In a recent House Human Rights Committee session, lawmakers and medical professionals voiced strong criticism towards the Cyprus Medical Association for its handling of cases involving doctors convicted by courts, yet retain their medical licenses.
The discussion was ignited by a case involving a doctor who was convicted twice for indecent assault against his patients but has not had his medical license revoked.
Committee chair, MP Irene Charalambides, who initially raised the issue for discussion, called for government intervention. Addressing the Minister of Health, who was present at the meeting, she stated, “It’s time for the Ministry to intervene and change the way the Cyprus Medical Association acts in such cases.”
“Is it right that a doctor is convicted by a court and then the Cyprus Medical Association has to conduct its own investigation? What about the safety of the patients? This doctor had been convicted in the past and his license was not revoked, and now he is convicted a second time,” said Charalambides.
MP Alexandra Attalides expressed surprise that “on the day the doctor’s conviction was made public, who had been previously convicted for indecent assault against his patients, I heard a representative of the Cyprus Medical Association say that now, after the conviction, the medical association will proceed with its own investigation. So, despite a court conviction, we have to wait for the Cyprus Medical Association to complete its own investigation?”
The committee members demanded the revocation of the specific doctor’s professional license and initially directed their criticism towards the Health Insurance Organisation, as the doctor provides services within the General Health System.
However, a representative of the Health Insurance Organisation pointed out that the organisation does not have the authority to revoke any doctor’s professional license.
The Health Insurance Organisation can only expel the doctor from the General Health System, which does not prevent him from practising medicine outside the system.
Haris Armeftis, the president of the Cyprus Association of Private Doctors, was particularly vocal, stating, “Logically, after the court’s decision, the Cyprus Medical Association should revoke the professional license of this doctor. It is a demand from us doctors as well, and unfortunately, this practice is followed in other cases as well, affecting an entire professional sector.”
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