Doctor appeals to GMC over deaths of Zimbabwe children

A DOCTOR accused of failing to carry out post-surgery care for two infants acted "wholly indefensibly" by sending a baby boy home just 75 minutes after an operation, a tribunal heard yesterday.

The Perth-born anaesthetist, Richard McGown, was jailed for four months in Zimbabwe seven years ago over the deaths of two young children in his care. He appeared before the General Medical Council in a bid to clear his name in his native land.

In 1995, following a protracted legal wrangle, the authorities in Zimbabwe found Dr McGown, 63, guilty of culpable homicide for negligently administering "dangerous doses of morphine" to two local youngsters. The doctor lost a bid to clear his name in Harare, in March this year.

Appearing before the GMC, Dr McGown admitted breaching his duty to ensure the safe recovery of a 19-month-old infant who had attended his surgery for a routine circumcision. However, despite this admission, Dr McGown, who was accused of being racially motivated and described as a "nazi" and nicknamed "Dr Death" in his adopted Harare, also told the tribunal he denied serious professional misconduct and failing to care properly for a nine-year-old girl, who died following an appendix operation.

The hearing was told that the baby boy was admitted to the Avenue Clinic in Harare on July 13 1988 for a circumcision because he had problems urinating. As part of the procedure, Dr McGown, who was educated in Scotland and has always been registered in the UK, gave the boy a caudal injection of morphine into the spine for pain relief.

Joanna Glynn, for the GMC, said that Dr McGown was fully aware of the risks of the morphine injection and that "under no circumstances should a child be allowed to leave the care and support of the hospital for at least 24 hours if given a caudal morphine injection".

The boy’s father, who flew over from Harare, told the committee that after the operation, Mr McGown handed him his son saying: "Here is your child, I’ve brought him back from the dead."

However, later at home, the child began vomiting and was rushed back to the clinic. "After 15 minutes the doctor said our son had passed away and we were in shock," the father said.

The case continues.