Friday, 3rd July 2009 - 13:17CET
Couple file protest against medical consultant
Joseph and Anna Maria Dougall have filed a judicial protest against Dr Massimo Abela, a consultant at Mater Dei Hospital, over his alleged attitude towards them on June 16.
They said that Mrs Dougall had called at the Orthopaedic Outpatients Clinic to have her right arm examined after having been placed in plaster three weeks previously.
The doctor on duty removed the plaster and decided that it would be better if the arm as seen by consultant Massimo Abela.
When Dr Abela showed up, Mrs Dougall,who was accompanied by her husband, said she was still in pain and occasionally sought treatment from a Chinese masseur in an effort to ease her pain.
The Dougalls claimed that immediately on hearing this, Dr Abela stopped treating Mrs Dougall and told her not to return to hospital. He also told her that it was up to her to get used to the pain.
Mr and Mrs Dougall said in their protest that Mrs Dougall had every right to use the free medical services at Mater Dei and Dr Abela had no right to refuse his services, just because he disagreed with alternative medicine.
While Dr Abela had a right to express his opinion and give advice, he had no right to be arrogant, more so when a patient was seeking asisstance because of a pain she was feeling, the Dougalls said.
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Comments
I have personally worked with Mr. Massimo Abela as a junior collegue and has always been caring for his patients, dedicated, hardworking with a good bedside manner.
I would therefore humbly ask Ms Dougall to withdraw the protest against Mr. Massimo Abela as this has clearly been due to a lack of communication.
Mr. Richard Wismayer
General Surgery Specialist Trainee
With the growth of complementary medicine therapies and patients' interest in them, in my opinion medical personnel worldwide should become more familiar in this field.
I am aware that in some parts of the United States medical schools have introduced complementary medicine in their medical curriculum as part of their Foundation (internship) programme.
Park a Medical educationalist in 2002 wrote "The exploration of alternative medicine topics in the medical school curriculum helps to sharpen skills for clinical decision-making, increases cultural sensitivity and provides ideas for future research".
In Malta like in many parts of the world alternative medicine is unregulated and therefore the decision taken by Mr. Massimo Abela to dismiss this treatment is ethically correct.
On the other hand, medical personnel have a right to respect the patients decision to seek alternative treatments.
Mr. Richard Wismayer
General Surgery Specialist Trainee
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Does Mrs Dougall believe that a bone fracture will be cured by a couple of needles stuck in her .......arm !
I have been treated by Dr Massimo Abela for a knee problem for some time and found him to be very polite and very professional , not to say the least .
I wish Dr Abela to keep up his good work and sterling service to the Maltese community .
Instead of filing a court case and depriving Malta of the doctors valuable time,she may have taken a second opinion and probably would have been advised to take some paracetamol and sleep on it !
With regards to alternative medicine is that there are not enough evidence based studies to support its use. There are some indications in modern medicine for some therapies. Acupuncture for example can be used as an adjunct in therapy in chronic back pain, and sometimes even chronic UTI. However much more studies are required.
The problem arises when there are people who just go to some of these alternative medicine providers and believe whatever they say as bible. And take medicines/herbs that are supposed to cure things like cancer etc.
I once spoke to an alternative medicine provider, who claimed that lavender essential oil cured asthma and even influenza. When asked for the evidence the answer was simply it does from her experience.
Also the difference between herbal medicines and prescription medicines, is that prescription medicines are manufactured in factories to provide the exact amount of content. God knows what is put in herbal medicine
Arbitration to resolve the dispute or at most General Medical Council disciplinary hearings for alleged professional misconduct should have solved the issue straight away and remedied the party accordingly - although I do understand these are limited in redress.
Let us not contract the suing disease and understand the consequences of
litigation in such circumstances.
I have had a couple of patients being followed up for some time by alternative medicine specialists for back pain, and they eventually turned out to have multiple myeloma (a type of bone marrow cancer) or another type of cancer that had spread to the bones.
With regards to Massimo, he has always been very professional in his approach with patients and I am sure he felt as if the patient was not following his advice. If he discharged her from clinic since he could offer her no more treatment, seeing she was seeking advice elsewhere, then I can't really blame him.
The patient on the other hand, rather than file a judicial protest should have maybe got a referral to a different orthopaedic surgeon and complained to the Hospital Patient Advice Liaison Services (if they have not already done that).
We are privileged to have such a talented young surgeon working in our hospitals and clinics, I stand by Dr. Abela and back him 100% as I am sure all his many many other patients will.
Thank you Dr.Abela for treating us with respect and understanding.
"Doctors have the obligation to dissuade patients from being treated by unregulated alternative forms of care."
Accapuncture is unregulated??? Go back to uni - a proper one this time! I had a friend who spent years studying alternative medicine in the States and when she came back the government would not employ her for the same reasons you're giving here.
These are just protectionist strategies advocated by our local doctors who think they're so infallible!
After reading this article I felt really surprised and could not believe so I would like to say a few words about Mr Abela. My son had a very bad pain in his neck .After taking my son to 3 consultants.I decided to take him to Mr Abela & he promtly told me what was wrong with my son.Thank God now my son who is 30 years old knows what is wrong with his neck & not just stress!So me & my husband go to him for our pains & aches & he is always there welcoming us & makes us feel comfortable. To us he is one of the best orthopeadic consultant in Malta.I thank him on behalf of my family & myself
thanks
ivan desira
If I was the surgeon I would do the same! I would tell the patient it's either hospital treatment or alternative one... they don't go together. What if the alternative treatment results in damage? Then of course the patient will blame the surgeon!! In my opinion, he reacted like that, if he did react like that, because he felt that he's not trusted.
@ C.Gauci beauty therapsit .....
I think beauty therapists should change their attitude .... let doctors do their work please!! Therapists think that because they own a certificate (I have one as well) they can be experts in health! You're supposed to know what damage a wrongly made massage can do! Some therapists think they're doctors ..... NO WAY !!
Acupuncture is a recognised and regulated profession in Malta regulated by the Council for Professions Complimentary to Medicine (CPCM). Code of Practice at the link below.
http://sahha.gov.mt/showdoc.aspx?id=84&filesource=4&file=COPAcupuncture.pdf
So is Chinese medicine/treatment/acupuncture officially recognized?
A 42 year old lady was diagnosed with breast cancer and she was offered surgery and chemotherapy.
She went to one of these chinese clowns who told her that nothing is wrong and that all she needed was herbal medicine.
He treated her like this for a whole year.
She eventually got weaker and weaker and went back to her doctor. At that point it was too late and she died a couple of months later.
No official body to my knowledge has any control over these charlatans.
So people beware, you might be getting your treatment from a chinese chef.
@sandro cremona: I don't know who mentioned pills in this case. Do you have anything against fixing a broken arm in plaster ? Do you think a Chinese masseur can do any better ? As regards studying it's called continuing eduction. You can never stop learning when you're in a profession like this, even when you're 70 years old!
@Deo Catania: "back in the '80s" you are mentioning the stone age. There were neglegent doctors back then and there are still neglegent ones around unfortunately. Doctors are not gods. It's not an easy profession and we must show respect.
My point is that many doctors are leaving this island simply because of patient arrogance and lack of respect. With this attitude we are just scaring doctors away. Only the good ones make it ti UK. What are we left with ?
As already stated, I am sure that we are only hearing part of the story.
What could a chinese masswhatever possibly do to a fractured arm?! If anything he would make things worse. Common sense should prevail.
This is why it is so important for these complimentary/alternative therapies to be regularised.
My concern is that there are many non-qualified therapists. Although I will not go into the merits of this case and by doing so I do not imply anything, non-qualified individuals give a bad name to other qualified similar professions. Regularization councils that do not exist in Malta for these complimentary therapy professions are mainly there to safeguard the interest of the client/patient.
In saying this, it is a legal right for any patient to choose the therapy of his/her choice if he/she feels that they could benefit from it.
The main objective of any treatment is to aid the patient and nothing else. This can be achieved by using the conventional approach and by other therapies....some of which may be more effective than conventional medicine.
Its about time that legislation is put into force to create this regulatory body.
Sorry Mrs. Dougall but Dr. Abela had all the right to be baffled and upset. I got upset myself when I read the article. You don't go to a carpenter to heal a broken arm. I can see it in your statement that you are giving more credit to the "Chinese masseur" than to the consultant who has spent a lifetime studying and doing real Medicine, not fake bulshit. The word "alternative medicine" you mentioned says it all.
I had the opportunity to be treated by Mr Massimo Abela, and I must say that he is very nice and caring.