Any person should be presumed innocent until (s)he is proved guilty.” This must be the reason why the acting minister of Health, Etienne Sinatambou, finally decided to reinstate the doctors suspected of medical negligence. But none of the three doctors concerned will be authorised to practise until the end of the enquiry on the cases of a woman who died after giving birth and the eight-month baby who died from gastro-enteritis. This is the compromise reached after discussions in cabinet to give “fair treatment” to those concerned.

The reintegration actually followed a meeting with the doctors and trade unionists who showed full support to the professionals. Then, the acting minister of Health and the attorney general, Rama Valayden, reversed the stand adopted by the minister of Health, Satish Faugoo so far. The latter, who is on mission in Mozambique, had always stated that there had been no forced resignation and that the doctors had themselves decided to resign after the deaths of Nazima Goburdhun and little Annecy Clency.

The former died of “shock due to post partum haemorrhage” just after giving birth to her child in hospital while the latter’s death was caused by gastroenteritis after her mother had taken her to Candos hospital on four occasions. As a result of Nazima’s death, Dr Khalid Jaufeerally was forced to resign from his post soon after Nazima’s in-laws claimed it was a case of medical negligence. As for Annecy Clency, aged eight months, Dr Annupa Ramjuttun and Dr Kushroo Aubeeluck resigned after the baby’s mother made a statement to the police alleging medical negligence.

<I> “The fact that one of the doctors involved in the case of Annecy Clency finally decided to take back her letter of resignation must have helped the government change its position on the issue.”</I>

Soon after the sad events, the minister of Health came to the forefront saying that there must have been mismanagement in these cases and that the government would be inflexible about such incidents. Satish Faugoo even referred the case of Annecy Clency to the police after the authorities realised that three pages of the hospital occurrence book had been torn out.

The government thought there had been negligence in the case of the baby because, after being given an injection, she was sent back home without any follow-up. But Dr Ramjuttun explained that it was common practice to refer a case to a colleague and, when the baby came back to the hospital, she was not available as she was visiting other patients and Dr Aubeeluck took over. But the latter is also suspected of negligence, as he did not find it necessary to hospitalise the child even after the mother.brought her to hospital three times.

As for Nazima, the government relied on the first details of the enquiry and concluded there had been mismanagement – which had led to the resignation of Dr Jaufeerally.

However, a few days later, it seems the government has taken a more sober stand on the issue. “We are concerned about restoring justice for these three doctors by abiding by their rights. This is a way of giving them fair treatment. It is not normal that they should be found guilty before the end of the enquiry. The perception so far was that the resignation meant that they were guilty, so we have found a solution acceptable to all,” commented the acting minister, Etienne Sinatambou.

But the fact that one of the doctors involved in the case of little Annecy Clency, Dr Annupa Ramjuttun, finally decided to take back her letter of resignation – asserting that she had nothing to reproach herself with and that her letter had been written under pressure – must have helped the government change its position on the issue. She even referred the case to the Commission of Human Rights; she said the authorities refused to grant her a period of reflection before submitting her letter of resignation.

Etienne Sinatambou acknowledged that the “resignation was invited too forcefully” but nevertheless asserted that this was the “least detrimental to them”, as they had been temporarily employed on a monthly basis.

The trade unionists and the president of the Doctors’ Association, Ashock Rughoobur, are “very satisfied with the dialogue launched with the authorities on the issue”. Even though the government also shows satisfaction that a consensus could be found, it made it clear that “justice will also be done to the families who have lost their relatives with the implementation of two independent enquiries”.