The lawyers of the doctors and residents of the CHU sanctioned by the disciplinary body of the National Order of Doctors of Cameroon call for discernment following the publication of said sanctions.
The decisions rendered by the disciplinary chamber of the National Order of Doctors of Cameroon on May 16 following its session are being contested by the council of the doctors and residents concerned. The professionals’ lawyers challenge the decision based on procedural issues. While the order imposes 12 months of suspension of activities on two professors, one doctor, and six months of suspension of activities on the residents after the death of Dr. Barbara Bengono, the council denounces a procedure marred by irregularities.
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For the council, the order did not respect the well-known rule of territorial jurisdiction in legal procedures. This rule assigns jurisdiction to the court in the territory where the facts were committed, a territory that also houses the persons involved. However, in the case of the Bengono affair against CHU staff and residents of the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the University of Yaoundé 1, the disciplinary chamber of the order, headquartered in Yaoundé, the city where the CHU is located as well as the doctors and residents, held the disciplinary session in Bertoua in the East region.
The decision sanctioning CHU staff as well as the residents was made in the absence of those concerned, the council regrets. Also, according to the council, the disciplinary body did not notify the condemned of the decision but rushed to publish it on social networks.
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Furthermore, in this case, the lawyers intend to reassure the public that Dr. Barbara Bengono was surrounded by her resident colleagues and by eminent professors of gynecology, anesthesia, and resuscitation who followed her until the occurrence of the tragedy. A “tragedy can happen to anyone at any time,” the lawyers remind. Having been sanctioned without being heard, the referral to higher authorities will allow them to explain themselves before the next conclusions. Thus, the sanctions pronounced in the first instance are not final.
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