Doctor in negligence case wants court to determine epilepsy drug regimen
Paediatric neurologist Donald Oyatsi during a past interview.
What you need to know:
Dr Oyatsi has been charged with negligence after the High Court upheld the medical board’s decision to find him guilty of overdosing the minor, by prescribing three different drugs to manage seizures and treat epilepsy.
Dr Oyatsi prescribed three drugs — Tegretol, Keppra and Lamictal tablets — to the minor in 2014.
The Court of Appeal has now been tasked with determining treatment procedures for patients suffering from epilepsy, after renowned paediatric neurologist Donald Oyatsi challenged a decision by the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board to punish him for allegedly overdosing a one-and-a-half-year-old girl.
Dr Oyatsi has been charged with negligence after the High Court upheld the medical board’s decision to find him guilty of overdosing the minor, by prescribing three different drugs to manage seizures and treat epilepsy.
At the heart of the neurologist’s Court of Appeal case is the number of drugs to prescribe to epilepsy patients, as the medical board insists that no more than two can be given at the same time.
Dr Oyatsi prescribed three drugs — Tegretol, Keppra and Lamictal tablets — to the minor in 2014. He now argues that specialists around the world have endorsed the use of a three-drug regimen to treat epilepsy.
Three separate drugs
The neurologist says the medical board’s decision has put him between a rock and a hard place, as he has to choose between following its orders in treating other patients or follow internationally accepted guidelines.
He adds that the board’s insistence on two drugs also contradicts the treatment the minor received in the US, as it also contains three separate drugs.
The neurologist holds that he is a member of the International League Against Epilepsy, a lobby of specialists from across the world, and that he followed its guidelines in prescribing the minor’s treatment.
“The treatment of patients with this medical condition is regulated by overriding and authoritative guidelines given by the International League Against Epilepsy.”
The neurologist also wants the medical board’s decision suspended until his Court of Appeal case is determined.
Withdrawn by specialists
The young girl’s mother consulted Dr Oyatsi at least 10 times in 2014, but opted for treatment in the United States after her daughter failed to show any improvement for the six months of visiting Gertrude’s hospital.
In 2017 she filed a case against the neurologist claiming, two of the drugs he prescribed, were withdrawn by specialists at the US hospital.
