Filenews 1 September 2021 - by Marilena Panagi
Three charges of cases against a small number of doctors are being investigated by the Ethics Committee of the Pancyprian Medical Association, which will soon complete its work and will probably refer certain members of the PIS to the Disciplinary Board for sentencing.
In his statements, the chairman of the Ethics Committee, Michalis Anastasiades, said that at the moment there are "cases of three categories under the microscope. One category is the one concerning fake vaccination certificates related to SafePass, the second is about prescribing inappropriate treatment regimens to coronavirus patients, and the third category is about doctors urging citizens not to be vaccinated for the coronavirus."
Regarding the prescription of shapes and in essence "cocktails of vitamins and drugs", Mr. Anastasiades said that "for a doctor to prescribe specific formulations is not wrong, a doctor may prescribe approved drugs. But prescribing specific treatment regimens and inappropriate treatments for Covid-19 is something completely different and wrong." At the same time, he said, "there may be some risks behind this practice, not because of what is prescribed but because they give hope to the patient that he will be well but in the end he is transferred to an advanced level of the disease in the hospital." Regarding the issuance of fake vaccination certificates, Mr. Anastasiades said that no complaint has been made to the PIS, "but we are aware of the case that is being investigated by the Police".
The complaints examined by the Ethics Committee of the PIS come either from relatives of patients or from doctors who "have received such information from their own patients". The Ethics Committee will then "submit the report to the PIS and has the opportunity from then on to refer it to the Disciplinary Board.
Regarding the complaints about doctors with fake degrees or certificates of specialties, Mr. Anastasiades said that "in the last year, too many complaints have come to us that are not related to the pandemic, with their severity of course differing. Not all cases are serious. Among them are some that involve doctors' qualifications, but I repeat they are not all of the same seriousness."
Police spokesman Christos Andreou also referred to the cases concerning medical degrees of dubious authenticity, stating that "already the case files for two doctors operating in Nicosia have been forwarded to the Legal Service for study and instructions for further handling, while they are expected at a later stage to be brought to justice".
