Don’t Jail Doctors Blog Campaign

Letter from Dr Kamaruddin Ahmad – Chairman of MMA Johor

putrashahrul — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:20:06 +0000

Read this Read this letter from Dr Kamaruddin Ahmad, whom I believe is the Chairman of MMA Johor.

kamarudin ahmad wrote:
To: ppim-net@yahoogroup s.com
From: kamarudin ahmad
Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:19:45 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: [ppim-net] Dr Basmullah di penjara kajang

Assalamualaikum wbth

Saya rasa PPIM patut mengambil initiatif membantu Dr
Basmullah.
Saya pertama membawa perkara ini Persatuan Perubatan
Malaysia, walaupon Dr Basmullah bukan ahli MMA.
Saterusnya MMA telah bertindak segera dengan
meneluarkan press statement. Saya di Johor jua
mengigatkan doktor disini supaya mengambil berat
terhadap perkara ini.
Sabtu lepas MMA Council juga telah membuat kepurtusan
akan melawat Dr Basmullah do penjara dan mahu
menwarkan bantuan…..
Kalau MMA boleh dan mahu memberikan bantuan, saya rasa
PPIM SEPATUTNTYA mengambil berat terhadap kes ini.
Saya harap PPIM semua kita patut ‘mendesak’/merayu
kerajaan supaya menimbang hukuman ini.
PATUTKAH KITA BERDIAM DIRI..????

drkamarudin

–
, whom I believe is the Chairman of MMA Johor.

He illegally sell drugs or conduct illegal abortions??

putrashahrul — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:00:19 +0000

Jeffrey Says:
January 26th, 2008 (4 days ago) at 11: 50.28 FYI according to the NST, Dr Basmullah Yusom has earned the dubious distinction of being the first person in the country to be convicted under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998. [Dr. Basmullah Yusom is a USM graduate, attained MMC registration in 1990 and as of 2008 still holds a valid APC].“Dr Basmullah, 44, had been operating the Al-Hilal Medical Centre Sdn Bhd at No 55, Jalan 5/76B, Desa Pandan, off Jalan Kampung Pandan, since 1998. The father of eight, who was charged on Dec 13 last year, had pleaded guilty to committing the offence at the premises at 10pm on July 11 last year.
Sentencing was fixed for yesterday. Under the act, he was liable to a maximum fine of RM500,000.
In mitigation, Dr Basmullah, who was unrepresented, pleaded for leniency, saying he did not register his clinic as he wanted to sell it and that he was not the only person running the clinic.
“I have financial problems and I still have to pay RM7,000 for the clinic and RM10,000 in personal loan,” he said.
Under the act, he was liable to a maximum fine of RM500,000.
Dr Basmullah said he had since moved to Putrajaya claiming it was cheaper to live there and that he had sold his car and was using a motorcycle”.DPP Norfiza Mohamed Noordin from the Health Ministry pressed for a deterrent sentence.“Unlicensed clinics make it hard for the ministry to monitor them to ensure that they do not illegally sell drugs or conduct illegal abortions. This is to ensure public safety.
“Being busy and having financial problems are not excuses for not registering the clinic,” she said.Judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah fined Dr Basmullah RM120,000 or three months’ jail.
http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2008/01/26/will-ong-ka-ting-review-the-phfsa/

He has eight children to support!

putrashahrul — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:59:13 +0000

dranony Says:
January 26th, 2008 (4 days ago) at 10: 05.49 Actually that doctor DOES possess a valid Annual Practising Certificate.
The requirement that the _clinic itself_ be registered, is a NEW requirement, which came up very recently. I’m not sure if there is a similar law, requiring lawyer offices to be registered, and to comply with regulations concerning doors, walls, floors and ceilings, and equipment (fax machine? computers? phones? printers?).The Act requiring registration of clinics was forced through despite calls by various people, including Datuk Mahadev Shankar (member of the present Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam videotape affair) who had publicly criticised the PHFCSA1998, who had called for it to be amended before implementation, as “it gives too much power to the DG, and was passed without consultation with the medical profession.”
http://the-malaysian.blogspot.com/2006/08/draconian-act-that-should-be-laid-to.html

If you examine the circumstances surrounding this doctor, you’d probably feel sorry for him – he was struggling financially, with unpaid utility bills and personal debts.
To comply and register under the new PHFCSA1998, he might have to spend further sums of money to buy unnecessary new emergency equipment (which necessity had been debated by many doctors in online forums!), as well as spend sums of money on unnecessary (but required by the Act & Regulations) renovations, including CHANGING THE DIRECTION HIS TOILET DOOR OPENS!
Apart from that, the fees alone, to register his clinic, cost RM1,500.
Can you imagine paying RM1,500 for a piece of paper, made mandatory by a new piece of legislation? To get a perpective, the Annual Practising Certificate only costs RM50!

This doctor pleaded that he was in the process of selling his clinic, and would have thought that the new buyer would register it, and probably figured that it would have been a matter of a couple of months difference only, and therefore not worth registering the clinic.
The new law requires that the new doctor-owner would have to RE-register it anyway!

The poor doctor could not even afford to engage a lawyer to defend him or mitigate for him!
And now he is going to jail!
He has eight children to support!

http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2008/01/26/will-ong-ka-ting-review-the-phfsa/

SEMUA ORANG INGIN TAHU, SIAPA DI BELAKANG SYARIKAT ITU……

putrashahrul — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:52:08 +0000

DR K said…

Dia tidak diberitahu klinik kena daftar dgn KKM, sebab tidak terima surat dari kementerian.Klinik tersebut bukan dia yang punya……Dia cuma bekerja sahaja, dan tidak diberi gaji pun !! Kerja sukarela je….

Ceritanya, penahananya tidak SAH, kerana sepatutnya tuan punya syarikat tersebut yang bertanggungjawab utk buat pendaftaran tersebut, bukan orang yg bekerja di situ.
Sebab bagaimana dia nak isi borang-borang tersebut, untuk tandatangan dan pengesahan dan lain-lain lagi.

Dr Basmullah ada Sijil Amalan Tahunan (APC = annual practising certificate), maka dia adalah seorang yg sah boleh bekerja dan mengamalkan perubatan.

Yang tak sah, adalah klinik tersebut tidak didaftar, yg tanggungjawab tuan syarikat, bukan pekerja / orang yg bekerja yang ada lesen.

Siapa pengarah-pengarahnya??

Mereka itulah yang sepatutnya dipenjarakan kerana engkar ikut peraturan kerajaan.

Semak sendiri siapa yang empunya, dalam ROC
- Pusat Perubatan Al-Hilal Sdn. Bhd
tuan punya syarikat tersebut adalah seorang wanita bersama adiknya.

Saya tahu siapa……kitapun terperanjat……

BUKA satu lembaran baru…….,

SEMUA ORANG INGIN TAHU, SIAPA DI BELAKANG SYARIKAT ITU……
YANG SELAMA INI MENGAMBIL HASIL …………
DAN LEPAS BEGITU SAHAJA…..

PIHAK PENDAKWA RAYA KENALAH SEMAK…..

http://drazwan.blogspot.com/2008/01/dr-basmullah-di-penjarakan.html

Dr. Basmullah adalah antara doktor yang keluarga kami sukai

putrashahrul — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:47:42 +0000

10

Palmdoc Says:
January 26th, 2008 at 6:17 pm I also spotted this link in LKS’s blog (Will Ong Ka Ting review the PHFSA?) which gives a little insight into Dr Basmullah Yusom. From Dr. Azwan’s blog:

Untuk pengetahuan anda, Dr. Basmullah adalah antara doktor yang keluarga kami sukai. Semasa saya masih belajar di Matrikulasi (10 tahun dulu), beliau pernah datang ke rumah saya dari poliklinik al-Hilal, Kg Pandan ke Salak Selatan untuk merawat datuk saya yang sedang sakit. Beliau juga adalah doktor yang mengkhatankan 2 orang adik saya, dimana saya sendiri beliau jadikan sebagai pembantunya ketika itu.
Secara personalitinya Dr Basmullah, sering memakai serban besar walaupun ketika merawat pesakit. Serbannya besar seperti serban pengikut al-Arqam dan beliau bertutur dengan lemah lembut dan baik. Walaubagaimanapun, sudah lama saya sendiri tidak berjumpanya selepas itu.

So from Dr. Azwan’s perspective, he was a well liked family doctor who did home visits, performed circumcisions and wore a large “serban”

PLEASE, PLEASE YOU DONT TREAT DOCTORS LIKE CRIMINALS……….!!!

putrashahrul — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:34:41 +0000

drkhalid57 Says:
January 27th, 2008 at 12:17 pm I would like to share this with ALL THE DOCTORS and the PUBLIC.

Doctors treat patients irrespective of their colors.
1) We dont ask the patients are you from
- UMNO, MCA, MIC , DAP OR KEADILAN or what ever,
2) We dont ask you, are you related to any POLITICIANS
3) We dont ask you whether you are from a rich family,

If we see someone injured, we treat them the best we can, without even questioning the
above questions, or EVEN ask whether you have money to pay later or not.
WE TREAT FIRST. We treat patients with our hearts.

BUT…………….
When doctors made some techinical mistake, – NOT MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE
(- BY THE WAY HE IS STILL A QUALIFIED DOCTOR WITH VALID ANUAL PRACTISING CERTIFICATE (APC))

There were no MERCY.
No body out there treat DOCTORS WITH THEIR HEARTS, as what we DID to our patients !!!

The Prosecuting officer – NORHAFIZA- PRESSED A HEAVY CHARGE ON HIM.
DID NOT EVEN THINK SHE AND HER FAMILY MEMBERS, HAD AT LEAST ONE TIME IN THEIR LIVES,
SEEK TREATMENT FROM DOCTORS

She should, with a little bit of heart and brain, adviced the court that the doctor
should be warned first OR with a minimal fine for first time offender !!
so that he can affort to pay.

Mind you, he has 8 kids, just tell me how would the children feel, who will feed them…
His wife is not working……
Dont you out there, especially the DPP,have a heart !!!!!!xxxxxxx!!!!

You know that he can just close the clinic and work some where else…can easily earn
RM5000 TO RM7000 a month as a locum.
If he works hard enough as locum can earn up to RM10,000 a month.

His lifestyle reflects that he is not making much money with the clinic.

BUT
He still open the clinic hoping to see HIS PATIENTS, who are under his care,
to be able to get their monthly supply of medicine,
his advice and see that all the patients are well taken care of.

Just imageine,
IF ALL THE DOCTORS IN MALAYSIA, JUST STOP WORKING FOR ONE DAY ……!!!!
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE PATIENTS?
- THE PATINET IN ALL THE HOSPITALS….
PATIENT ON VENTILATORS, PATEINTS WITH HEART ATTACK…..
YOUR WIVES IN THE LABOUOR ROOM…….
YOUR BABIES IN THE WOMB….NEED OPERATION (LSCS)

Any of the patients CAN BE YOUR FATHERS OR MOTHERS, OR YOUR WIVES OR RELATIVES !!!

Your sick children that need doctors treatment !!

TELL ME. TELL US, HOW MANY LIVES WILL BE AT RISK……
OR HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL DIE ???

PLEASE, PLEASE YOU DONT TREAT DOCTORS LIKE CRIMINALS……….!!!

Just think again,
The country can still RUN without
A JUDGE FOR ONE DAY…,
A PRESECUTING OFFICER FOR ONE DAY……
A TEACHER FOR ONE DAY,
A LAWYER FOR ONE DAY,

BUT…..

A COUNTRY CANNOT RUN WITHOUT A DOCTOR FOR ONE DAY…..
- MANY PATIENTS CAN DIE…….THOSE CAN BE OUR FATHER AND MONTHER…. OUR CHILDREN
JUST THINK AND THINK AND THINK AGAIN …..!!!!

DOCTORS MUST BE UNITED..

WE SHOULD DRIVE A MOVEMENT TO HELP OUR BROTHER,( OUR FRIEND, OUR COLLEGUE)
AS WHAT IS IN OUR OATH,WHEN WE FIRST GET INTO MEDICAL SCHOOL…!!
EVERY DOCTOR IN MALAYSIA COME FORWARD,
EVERY DOCTOR CONTRIBUTE RM100, POOL THE MONEY AND GET HIM OUT OF THE JAIL !!!!!!

JUST THINK AGAIN,
ANY ONE OF US, CAN BE IN THE PRISON, ANY TIME……
JUST FOR ANY MINIMAL TECHNICAL MISTAKE ……..

———— WE, DOCTORS ARE AT RISK ————-

FOR THOSE WHO WANTS TO CONTRIBUTE

putrashahrul — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:33:43 +0000

drkhalid57 Says:
January 29th, 2008 at 4:06 pm HELLO AGAIN,

FOR THOSE WHO WANTS TO CONTRIBUTE,

PLAASE SEND TO:
PERSATUAN PENGGUNA ISLAM MALAYSIA
DATO DR MAAMUR
TEL: 03-4256-6617 , 4257-7222
019-359-1000

OR CONTACT :
PERSATUAN DOKTOR USM
(PADU)

PLEASE CHANNEL YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE ABOVE SOCIETY

JUST TO REMIND EVERYBODY,
PLEASE DO NOT DISTRIBUTE MY NAME OR MY ACCOUNT NO. IN THE INTERNET

THOSE PARTICULARS ARE FOR MY PERSONAL FRIENDS ONLY.
PLEASE KEEP THEM TO YOURSELVES.
FOR THOSE WHO HAD SENT TO MY ACCOUNT,
I WILL CHANNEL TO PERSATUAN PENGGUNA ISLAM

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION

DR KHALID
HP : 012-3772110

“UNTIL NOW WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY WORD FROM PPIM”

putrashahrul — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:32:27 +0000

drkhalid57 Says:
January 29th, 2008 at 4:06 pm

Thank you for ALL the support that we have received so far.
I am very touched and grateful to everybody
for your generousity and kindness shown.

And for the positive response…….thank youso much.

It is nice to know that…….
WE are Malaysians………WE CARE

and
there are still people out there, with kind hearts

I have received contributions from a quite a number of doctors who responded.
The furthest is from a doctor in Kuching, Sarawak (NORMAH MEDICAL CENTRE)
And the southest-most is from a doctor at PSH, JB.
A few of the doctors also mentioned to extend the contribution to the Dr’s family members.

Heard that MMA is trying to get good lawyers and go through the proper channels…..
Thank you to MMA for the wonderful job done…..we need your support.
(MMA knows that Dr Basmullah is not a member YET, thank you)
_____________________________________________________________

About PPIM, yes, we had spoken to the Presient…….
He responded ” Is he a member?”
“We are not sure” (eventually we found out that Dr Basmullah IS A MEMBER OF PPIM)

He then said that why only now seeking help from PPIM,
only when desperate look for PPIM, why did not attend the meetings, bla, bla…..
he said that he was busy now, and has projects to take care,and …blaa ..blaaa

In the end said ” SORRY I DONT THINK I CANT HELP YOU”
- without even checking whether Dr Basmullah is a PPIM member, if that is the condition !x!!!

I THINK HE SHOULD REALLY ‘WAKE-UP’,
LOOK AT HIMSELF……really LOOK AT HIMSELF

If he cannot lead the society, cannot accomodate ‘SOME’of his precious time,
the next best thing to do :
“QUIT”
So that other people who has the credibility and leadership qualities to take over !!!

It is very sad and disheartening to to hear from a PRESIDENT making those remarks.
So now, what the hack of us being PPIM members, if the president did not even care?
Especially when we are in DIFFICULTIES !!!!

He being an academician in a local university,
one should have,or should teach
good values to the medical students.

So that when these students become doctors,
they can be good doctors with the highest moral values ever:
- caring, dedicated, responsible, leadership qualities, sincere, ever wiling to HELP,
learn to buIld good network, be able to accept opinions, do not be SELFISH etc
- Otherwise go and SELL FISH !!!

Those are some of the qualities that we need to be good doctors and good citizen as well.!!

Latest news that we get, many of the organizations, political parties :
Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia, – Dato’ Dr Maamur
from UMNO
from Keadilan,
from DAP,
from PADU USM, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan
from USM, Minden,Penang
are trying to help, for the sake of the doctor and his family.

“UNTIL NOW WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY WORD FROM PPIM”

I would like to express my SINCERE THANK YOU and truly appreciate
everybody’s effort for all the cooperation, support and encouragment given.

Kind regards,
Dr Khalid

http://medicine.com.my/wp/?p=3009#comment-11117

Don’t Jail Doctors – Poster Campaign

putrashahrul — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:25:29 +0000

posted in - General, - Palmdoc, - Nation |

Dranony has designed larger posters which you can print and place in your office as sign of support for Dr. Basmullah.
We are hosting these PDFs here:
DJD – Images & Text
DJD – Image only
DJD – Text only

Last 5 posts by Palmdoc

How CSL could have got away with it – January 30th, 2008
Doctor bashing (again) – January 30th, 2008
Don’t Jail Doctors Blog Campaign – January 28th, 2008
Death of a Medical Student – January 28th, 2008
The Business of Death – January 28th, 2008

http://medicine.com.my/wp/?p=3040

The 1st clinic doctor convicted under the PHFSA (II)

putrashahrul — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:17:31 +0000

posted in - Palmdoc, - Nation | ub88 has posted an appeal in the MMR Forums here

At 2 pm today,I was at Kajang Prison to visit an old comrade in arms, Dr.Basmullah Yusuf who has been sentenced to 3 months prison for unable to pay the RM120,000 fine imposed onto him for failing to register his clinic under the new Private Health Act.Dr.Basmullah is a caring dr who charges minimum fees for his services especially when serving his poor pts.With the paltry fees that he gets and having to fend 8 children of his own the good man now has to pay a hefty price.Words cannot describe my feelings when I saw him dressed in his prison clothes trying to put on a brave front for the sake of his tearful wife and children.A good kind hearted dr is now being treated like a common criminal.After seeing the case first hand and on the advice of a lawyer in order to get him out he has to pay the absurd fine and appeal later.The doctors who were there together with me were Drs Khalid,Wan Julia,Ikram,Suib,Jaafar and Rozita has pledged some funds to get the ball rolling.

The relevant contact numbers are in the post.

It is a sad sad day indeed to see the authorities pick on a legitimate licensed medical practitioner and jail him on a technicality – for not registering his clinic (which was going to be sold anyway)

When you have lots of illegal and unlicensed “doctors” running around this country harming patients e.g. illegal Taiwanese “surgeons” who in this report caused a young woman to lose her breasts, it is a crying shame that this has happened. I hear allegations that triads bring in these illegal surgeons and seem to get away with it as they have some “protection”.
On the contrary our local legitimate doctors seem only to get victimised by legislation and bureaucracy from our own authorities.

We do hope the authorities will come to their senses. Their heavy handed action in jailing Dr. Basmullah on a technicality will only alienate a large group of professionals and their network. With elections coming, I don’t think they want to do this.

Last 5 posts by Palmdoc

Don’t Jail Doctors – Poster Campaign – January 30th, 2008
How CSL could have got away with it – January 30th, 2008
Doctor bashing (again) – January 30th, 2008
Don’t Jail Doctors Blog Campaign – January 28th, 2008
Death of a Medical Student – January 28th, 2008

http://medicine.com.my/wp/?p=3034