I AM utterly shocked to find out that the vast majority of Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) members do not have any valid annual practising certificate (APC).
It is required by the Medical Act 1971 that all MMC members must be fully registered medical practitioners, meaning with a valid APC.
This legal effect of the Medical Act applies similarly to all council members, including any specialists registered on the National Specialist Registry and university lecturers must have a valid APC to be sitting on the council.
It is reminded that the MMC is supposed to be a self-governing statutory body with disciplinary jurisdictions over current medical practitioners.
Therefore it is reasonable and lawful to require all council members to be law-abiding and to observe the disciplines imposed by the council itself.
All medical practitioners are required to renew their APC based on two basic requirements:
1) All medical practitioners must be covered with a medical indemnity insurance policy which is to protect both the medical profession’s legal rights but also the patients’ right to adequate redress if litigations arise;
2) All medical practitioners regardless of either specialists or general practitioners must fulfil a minimal requirement for continuous professional development programmes that are approved by the MMC and Health Ministry.
If the council members fail to possess any APC, it means they are not deemed to be “fully registered practitioners”, and hence they are not qualified to be sitting on the council because they have breached the disciplinary standards set by the council itself and failed to comply with the prerequisites imposed by the Medical Act itself.
The Health Ministry needs to consult the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) as to whether such a Medical Council consisting of a vast majority of non-fully registered medical practitioners, as opposed to the Medical Act, is deemed to be lawfully constituted and whether it still has the legal authority to carry out any duty lawfully.
This also implies that all decisions made by the current MMC could be rendered illegal and not legally binding.
The Higher Education Ministry should also be made aware that no university medical lecturers can legally be allowed to teach any clinical skills on any patient without a fully valid and current APC.
I urge both the health and higher education ministries to do the necessary investigations and refer the matter to the AGC to protect the laws of the land and the public interests, and uphold the integrity of the medical fraternity. – June 20, 2024
Dr Boo Cheng Hau is Johor DAP committee member