Political beliefs vs professional duty
Written by Writer on Sunday, October 12th, 2008
Political beliefs vs professional duty
During the arduous building of the Burma Railway in World War Two, an Australian surgeon named Sir Edward “Weary” Dunlop earned a reputation for bravery by standing up to his Japanese captors and refusing to abandon his duty of care.
Forced labour, both Asian and allied prisoners of war, was used to build the 420km railway line between Bangkok and Rangoon, with well over 100,000 workers dying as a result of the gruelling work schedule imposed by the Japanese Imperial Army.
After the war, Dunlop said he couldn’t believe the extent of his capacity to feel hatred in the first two years of his captivity.
Then, in his third year, he was asked to treat a Japanese soldier who had attempted to amputate his own leg and then hobbled from the Burmese border. The leg had turned gangrenous. Looking into the soldier’s face, Dunlop said he was “persuaded of the Buddhist belief that in the face of suffering, all human beings are one”.
Dunlop’s humanitarianism, dedication and ethical approach to his chosen profession should serve as an example to all doctors, in particular those now mixing their political beliefs with their professional obligations.
In a week of bloodshed that did Thailand no credit, 50 doctors at Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of medicine said they would not treat police officers wounded during the clashes at parliament on Tuesday between police and anti-government protesters.
Suthep Kolchanwit, the group’s leader, argued that “as doctors, we know that the best way to treat people is to tackle the cause. To me, it’s unethical to neglect the cause of death and injury.”
Dr Suthep did also say that police officers would receive proper medical treatment if they come to the hospitals in plain clothes or do not identify themselves as police.
Seventy doctors at Chiang Mai University’s faculty of medicine also decided against treating police, cabinet members and government MPs, except in emergency cases.
Not surprisingly, the doctors’ stance was roundly condemned by dozens of human rights activists and academics who branded it a “serious violation of medical ethics” and “a breach of international humanitarian laws”.
“The lives and rights of these officers should be protected the same as other people,” they said.
Such was the dismay at the doctors’ dalliance in politics that the hospital’s deputy director and the deputy dean of the university’s faculty of medicine sent a letter to the police chief giving an assurance that all patients would be treated regardless of their occupation or political beliefs.
Pol Sgt-Maj Pichet Pavichai from Nonthaburi replied that doctors should separate their personal feelings from their duty, a sentiment which he and other senior police have hopefully also passed on to the men and women under their command.
In Dr Suthep’s reasoning, he is presenting a cause and affect argument, implying that the underlying problem is the alleged heavy-handed actions of the police that lead to the deaths and injuries.
On the basis of photographic evidence and eyewitness accounts, this may well be true. But inherent in that argument is the fact that the doctor is making a moral judgement on who is in the right and who is in the wrong.
It is timely to remember all doctors’ Hippocratic Oath, which says they are ethically bound never to refuse a patient treatment.
The issue of political beliefs versus professional duty also consumed a Thai Airways International pilot, who last week refused to allow three People Power party MPs aboard his aircraft.
But his reasoning was different.
He told a panel investigating the incident that he was compelled to reject the three MPs because they could have caused trouble if allowed to board, and place other passengers’ safety at risk.
In these politically charged days it is understandable that passion can override the human fail-safes of logic, ethics and even good old-fashioned common sense.
But there are professions in our community which by their very nature need to attract people of a higher intellect, cooler reason and unswerving dedication. The medical profession is one such profession as is, for that matter, being employed as a police officer sworn to uphold the law and safeguard the community.
Neither should ever be compromised.
Bangkok Post
