BEIRUT: The Beirut Order of Physicians is investigating every complaint it receives and taking disciplinary measures where appropriate, the order’s head said, rebutting Health Minister Wael Abu Faour after he accused the body of not holding doctors accountable for wrongdoing.
Speaking to The Daily Star in an interview at his office in Beirut Tuesday, Antoine Boustani said the order was investigating and responding to complaints within 10-15 days of receiving them. He pointed to its treatment of four recent complaints forwarded by Abu Faour, the most recent Monday.
“We swiftly investigated the first three and sent a response to two of them, and we will respond to the third very soon,” he said. “As for the fourth complaint, we summoned the doctor for investigation. So what’s the mistake we are making?”
Boustani’s remarks come days after Abu Faour said that the order had received many complaints over errors by medical practitioners but had not held anyone responsible for these mistakes. The Health Ministry cannot punish any physician before referring to the order.
The minister accused the order of showing no eagerness to preserve people’s health, instead choosing to protect physicians regardless of whether they made mistakes.
“I was able to gather around 1,200 complaints we received over the past few years. Out of these ... 400 complaints prompted disciplinary measures,” Boustani said.
Dozens of these 400 physicians were banned from practicing the profession, he said, and several others were expelled from the order.
Boustani added that the cases of some other physicians who made medical errors had been resolved by compensation being paid to the families of the patients at their request.
He complained that doctors were being blamed for the death of every patient, although often the death is the result of complications that have nothing to do with them.
“If something [wrong] happened, then this is because of either a medical error or because of complications,” he said.
“But in Lebanon, complications are not allowed. If a patient dies, then the doctor is to blame.”
Boustani said that if an investigation showed that complications and side effects caused the death, which he said could happen in the best medical centers in the world, then the order is accused of protecting the relevant doctor.
“Either the verdict is in line with the wishes of the patient’s family, or the order will be accused of covering up for the doctor’s mistake. We will not accept this.”
Separately, Boustani said that a solution to the delay in the adoption of the unified prescription form was on the way.
Under the law approved by Parliament in March 2010, the patient, pharmacist and health care provider should all have copies of the same prescription form, which would include the doctor’s name, number, and his or her registration number with the order.
Printed by the order, the new forms aim to better monitor medications and prevent their sale without a prescription from a doctor.
The prescription would also serve as a legal document for consent between the doctor and the patient when they agree to switch to generic medications, which are cheaper than original medications.
Medicine in Lebanon is among the most expensive in the region.
But Boustani said that under the bylaws of the National Social Security Fund, a pharmacist is not allowed to sell the patient a substitute for the medicine mentioned on the prescription, which effectively prevents the patient from switching to generic drugs.
The NSSF does not cover the cost of the substituted medicine.
“Yesterday, there was meeting between the labor minister, health minister, head of Parliament’s Public Health, Labor and Social Affairs Committee and the National Social Security Fund. They said that they will amend the relevant article.”
Boustani said he refused Abu Faour’s request that the order prints the forms before these obstacles were resolved, noting that the printing process costs around $1.5 million.
He complained that in response to the order’s stance over this issue, Abu Faour ordered the separate payment of doctors’ fees and hospital fees by health care providers to be stopped, “But how are these two issues related?”
In line with a law passed by Parliament in 1994, the system was introduced to make it easier and quicker for doctors to get their fees.
Before that, health care providers used to pay the fees of hospitals and doctors together, but physicians complained that they were then having a hard time receiving theirs from hospitals.
Boustani also said he would continue to oppose a proposal to grant permits for opening three new medical schools in Lebanon, citing the market’s saturation. “There are requests for another four medical schools that will be made once the first three are licensed.”
Boustani said that according to the World Health Organization, there should be a doctor for every 1,200 individuals. “In France there is one doctor for every 1,500 individuals, while in Lebanon, there is one doctor for every 350 individuals.”
Currently, there are seven medical schools in Lebanon and around 14,000 doctors registered with the Beirut and Tripoli orders of physicians. “According to studies by international institutions, over 50 percent of them are barely making LL1 million a month,” Boustani said.
“The priority for this doctor will be to earn a living rather than to read and update his medical knowledge. This is no longer medicine.”
Elected in May 2013 for a three-year term, Boustani was responsible for raising the monthly retirement salary for doctors from LL600,000 to LL1 million. He said he planned to raise it again to LL1.5 million.
He also said that a company began computerizing paperwork at the order three months ago, and is expected it to finalize its work within six months.
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