The Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) has confirmed that paediatric surgeon Professor Peter Beale, accused of being responsible for the deaths of two children on whom he operated, is legally no longer permitted to perform surgeries on any patient.
MedicalBrief reported on the case last week (2 February).
The HPSSA told the Sunday Times Daily: “Dr Beale has been removed from the HPCSA register. He has been removed based on other previous complaints on which he was found guilty.”
Beale’s case was heard in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) last week relating to the death of a 10-year-old patient, Zayyaan Sayed, who died in October 2019 at Netcare’s Park Lane Clinic. Zayyaan died after Beale performed what was meant to be a routine laparoscopic operation for reflux. He is also accused of fraud relating to the results of a distal oesophageal biopsy, according to the indictment. Beale had initially been arrested alongside anaesthetist Dr Abdulhay Munshi in October 2019. Munshi, however, was gunned down in September 2020.
In a written reply, Beale said: “I am not permitted to speak to the media, but you may presume that the legal matter to which you refer has had far-reaching effects on myself, but nothing like the effect on the family of my anaesthetist colleague Dr Abdulay Munshi, who was assassinated on September 2020. For a comprehensive review of the medical facts of this matter I would refer you to the current review on the Facebook page of SA Doctors United.”
The Sunday Times Daily report notes it was on this page that medical professionals threw their weight behind Beale, with more than 83,000 of them signing a petition for the charges against Beale and Munshi to be dropped, saying doctors were now under threat and would perform their duties in fear. At the time the two doctors were charged, the SA Medical Association had also expressed its concern over the charge, advising that a specialised medical court be established in which trained medical practitioners would be called to scrutinise decisions made by doctors.
During his case last week, an additional charge of culpable homicide was added to Beale’s charges relating to the death of 21-month-old Alissa Strydom who died in July 2016, also after what was supposed to be a routine surgery to treat her acid reflux.
SA Doctors United Facebook page (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Culpable homicide charge added to surgeon Peter Beale’s murder/fraud case
SAMA calls for specialised courts to handle medico-legal cases
Warrants of arrest issued for paediatric surgeon and anaesthetist
Family want surgeon and anaesthetist suspended pending inquiry
HPCSA probes 'magnitude' of negligence claims against paediatric surgeon