” a document from the MDC stated.
Subsequent to this complaint, the MDC referred the complaint to the Army Headquarters, which instituted a Military Board of Inquiry into the matter in 2020.
Since the completion of the inquiry in 2020, the Military Authority failed to furnish the family with a copy of its findings or recommendations, prompting the family to seek redress in a High Court, which ruled that the report be released to the family.
Background to Case
It will be recalled that the Accra High Court ordered the 37 Military Hospital to disclose findings made by a Board of Inquiry set up to investigate matters relating to the death of Solomon Asare-Kumah.
The Hospital was given 10 days to release the report to the plaintiff, Emmanuel Asare-Kumah.
Although the Hospital claims the report directly touches on confidential security matters and would, therefore, open the floodgates for potential suites, the court said ‘No’.
The Presiding Judge, Justice Charles Edward Ekow Baiden, a Court of Appeal judge, with additional responsibility of the High Court, failed to see the connection between the Board of Inquiry report on the deceased on national security implications.
According to the judgement delivered on June 4, 2023 even if the Board of Inquiry had the discretion to deny the plaintiff/applicant the right to disclosure, that discretion must be exercised fairly, reasonably and not arbitrary or in a biased manner.
The court could not understand why the same health facility would disclose information about an allegation on a missing twin, and would turn round to do otherwise in this particular instance.
This, His Lordship intimated that, “after a lengthy experiments with military regimes, we the people of Ghana began a new path towards constitutional supremacy in 1992.
“The 1992 Constitution we adopted for ourselves embodied the principal of accountability and the protection, and the preservation of fundamental human rights and freedoms. To achieve these solemn goals, the 1992 Constitution vested final judicial power in the judiciary,” hence the order.
Emmanuel had dragged the Attorney-General, Chief of Defence Staff, 37 Military Hospital and the said Doctor to court, over the death of his relative.
In the writ of summons, the plaintiff accused the Hospital and the said Doctor of extortion of GH¢36,200.00, negligence, breach of contract, deceit and unconscionable variation of contract, as well as undue influence.
The court, however, found these allegations in torts, and indicated that so far as the defendants were engaged in commercial transactions, they must necessarily abide by the rules of engagement, including good faith and duty to care.
No cost was awarded against the defendants in favour of the plaintiff.
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