Dubai’s Health Authority (DHA) has suspended the medical license of a physician currently under investigation for causing the death of a patient in the United Kingdom. Dr. Mitra Nikkhah has been charged with manslaughter caused by gross negligence in the death of an elderly patient. Dr. Nikkhah allegedly prescribed penicillin to the patient despite being told by his wife he was allergic to the drug. A month after being charged with the crime, Dr. Nikkhah had relocated to Dubai and had begun practicing medicine there. DHA had not performed a background check or a license verification on the doctor before granting her a medical license. The DHA now affirms that they will conduct background checks and license verifications on all incoming physicians and all physicians currently working in the country.
According to this article, this isn’t the first time DHA had granted a medical license to a physician who had previously lost his license in the U.K. So, why didn’t they think to check backgrounds and verify licenses back then?
Fool me twice, shame on me!
Officials to investigate physicians’ histories
By Mitya Underwood, The National – November 18, 2008
DUBAI // Health officials revealed plans to conduct background checks and verify the licence of every medical professional working in the emirate.
The announcement coincides with the trial in the UK this week of a Dubai-based doctor accused of killing a patient by giving him the wrong medication.
The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) said it would follow closely the criminal case against Dr Mitra Nikkhah, who was apparently practising in Dubai a month after she was charged in the UK. It has already suspended Dr Nikkhah’s licence and said it would take further action against her if necessary.
The DHA said it had been planning the background checks before Dr Nikkhah’s case came to light. The checks are to include examining employment records.
They will be incorporated in a four-year overhaul of the emirate’s healthcare system begun in June, under which about 15,000 medical professionals will be required to reapply for their licences.
Dr Nikkhah, 41, was working as a locum GP in a health centre in Plymouth, England, in May 2006 when she allegedly prescribed penicillin to an elderly patient, despite being told he was allergic to the drug.
The patient, David Townsend, 73, went into anaphylactic shock and died, the Plymouth Crown Court heard at the start of her trial on Monday.
