Suspension of consultant raises serious issues

BMJ 1998;316:1677 ( 30 May )

Letters

Suspension of consultant raises serious issues

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

EDITOR $---$ The recent news item¹ and the subsequent letter and correction² about the hearing of Dr James Taylor before theGeneral Medical Council have not taken account of some seriousissues raised by this case, which will affect interventional physicians,cardiologists, and radiologists as well as obstetricians, surgeons,and others.

The accusation had been about consent, not of medical negligence. Negligence forms no part of the hearing. At issue was theextent to which consent is covered in the standard consent formused in NHS hospitals. After lengthy debate by counsel both forthe GMC and Dr Taylor, the GMC's legal adviser omitted the stronglegal challenge by defending counsel. He relied on his interpretationof two previous, distinctly different, cases reviewed by the PrivyCouncil.

It was accepted that "consent" may not be required if the medical action was "necessary, in the child's best interest, andmedically justified." . . . [Full text of this article]