“Dr Death” challenges medical manslaughter convictions
Cast your mind back to 2005, and the controversial case of Dr Jayant Patel. You might have heard to him as “Dr Death” because he was linked to the death of 13 of his patients.
Dr Patel was charged and convicted with medical manslaughter- only to later have it overturned by the High Court. He is one of only a handful of Australian doctors to have been prosecuted under the charge.
David Carter is an academic in the Faculty of Health at the University of Technology Sydney. He has recently looked at the history of medical manslaughter in Australia, and uncovered previously unrecognised cases of medical manslaughter in Australia.
Ellen Leabeater spoke to him about Dr Patel’s case, and the struggle of the court system to prosecute unruly doctors.
Image: Wikimedia commons
