Ethics Violations: Canadian Medical Association exits World Medical Association

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) has left the World Medical Association (WMA) because of ethics failings of its new President, Dr Leonid Eidelman. Apparently Eidelman's inaugural speech was in parts plagiarised from content produced, among others, by Dr Christopher Simpson, a former President of the Canadian Medical Association. As far as Eidelman is concerned, he says his speech was written by speech writers, and he was unaware of the plagiarism.

Let me just say that Eidelman ought to resign, whether or not his speech was written by others. He delivered plagiarized content as if it was his own, so the fact that he used speech writers is irrelevant, he remains responsible for what he says. The WMA did not force Eidelman to resign, it did not fire him.

The thing with the WMA is this: ethics failings are kind of power for the cause. That's what it does. It is a morally bankrupt organization, and it has been a morally bankrupt organization for a long time.  Its plagiarizing current President, by comparison, nearly falls into the category of 'good guy'.

In 1992 it wisely chose to elect a Nazi war criminal as its President, Dr Hans Sewering. Sewering was reportedly a member of the SS and the Nazi party. He signed death warrants for some 900 children with disabilities who were then murdered in a Nazi extermination centre.

In 2010 the WMA elected Ketan Desai to is President. He was found guilty by the High Court of Delhi of corruption and abuse of power in 2001.  The High Court ordered his removal from his job as President of the Medical Council of India. Investigators had charged him with seeking a massive bribe from a private medical college in return for approving admissions of students for the 2010-2011 academic year.

So, the WMA has a knack for picking the wrong people. The only thing that is odd about the CMA's timing is that they chose to resign their membership from the WMA over a comparably trifling matter, namely a vanity speech giving by its incoming President. Desai's failings were apparently of no concern at the time to the CMA.

The CMA's President, Dr Gigi Osler is quoted in the Toronto Star newspaper, '“We must continue to hold ourselves to a high standard of professionalism and ethical behaviour,” said Osler. “We are going to strive to uphold honesty, humility, integrity and prudence.”

This, of course, is the same medical association whose views on professionalism are akin to that of a trade union rather than that of a proud professional association. Dr Jeff Blackmer, the Director of the Canadian Medical Association’s Ethics Office wrote on behalf of the association that medical doctors are neither obliged to provide abortion services, nor are they obliged to transfer patients on to doctors they know will provide abortions to women seeking one. He holds the same view on medical aid in dying, and - one wonders - on what other medical services. Of course, doctors are monopoly providers of this service, abortion is legal in Canada, and pregnant women are entitled to receive that service free of charge (ie publicly funded) from said monopoly providers. The CMA's take is that the refusal to provide or transfer is perfectly compatible with professional conduct, when, by definition, that isn't the case.

Apparently Eidelman and Blackmer got into a bit of a bunfight over Eidelman lecturing the CMA over its support for medical aid in dying. Blackmer rightly criticises Eidelman for claiming that the CMA thought assisted dying is comparable in terms of its seriousness to prescribing antibiotics.

It appears to be the case that the WMA has again managed to appoint a reactionary doctor with questionable ethics as its President. One does wonder why anyone would take too seriously any longer its pronouncements on matters medical ethics. In its conduct it really is not dissimilar to the Roman Catholic Church. There is a lot of hand waving and posturing, but when it comes to actual conduct, it disqualifies itself as an arbiter of matters ethics.

So, kudos to the CMA for leaving the WMA; even though the point in time is ill-chosen, it was a long overdue decision.

World Medical Association demonstrates complete lack of judgment

The World Medical Association (WMA), the international organisation representing the world's doctors, has a long-standing tradition of issuing guidelines on everything from conflict of interest, to dual loyalties, standards of care in clinical research and other such issues. Many of these documents are quite sensible actually, and by virtue of the WMA's claim to represent the world's doctors, carry some moral weight.

Recently though the organization completely shot itself in the foot. It elected Ketan Desai, the
president of the Medical Council of India as its President elect. Well, here's bits and piece from the British Medical Journal about this lovely medical professional that makes you wonder whether he's such a good choice... - you might want to keep in mind that the current allegation are just that, allegations. However, the incoming President of the WMA was found guilty by the High Court in Delhi of corruption charges and abuse of power in 2001. Obviously the good doc is a wily operator, how else would he have managed to sneak back into positions of power in the medical profession in India. You might want to check his CV that's kindly on display at the WMA website (note the breaks in appointments to regulatory medical bodies in India that he held in 2001, when he was found guilty of corruption and abuse of power by the Delhi High Court, only picking up a few years later and straight going back for power). Anyhow, that's for India to resolve.

Published 29 April 2010, doi:10.1136/bmj.c2355

Cite this as: BMJ 2010;340:c2355

Top education regulator in India is arrested on bribery allegations

Ganapati Mudur

India’s Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested Ketan Desai, the president of the Medical Council of India, on allegations of bribery in a fresh case that threatens to sully the image of the country’s top agency involved in regulating medical education. Dr Desai is also president elect of the World Medical Association. (Emphasis as in BMJ)

Investigators said last week that Dr Desai had sought 20 million rupees (£296 000; €350 000; $450 000) as a bribe from a private medical college in the northern Indian town of Patiala for approving admissions of students in the college for the academic year 2010-11. The council has the responsibility of inspecting and approving colleges.

See also:
prior BMJ reporting:

BMJ VOLUME 323 15 DECEMBER 2001

Head of the Medical Council of India removed for corruption

Rohit Sharma Mumbai

The High Court in Delhi has ordered that Dr Ketan Desai, the president of the Medical Council of India, be removed from his post after it found him guilty of corrupt practices and abuse of power.

Besides heading the council, which regulates the medical profession in India, Dr Desai also heads the Indian Medical Association, which represents India’s doctors.

Minutes of the council meetings showed that all critical decisions were concentrated in Dr Desai’s hands. Dr Bhalla presented details from an income tax raid at Dr Desai’s house last year, which showed unexplained receipt of 6.5 million rupees (£95 000; $136 000) via bank drafts in the names of his wife, daughters, and himself from several people in Delhi.