Motion for a resolution | Doc. 13115 | 25 January 2013

Call for a proper and mandatory exchange of information on condemned medical professionals

Signatories: Mr Pieter OMTZIGT, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Mr Pedro AGRAMUNT, Spain, EPP/CD ; Lord Donald ANDERSON, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Joe BENTON, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Corneliu CHISU, Canada ; Mr Boriss CILEVIČS, Latvia, SOC ; Mr Agustín CONDE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Michael CONNARTY, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr David CRAUSBY, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Peter van DIJK, Netherlands, NR ; Mr Şaban DİŞLİ, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Jim DOBBIN, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Tuur ELZINGA, Netherlands, UEL ; Ms Marjolein FABER-VAN DE KLASHORST, Netherlands, NR ; Mr Erich Georg FRITZ, Germany, EPP/CD ; Ms Sylvi GRAHAM, Norway, EPP/CD ; Mr Andreas GROSS, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Mike HANCOCK, United Kingdom, ALDE ; Mr Jim HOOD, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Mladen IVANIĆ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, EPP/CD ; Mr Burhan KAYATÜRK, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Charles KENNEDY, United Kingdom, ALDE ; Ms Elvira KOVÁCS, Serbia, EPP/CD ; Mr Tiny KOX, Netherlands, UEL ; Mr Ertuğrul KÜRKÇÜ, Turkey, UEL ; Ms Stella KYRIAKIDES, Cyprus, EPP/CD ; Sir Alan MEALE, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Rubén MORENO PALANQUES, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Lesia OROBETS, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Gabino PUCHE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Carmen QUINTANILLA, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Linda RIORDAN, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Giacomo SANTINI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Ms Ingjerd SCHOU, Norway, EPP/CD ; Mr Samad SEYIDOV, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Mr Jim SHERIDAN, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Serhiy SOBOLEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Lorella STEFANELLI, San Marino, EPP/CD ; Ms Karin STRENZ, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Valeriy SUDARENKOV, Russian Federation, SOC ; Mr Elkhan SULEYMANOV, Azerbaijan, EPP/CD ; Lord John E. TOMLINSON, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Latchezar TOSHEV, Bulgaria, EPP/CD ; Mr Klaas de VRIES, Netherlands, SOC ; Mr Piotr WACH, Poland, EPP/CD

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

Doctors and other medical professionals must register in their home country and are subject to the suspension or removal of their registration in the event that they are found guilty of medical misconduct.

In the course of the past years a number of cases have emerged in which doctors have been convicted of misconduct in one country, have had their medical licence lifted and have proceeded to launch a new practice in another country. Some of these disgraced practitioners have gone on to cause serious accidents and even fatalities.

European Union member States are in a position to share information on medical misconduct, but this has unfortunately not prevented a number of recent cases. Exchanging information on misconduct does not automatically imply that the punishment must always be followed: especially in cases with ethical controversy, countries may and shall have different opinions as to medical misconduct, but information should always be exchanged.

The Parliamentary Assembly should propose an efficient and effective exchange of information on medical professionals who have been fined or banned, such that other countries and their citizens are not put at unnecessary risk and devise appropriate enforcement measures, with due regard to privacy issues.