Punishment of doctors must fit their crime

BMJ 1998;316:1248 ( 18 April )

Letters

Punishment of doctors must fit their crime

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ All readers, parents of children with congenital heart disease, and paediatric cardiologists will sympathise with theparents of Deborah Jenkins, who had severe complex congenitalheart disease and died at the age of 6 after an exploratory operationby Dr James Taylor, a paediatric cardiologist at the Hospitalfor Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London. Deborah's parentshad consented to cardiac catheterisation but had expressly saidthat a balloon catheter should not be used. Thus if DrTaylor used a balloon catheter against their consent he brokethe law. No one, especially medical practitioners, is above thelaw, and therefore he had to be punished and was suspended fromthe medical register for six months.

The waters of comprehension and compassion have been muddied by the genuine and understandable anger of the public at the"rotten apples" in the profession of medicine: those who assaultand sexually interfere with . . . [Full text of this article]