'Killer drugs GP should be struck off'

An investigation by The Scotsman found nine doctors have been struck off and 99 are currently the subject of a range of sanctions, dating back to 2006.

Sanctions include the General Medical Council (GMC) preventing doctors from prescribing opiates due to their own drug addiction, forcing them to work under supervision and banning them from carrying out certain medical procedures.

Rena Brady, 42, whose mother died after being given the wrong prescription for her bad back, said doctors were continuing to keep their jobs when they should be struck off.

The Scotsman investigation found other doctors have had convictions for drink-driving and domestic abuse, calling into question their fitness to practise.

One doctor, in Glasgow, who has not been struck off, obtained supplies of painkillers by presenting 22 prescriptions at pharmacies between April 2003 and August 2005. In November 2005 he was interviewed by Strathclyde Police and admitted the drugs were for his own use.

He also presented prescriptions for a range of drugs, including Diamorphine and Diazepam. In May last year he was convicted of forgery. The GMC suspended his registration for 12 months from September last year.

In a separate case, a Glasgow doctor was convicted of possessing cocaine in March last year but was only given a warning by the GMC.

Mrs Brady said her mother, Catherine Rodger, died in November 2005, hours after taking a fatal dose of painkillers ten times the correct strength. The family was awarded undisclosed damages earlier this year after suing the doctor and pharmacist responsible.

Mrs Brady, from Dundee, said her 74-year-old mother was fit and healthy and should not have died so prematurely.

The woman's relatives took legal action against Dr Salahuddin Malik, of Downfield Surgery in Dundee, who wrote the lethal prescription, and pharmacist Andrew Nixon, who dispensed the massive overdose at the neighbouring Alliance pharmacy.

Court papers show that for 18 months, Mrs Rodger's regular dose of painkillers was 10mg of morphine sulphate tablets, but in November 2005 Dr Malik handwrote a prescription for two 100mg morphine sulphate tablets.

Dr Malik was issued with a warning in August 2007 following an investigation that found he was fit to practise.

Mrs Brady said: "I feel Dr Malik should have been struck off ... but he was given a warning and is back at work.

"I was surprised by the number of doctors with sanctions. The public needs to know exactly what the sanctions are.

"People are going to their GP, unaware that they may be a problem. These people are suspended for a short time and they are back in. They would be instantly dismissed, in any other walk of life."

Margaret Watt, from the Scottish Patients' Association, believes Dr Malik's case is a prime example where a GP should have been dismissed. She claims she has a dossier of examples where patients have died or been injured as a result of their doctors' incompetence.

She said: "What price can you put on a life? I think for the safety of patients it is unacceptable that these doctors continue practising.

"The only way doctors will smarten up is if they see others being sacked."

Last night a spokeswoman for the GMC said: "The vast majority of doctors are good doctors working in often difficult conditions.

"Of the 19,910 doctors with a registered address in Scotland only a small number have sanctions on their registration."

Violence, bungling, theft - but still in a job

AMONG the doctors allowed to continue working after misconduct hearings are:

Dr Graeme Holt, who was convicted in Glasgow in 2006. He punched a woman in the face, severely injuring her. The GMC suspended him for three months.

Dr Christopher Vella Bonnici, who was found guilty of failing to realise a patient was awake during surgery at a Birmingham hospital.

Richard Archer, a partner at a group of surgeries, which cover the Queen's Sandringham estate, who pleaded guilty to stealing morphine, pethidine and diamorphine in 2003.