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Editorial: Oath, ethics denied
"All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, I will keep secret and will never reveal
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"All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, I will keep secret and will never reveal. If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all men and in all times; but if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot."
The quote above is from the Hippocratic Oath, an oath traditionally taken by physicians the world over, which binds them to the ethical practice of medicine.
Yet the oath has apparently been violated by a team of doctors from Pertamina General Hospital when they announced Friday that Maftuh Fauzi, a 27-year-old National University (UNAS) student who clashed with police in a rally last month, had died of AIDS-related complications.
The doctors' announcement not only violated the universally acknowledged oath -- widely attributed to Hippocrates, the 4th century B.C. physician -- but also article 12 of the code of ethics of the Indonesian Medical Doctors Association (IDI) on the requirement for every physician to keep all medical records of their patients classified even after the patient is dead.
Moreover, it also violates a 1966 government regulation requiring privacy for all medical patients.
The doctors' statement, which they made with the approval of Maftuh's parents, breached all barriers of common sense.
A violation of article 12 of the IDI code of ethics can be viewed as a criminal offense under article 322 of the Criminal Code, and carries a maximum nine-month prison sentence.
And the 1966 government regulation stipulates the Health Minister can impose administrative sanctions against those violating the regulation.
A controversial element of the doctors' announcement was their claim AIDS was the cause of death. AIDS, as such, does not kill -- rather, it weakens the immune system and makes the patient more susceptible to infections and other illnesses.
The announcement also raised controversy by opposing a previous medical examination carried out by the Indonesian Christian University (UKI). The Pertamina doctors said Maftuh had not sustained any injuries to the head, thereby effectively trashing claims by UNAS students Maftuh had died from injuries incurred during clashes with police. The UKI examination, however, found Maftuh had suffered from headaches and nausea.
Lastly, the doctors' decision to publicly announce Maftuh had AIDS, even if it was true, was very ill-informed. In Indonesia, to have HIV/AIDS carries a huge social stigma which reflects not only on the affected person, but also on their family and friends.
The hospital and its doctors, therefore, must take immediate steps to make things right by revealing the true results of medical examinations on Maftuh. It will be honorable for the hospital and the doctors to admit their wrongdoings, should their previous statements prove incorrect.
They should not wait for the results of an independent investigation by the IDI to prove them wrong. The sooner they admit their mistakes, the less severe the backlash to the hospital and its staff will be.
Pertamina General Hospital has always had a good reputation for its excellent services and professionalism. It should not have to face Health Ministry-imposed administrative sanctions or a general shunning of it by patients just because of the failure of some of its doctors to uphold the Hippocratic Oath, the IDI code of ethics and the relevant government regulation.
Or to quote from Hippocrates once again: "if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot".
And that is precisely what Pertamina General Hospital and its doctors do not want to happen.
