Medical Council told gardaí of threats made by suspended doctor

Doctor who confused ankle and elbow says ‘bloody price’ for Medical Council treatment

A doctor found guilty of professional misconduct had written that his treatment during a public inquiry "will be fully paid for at an extremely bloody price for the people involved worldwide", the High Court heard.

Dr Omar Hassan also wrote there would be "a grave response from me and my family side to these events outside court and not necessarily in Ireland".

The Sudanese doctor was last January found guilty of misconduct and poor professional performance on multiple grounds by an Irish Medical Council (IMC) fitness to practice committee. He was suspended from practice.

That followed a 10-day inquiry which arose from complaints about care of patients and his interactions with colleagues, at the Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise, Mayo General, and Galway University Hospital between 2012 to 2014. Among the complaints were that he misidentified an X-ray image of an ankle for an elbow during a teaching session at Galway.

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He protested his innocence and, representing himself, appealed to the High Court against the misconduct findings.

High Court president Mr Justice Peter Kelly, after reading out extracts of certain emails and documents authored by Dr Hassan, said he was very disturbed by what the doctor had written and glad to know the IMC had informed the gardaí of these threats.

When Dr Hassan protested that his signature was not on an email to which the judge had referred, he was told emails did not have signatures and was advised “the less you say at this stage the better”.

Misconduct finding

In one of those documents, a written submission to the IMC protesting against the misconduct finding, Dr Hassan said he was “extremely and unfairly negatively portrayed by some media invited by the IMC to do so”.

He continued: “What have taken place will be fully paid for at an extremely bloody price for the people involved worldwide . . . as it seems that following regulations and putting forward reasonable explanations did not work and do not work, so me and my family will take things into our own hands in the future, as our local culture of fair revenge may extend down generations”.

In the submission, he also said he strongly rejected the findings of the fitness to practice committee as “no indisputable evidence in relation to any of the alleged events (eg video recordings etc) was put forward apart from some nurses and doctors verbal comments”.

In an email to a High Court registrar, dated July 11th last, he said he would not be continuing his court appeal as he had received “no official served decisions of the IMC”.

He added: "For me not to look like an easy target, there will be a grave response from me and my family to these events outside the court and not necessarily in Ireland. "

Mr Justice Kelly fixed October 18th for the hearing of his case. After been told the IMC had had difficulty serving papers on Dr Hassan, the judge ordered they be served on him in court.

When Dr Hassan said he would not accept the box of papers placed beside him, saying they should be held by the IMC until he got a solicitor, the judge said it was his choice but he had now received the papers.

Dr Hassan left court without taking the box.