Doctors reject penal reforms

With the threat to resign en masse, the country’s medical unions oppose the decision of the Assembly to criminalize manslaughter due to professional malpractice in the new Criminal Code (COIP for its Spanish acronym.)

Yesterday there were protests by doctors from the Pablo Arturo Suarez Hospital, who belongs to the network of public health centers of Quito. A group of about 200 doctors (150 with designation and 50 contracts,) drafted irrevocable resignations of all staff to present to hospital management once it enters into force COIP.

The demonstration caused the temporarily suspension of medical care, but doctors said that everything went normal.

“Go prisoners,” “be treated as criminals,” and “a barrage of lawsuits,” are the main impact what doctors fear with the aproval of the Code. The article in question poses a custodial sentence of three to five years for those who thereby incur the death of another person in the practice of his profession and license suspension .

The College of Physicians of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, which brings together 150 professionals, also pleaded in permanent session to address the issue.

After the incident, the deputy health minister, Miguel Malo, said the institution is open to dialogue with doctors and nurses in the country and said their  rights to work and public attention are both guaranteed.