Penalties increase against errant doctors

DEPUTIES have passed a legal amendment increasing the fine for doctors found guilty of disciplinary offences to €10,000.

Previously, doctors found guilty of violating the medical code of ethics by the Cyprus Medical Association’s (CMA) disciplinary council could only be fined a maximum of €850. 

Last Thursday, parliament passed a legal amendment increasing that sum more than ten-fold to €10,000. 

Head of the CMA, Andreas Demetriou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that the change was “not particularly significant” as the law says the council can impose a fine “up to” that sum, but does not fix the penalty at that figure. 

According to Demetriou, the CMA had a host of proposals that it wanted deputies to pass, during which the MPs added their own on the penalty increase, reasoning that it would provide more of a deterrent against errant doctors. 

“We did not object but I don’t find the decision particularly significant. The disciplinary council finds its most powerful tool to be the option of striking a doctor off the registry,” he said. 

Demetriou highlighted that the council only deals with violations of ethical conduct, not cases of negligence which are the remit of the law courts. 

Other amendments passed by the House include a decision to reduce the disciplinary council’s members from 11 to five, making it easier for the body to convene and complete its work. 

Rules on the convening of the CMA’s general assembly were also changed, allowing the assembly to have a quorum, regardless of the numbers present. All the assembly has to do if not enough people show up is wait 30 minutes and then start proceedings, at which point its decisions will be covered by the law. 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.