GMC Fails Robbie PowellThe BBC Reported the embarrassing defeat of the General Medical Council yesterday. This is one of a series of defeats suffered by the beleaguered regulatory body.
"Robbie Powell, 10, died of Addison's disease, a chronic but treatable condition affecting the adrenal glands.Robbie's father William Powell, of Ystradgynlais, Powys, had asked the GMC to investigate in 2003.The case brought by Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA) will now go to a full judicial review. A GMC spokeswoman has previously said it would be inappropriate for the council to comment ahead of the judicial review.Mr Powell believed there was a "cover-up" by doctors who had allegedly falsified documents relating to his son's care to convince others of their competence.
"Nigel Pleming QC, counsel for the charity, told Mr Justice Davis that is was wrong in law and irrational for the GMC to apply the five-year rule and to say there were no exceptional circumstances to justify the case proceeding in the public interest".
The reaction from the decent side of the medical profession was presented by The Jobbing Doctor as well as Dr John Crippen.
JC stated
"What appalls me even more than the medical mistakes – and God knows they are bad enough – is what followed. It seems that one of the doctors tried to alter the evidence retrospectively, immediately taking himself from the civil to the criminal law. From the coroner’s court up to the European Court Court of Human Rights, justice was neither done, nor was it seen to be done. Despite fighting for ten years, this family was deprived of a remedy"
Mark Shaw QC represented the GMC, Kieran Coonan QC, Mary O'Rourke and Bertie Leigh represented the doctors. AVMA was represented by Nigel Pleming QC and Jeremy Hyam and were instructed by Richard Stein of Leigh Day and Co.
The Assistant Registrar who dealt with Robbie's case was Shaun Moggan.
Mark Shaw QC submitted to the court that the GMC is "only reactive and not proactive". ???!!!!!!. At this point, we truly wonder what the actual function of the GMC is.
The doctors argued that they have been pursued relentlessly. No doctor was remorseful about their role in the death of a small boy. Their predicament now is essentially self inflicted and well deserved. No doctor involved in this case has been able to categorically state that they have been honest. All articles on Robbie Powell can be accessed on Google UK.
We have access to a letter from the CPS dated 17.4.03. It states
“I hope this letter makes it clear that our decision does not imply that the doctors were without fault. In fact the evidence highlights mistakes on behalf of many of the professionals involved in Robbie’s care. They should accept responsibility for the part that their mistakes played in bringing about Robbie’s death.”
The General Medical Council should hang their head in shame. They should be representing those of us who believe in honesty, transparency and decency in the medical profession. As a group of doctors, we apologise to Will Powell and his family for the dysfunctional conduct meted out by our regulatory body. We are embarassed to be associated with a regulatory body that clearly does not protect patients or good doctors.
It is time the doctors in this case made an admission of guilt, apologised unreservedly to the family and stopped practicing medicine. That is the decent thing to do.
AVMA's press release can be accessed here.
