In January 2008 we reported the publication of a book by an anonymous Irish doctor, detailing the failings of the Irish hospital system. See a report HERE.
The doctor was running a website and was featured speaking on national radio.
The website is now not to be found and the book is not readily available.
Medical errors happen everywhere; they are not unique to Ireland. In the USA and the UK, the responsible authorities collect statistics to find out why those errors happen. Those statistics indicate the areas of risk where those errors occur.
In Ireland, we need to also to find out where and why such errors happen. The State Claims Agency is responsible for defending patient claims arising from such errors. It is in a good position to tell us where and why the errors happen.
Instead, it tends to attribute the claims to the greed of patients, as it did in 2012 saying it thought medical negligence claims were rising in Ireland because patients needed to generate new sources of income.
Medical negligence is not caused by patients; it is caused by hospitals, doctors and nurses; hence the name. It is the negligence of the medical profession that is the problem, not the evil desire of injured persons to be compensated unjustly.
We ought to know why “Doctor X” no longer has his website. Was he silenced? Is there a system in Ireland of suppressing free speech, particularly by medical or legal professionals?
Who, exactly, is suppressing that free speech?
How is it done?