SUNGKAI, July 11 — The Health Ministry will not conduct any internal investigation on the leak of confidential information obtained by a man pretending to be a doctor to make lewd calls to women patients.
Instead, Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad said his ministry will let police continue investigations as the bogus doctor has been arrested.
“The man who posed as a doctor was arrested. We will let the police investigate,” he told reporters after launching a dental health awareness campaign at Kampung Orang Asli Menderang 1 here today.
But Dzulkefly said the Health Ministry will not compromise where patient welfare is concerned and will not stand for anyone who abuses their medical practice.
“Our concern is the health of the patients. Bogus doctors and medicines will put patients at risk. I strongly reprimand them from doing this unethical thing,” he added.
Dzulkefly also said that the public should not jump to conclusions and judge standard medical practices against that of the fake doctor.
“Yes, we are moving forward to tele-medicine, virtual health and digital health. These are all in progress.
“But we can’t compare it with what the fake doctors are doing. It’s all together a different thing and has no connection with what the professional medical practitioners are doing,” he said.
A 39-year-old man was arrested yesterday after complaints he had acted inappropriately as a doctor while in consultation with several women patients, including ordering them to lie on their side, touch their genitals and make lewd sounds.
Selangor criminal investigation chief Senior Assistant Commissioner Fadzil Ahmat said 21 reports had been made against the suspect.
He added that police were also looking into how the suspect obtained the personal contact details of the women patients. A common thread so far was that the women had earlier undergone pre-marital health screening, though at various medical institutions.
