World Medical Association Condemns Sixth Deferment Of Trial Of
Turkish Doctor
The World Medical Association today condemned a decision by a court
in Turkey to defer yet again the trial of a Turkish doctor charged
with refusing to hand over to the authorities the names and records
of patients he has treated.
Dr Tufan Köse, who works in the Ceyhan Muradiye health centre
in Adana in south west Turkey, was charged with "disobedience
to the order of official authorities" after he refused to
disclose to the Turkish authorities information form the medical
records of 167 alleged victims of torture he had treated.
Dr Ian Field, secretary general of the World Medical Association,
who attended the trial, said today:
"The deferment of the case for the sixth time by the Turkish
court is a poor outlook for international medical ethics. Dr Köse's
action in withholding confidential medical information about his
patients from the authorities follows principles of medical ethics
that are generally accepted across the world. Confidential information
of this nature should only be handed over with the specific consent
of the patient concerned.
"Governments who disregard such principles to suit their
own ends must be challenged and when innocent doctors are jailed,
it is the duty of the medical community across the world to protest."
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