Durban - A scorned husband who took revenge on his wife’s new lover, a doctor, by trying to get him disbarred from practice, has failed in his bid.
The target of the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast electrician’s ire, a specialist surgeon who was charged for unprofessional conduct - for allegedly luring a patient away from her husband - was found not guilty by the Health Professions Council of SA last week.
Names are being withheld to protect the former couple’s minor children.
At the start of the hearing, which was held over the period of a year, the doctor pleaded not guilty, saying he had fallen in love with the complainant’s wife long after he had treated her as a patient.
He later married her.
The woman’s ex-husband, in his testimony, sought to portray the doctor as a marriage wrecker who ripped his family apart.
He claimed the 42-year-old surgeon bought his then wife a new car for R190000, paid for in cash, and a fancy new flat, as well as paid for regular shopping sprees at Woolworths and private college education for their two daughters.
“I am horrified that as a doctor he involved himself with a married woman with two children. I can’t get my family back, but other doctors must know they cannot manipulate families because they have the power to do so,” he had told the inquiry.
But last Thursday, inquiry chairperson Themba Sam Mkhonto cleared the doctor, saying the HPCSA’s pro forma complainant, advocate Meshack Mapholisa (who had put forward the evidence on the complainant’s behalf), had failed to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Mapholisa had said doctors should avoid improper relationships with their patients, for example sexual relationships or exploitative financial arrangements.
He had described the doctor’s evidence as unreliable, unconvincing and riddled with improbabilities and also accused the wife of lying under oath, saying she had done so to avoid admitting she had had a romantic relationship with the doctor while still his patient.
However, advocate Ian Dutton and attorney Serisha Inderjeeth from Anand Nepaul & Associates, both the doctor’s legal counsel, argued otherwise, saying the relationship had started long after the couple’s doctor-patient relationship had ended.
The doctor and his wife hugged shortly after the verdict. Speaking to POST, the doctor said it had been an “awful year”.
“In spite of our names not being used (in previous media reports), it was pretty obvious the community knew who we were,” he said.
“I lost time in my business, but thankfully got the support of my patients.”
He added that while the complaint should never have been lodged in the first place, he respected that the HPCSA had a duty, which it had exercised.
“It is no doubt that I did not err. The judgment made this clear and it was handled professionally. They really did listen to all the facts.
“The case had nothing to do with my ability as a doctor,” he added. “It has a moral stigma, and it shows that the case laid against me had no basis.”
His wife said the case had been traumatic for her children.
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“It has been a trying year. Walking in the malls people would pass comments. But I just want to get over this ordeal and live life normally.”
Her ex-husband told POST he had taken a “principled position”, believing in the merits of his case.
“I’m quite obviously disappointed at the outcome. But I choose to respect it and accept the outcome. And now I will focus on moving on.”