A North West doctor under investigation by the Health Professions Council (HPCSA) after a baby girl and two other patients died, has lost his court bid to keep on practising pending a misconduct hearing, reports The Citizen.
Judge Sulet Potterill dismissed an application by Dr David Sello of Ikageng in the North West to set aside his suspension pending a hearing by a professional conduct committee.
Sello claimed the process to suspend him had been unfair, impaired his professional status and left him without an income.
Judge Potterill said the complaints against him were extremely serious and the HPCSA had to act to fulfil its duty to protect the unsuspecting public. She said an investigation had already been launched against Sello about one of five complaints against him prior to the suspension hearing and the chair of the suspension committee had been interviewed about the complaints.
The report says Sello’s response was that he had “no comment” and he also remained completely silent about the complaints in court papers.
Judge Potterill said the protection of the public overrode Sello’s right to practise his profession and the decision to suspend him was just and reasonable under the circumstances.
The report says one of the complainants was Maggy Matlou, whose one-year-old daughter Mbalienhle died at his consulting rooms in January after Sello’s untrained assistant allegedly gave her an injection while Sello was removing skin from her chest to relieve scars caused by burns from hot water.
Paulina Koena, 70, died in his consulting rooms in 2015 after he injected her, and 57-year-old diabetic patient Joseph Molaudi lost a lot of blood and died a few days after Sello allegedly tried to unblock his prostate at his consulting rooms without properly investigating the patient’s history.
Shadrack Ditibana suffered considerable damage to his urinary system after a procedure at Sello’s consulting rooms to unblock his prostate. The report says Sello allegedly allowed untrained staff to manage the two men.
Ntswaki Nonoloza laid a complaint against Sello after her finger had to be amputated because of an injection he gave her for a panic attack in 2007.
Professor Bruce Sparks, who assessed the complaints for the HPCSA, said in a report Sello had been diagnosed as suffering from bipolar disorder with psychotic tendencies.
The judge dismissed all his (Sello’s) objections, and said the complaints were indeed serious. “The applicant is completely silent on these complaints…
“The HPCSA had to act to protect the unsuspecting public. Suspension to prevent harm or injury to a patient as a result of unsafe professional practices or a substantial risk of such harm or injury need to be averted,” Judge Potterill is quoted in The Star as saying.
The HPCSA said the allegations levelled against Sello were serious and it was obliged to investigate them to protect the public.
[link url="https://citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/1995006/court-sidelines-dodgy-doctor-to-protect-public/"]The Citizen report[/link]
[link url="http://thestar.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?article=7e6d8abd-4407-4ed0-93e4 b0539c55e71d&key=gxL3hL3xRhKlIqFly%2bzYFw%3d%3d&issue=65102018081400000000001001"]The Star report (subscription needed)[/link]