Don’t Jail Doctors Blog Campaign
posted in - Nation, - Palmdoc |*** This post is a sticky and will remain as such until Dr. Basmullah is freed ***
*** Update : After spending 60 days in jail, Dr. Basmullah was released on March 18, 2008 ***
Calling all doctor and student bloggers and anyone who can help. The Government has begun to arrest and jail doctors on a technicality – not registering their clinic with the PHFSA. This act treats doctors like common criminals. These are community doctors who have not committed a serious crime but instead face an incredibly harsh sentence for their technical lapse. Dr Basmullah Yusof, a family practitioner, is the first victim of this legislation. He was sentenced despite not having legal counsel representing him, despite pleading for leniency (he had wanted to sell the clinic anyway and is in financial trouble) and as he could not pay the hefty RM 120,000 fine, he is now in Kajang prison.
You can read more about it in
The 1st clinic doctor convicted under the PHFSA
and
The 1st clinic doctor convicted under the PHFSA (II)
The ex-Health Minister had promised that the Act would be used only against Bogus doctors and Bogus clinics. To date we are not aware of any Bogus doctor arrested and jailed under the Act, yet, we see that legitimate licensed APC holding medical practitioners are now being targeted.
Facts about the PHFSA:
- this was implemented in 2006 without adequate prior discussion with the medical profession
- it is excessively harsh in its punitive aspects : up to 500,000 ringgit fine or jail which seems to be over the top
- it has huge potential for abuse of power
- it criminalizes doctors for “infringements” which include trivial issues like the dimensions of one’s clinic, direction in which your toilet door swings and dictates whether or not you can sweep your floor!
In support of Dr. Basmullah, we urge all of you to put up this logo in your Blogs and Websites until this travesty of justice is reversed. Please download or link to the above image.
To aid you, you may use the following code, copy and paste in a suitable place in your website/blog:
(Credit to dranony of the MMR Forums for designing the logo)
If you don’t have a website you can also help out by printing out posters, for distribution and pasting in your clinic/office door/wall. Help publicise this travesty of justice!
Thanks go out to fellow bloggers for their support:
Bernard
Chang Yang
Doc Chan
DrRizad
Fibrate
Fooji
Jimbo
Mott
Pilocarpine
Yan
Yenjai
UM Medical Class of 1979
Malaysian Politics
What A Lulu
the __earthinc
palmo anest
Gene’s files
Reflection
YP
license to spill
dR_Skybl@z€r.n3t
Shahieddah
Has
Jing
miqdadrules
Crimsonmaverick
Random Musings from a Doctor’s Chair
doc1s1n
Minci
Kiwi-bird
Incompletetask
Zi Yang
Fluid Immobility
Khairul-o-rama
Medicboyz
ibnhussinRabbani
d . y . t . i . a
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February 4th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
mmm this is not good… DON’T JAIL DOCTORS!!!
February 4th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Thanks for your support. It’s sad that there are doctors not even aware of this issue, and there are members of the public who think Dr. Basmullah deserves to go to jail. Perhaps they have been misled by the spin doctoring in the MSM (main stream media)
Take this “Concerned Malaysian” who commented in Malaysia Today
It is sad that there are those who think the DJD blog campaign is “stupid”. The purpose is to create awareness and to rectify a travesty of justice. The facts are:
1) Dr. Basmullah technically broke the law by not registering his clinic under a new law – PHFSA 1998, Regulations 2006 which came into effect only in May 2006, not 10 years ago.
2) Prior to that Dr. Basmullah was not running an illegal clinic. His clinic was legitimate and he is a licensed and legitimate medical doctor. It is only a new law that makes him a “criminal”.
3) Did the authorities have to go down so harshly on him? Did he have to be slapped with so heavy a fine that he had no choice but to go to jail?
4) Why did the court not advise or offer him legal counsel?
The spirit of the PHFSA and Regulations 2006 was supposed to be weeding out the bogus doctors and the bad hats. We think in Dr. Basmullah’s case, there were mitigating points. Yes, he broke the law but we don’t think he deserves to go to jail.
But there are callous people lke Malaysiaputra who made the comment
Even if the doctor concerned was a caring one, who went on medical missions, who treated the poor, who was chartiable and humble, but could not afford to renovate his clinic to comply with nitty gritty details in Regulations 2006, I guess there will still be people like Malaysiaputra wouldn’t give two hoots.
February 5th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I totally agree and support the campaign against the outrageous jailing of our colleague.
This may constitute a misuse of the law and in legal parlance, misfeasance. In some jurisdictions, this is classified as corrupt conduct.
So, it can be a two edged sword! Watch the space!
But, regarding NOT jailing doctors as a generic slogan, I do not agree. I would like to see some doctors in several jurisdictions spend time in prison for corruption, misfeasance and so on!
February 7th, 2008 at 6:35 am
Oh I do agree doctors should be jailed if they deserve it.
But for a slogan, it’s difficult to come out with a short one to catch one’s attention.
February 8th, 2008 at 8:31 am
If you’re feeling depressed about all this, here’s a song to cheer you up. Bushido came up with a witty variation of a Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren classic, “Goodness Gracious Me!”
We posted it here: http://medicine.com.my/wp/?p=1280
Him: Can I see your organisation plan ?
Me: Arghhhhhhhh !
Him: Nothing is conforming, off to jail you go !
Me: But you promised to be lenient
Him: Maybe I did
Me: Must I close down ?
Him: Yes.
Me: Ahhh…
February 11th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Ahhh! Bien sur, monsieur
Talking about Peter Sellers, I think the law enforcer in this case had appeared to be acting like Inspector Clueso!
eg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_of_the_Pink_Panther
February 11th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
We’ve got CCR to support us too
http://medicine.com.my/wp/?p=3087
February 15th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Slogans are meant to be short and catchy,
easy to remember, quick to the point.
They are not meant to be wordy legal definitions.
eg “Don’t Drink and Drive!”
We wouldn’t expect the slogan to specify whether the drink is caffienated or alcoholic – the meaning is inferred from the catchy phrase itself. Even if not immediately understood, perhaps the questioning of the meaning of the slogan itself, and the subsequent revelation of the meaning by someone else who knows, would help spread the message. That would mean that the slogan have served its intent – creating awareness.
February 15th, 2008 at 8:43 am
I agree.
Whilst not to be perceived as defending my posting, I wish to state that we, the medical profession cannot and should not view ourselves as gods or demi-gods.
In other words, we doctors are not above the law (unlike some past and present leaders etc).
Our place in society is a temporary privilege granted during our biological lifetimes and this can be revoked at any time – and this should be so – in any well developed society, or one aspiring to be so.
In this particular case, my opinion is that the people who decided to prosecute Dr B, had acted above the law and the judge had erred (without stating too much to pre-empt the judicial review)
Try this(memories from school days)
“The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven. Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed- It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes.”
Will Shakespeare
February 20th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Don’t Jail Honest Doctors! I will put up the logo on my blog too Palmdoc. Of course in the heat of elections, poor Dr Basmullah has been left to rot in jail. In terms of slogans, my contribution is WWJD…Wait!Why Jail Doctors?
March 22nd, 2008 at 8:33 am
logo is up on my blog.
Any updates on Dr B’s fate?
March 22nd, 2008 at 9:01 am
Added your link, thanks. No news so far. It will be coming to two months in jail soon if he were not…
March 22nd, 2008 at 9:04 am
I sms’d the contacts in the MMR Forums and I have just been informed that Dr. Basmullah was released on March 18.