Wiesenthal Centre to the Belgian National Order of Physicians: “Expel callous doctor who refused to treat 90 year Jewish woman!” Doctor says, “Send her to Gaza for a few hours ..."

August 1, 2014

SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE - EUROPE
Tel. +33-147237637 - Fax: +33-147208401
E-mail: csweurope@gmail.com 

“We are aghast at behaviour so redolent of Nazi collaboration in wartime Belgium, when the Hippocratic oath was being betrayed by so many doctors across Europe who served the Nazi barbarism.”



In a letter to the President of the Belgian Order of Physicians, Benoit Dejemeppe, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, expressed indignation that “yesterday, a Flemish doctor on telephone helpline duty refused to treat a 90 year old Jewish woman with a fractured rib, stating: ‘Send her to Gaza for a few hours, then she will not feel pain anymore’.”

A friend of this Jewish family, Antwerp District Counsellor Samuel Markowitz, called the doctor who admitted his hate message, while the grandson registered a charge of racism with the police.”

The Centre was “aghast at behaviour so redolent of Nazi collaboration in wartime Belgium, when the Hippocratic oath was being betrayed by so many doctors across Europe who served the Nazi barbarism.”

Acknowledging that, “Every Belgian doctor must be a member of your honourable Order,” Samuels claimed, “It is clear that the doctor in question violated Articles 5 and 6 of your Order’s Medical Code:

5. The doctor must treat, with the same conscientious, all patients – no matter their social situation, nationality, convictions, reputation or the sentiments he may hold towards them.

6. Every doctor must, no matter his formation or specialty, provide urgent assistance to any patient in immediate danger.”

The Centre urged President Dejemeppe to, “Invoke the disciplinary measures available to you to expel this callous and brutal so-called ‘doctor’ from your Order. He must also be publicly barred from practising medicine, in keeping with the moral objectives of your Order.”

“This incident must not be allowed to stain the image of Belgian medicine,” concluded Samuels.

For further information please contact Dr. Shimon Samuels on 00(33)609770158, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400.000 members. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament.