Durban dentist Anwar Mohamed Jeewa, charged with the death of a Canadian man at his illegal drug and detoxification centre in Westville in November 2017, has failed in his bid to have the court discharge some of the charges he faces.
TimesLIVE reports that Jeewa had wanted the court to strike off the murder charge, among others.
He is charged with the murder of Milos Martinovic, who died after being treated at his unregistered facility in November 2017, and also with unlawfully selling a schedule 6 substance; unlawfully manufacturing a schedule 6 substance; exporting a schedule 6 substance and establishing and managing an unregistered treatment centre.
Martinovic had gone to Jeewa’s Minds Alive rehabilitation centre seeking a cure for his addiction to Xanax but died as a result of an alprazolam overdose.
Martinovic had arrived at the centre – which offered addiction treatment through ibogaine – with several boxes of Xanax that Jeewa allowed him to keep. He was told to keep taking the tablets to avoid withdrawal symptoms but to reduce the intake in preparation for the ibogaine therapy.
The state alleges that Martinovic was allowed to self-medicate with no supervision and on 7 November 2017, with the full knowledge that his patient had been self-medicating, Jeewa told the nurse to give him four ibogaine capsules.
When Martinovic went into cardiac arrest, the nurse was the only person present, but was not trained in emergency resuscitation procedures.
In his client's defence, lawyer Shaheen Seedat said Martinovic was made aware of all the risks during admission. It was alleged that aside from completing a medical questionnaire, he was told by Jeewa that he had to reduce his benzodiazepine intake to 50%.
Seedat said the state failed to bring evidence that benzodiazepine is contraindicated with ibogaine and that the chances of fatality are increased when benzodiazepines are taken together.
“The state has failed to prove that Jeewa had intent or indirect dolus eventualis to bring about the death of Martinovic,” said Seedat.
Regarding the running of a treatment centre, Seedat said the state had also failed to prove that its operations were unlawful.
In a High Court indictment, the state, however, alleged that Jeewa, a registered dentist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa, had set up his facility but not registered it with the Department of Social Development and Health as a detoxification centre.
State advocate Nadir Moosa said Jeewa had been continually advised about registering the facility but failed to act accordingly.
“Jeewa was advised to desist from admitting patients …but he continued,” she said.
She said Martinovic's last moments had included 36 minutes without any assistance.
“The enrolled nurse, who was alone at the facility, started with CPR seven minutes later. Her efforts were insufficient …she was also not fully trained to administer CPR,” said Moosa. She maintained that the state had a prima facie case of murder and culpable homicide.
While Jeewa had a permit issued under the Agricultural Pests Act to import Tabernanthe iboga from Gabon, he is alleged to have used this plant material to manufacture ibogaine without a licence. He also allegedly dispensed, sold and exported it without a licence.
Seedat, who later asked for the postponement of the case, said the defence plans to bring in three witnesses, who will include a pathologist and two foreign expert witnesses from Mexico and Malaysia respectively.
The state has closed its case after some of the witnesses made voluntary confessions during the trial.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Dentist pleads not guilty to patient’s murder in ‘detox’ clinic
Durban dentist charged with culpable homicide
State has until September to finalise culpable homicide case against Durban dentist