Dubai doctor sentenced to life for mercy killing

DUBAI // A doctor who carried out the mercy killing of a quadriplegic patient was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for premeditated murder.

Eugen Adelsmayr, 50, switched off Ghulam Mohammed’s life-support machine and increased his morphine dose, causing him to have a fatal heart attack. He also ordered medical staff not to resuscitate the labourer, who was paralysed in an accident.

Adelsmayr, 50, former head of the intensive care unit at Rashid Hospital, returned to his home in Austria this year for the funeral of his wife, and was not at Dubai Criminal Court to hear the verdict.

Last night he protested his innocence, and said the verdict was based on an incorrect translation of a medical report into the case, which cleared him. “The verdict was shocking and not understandable,” he told The National.

The court found that he issued verbal “do not resuscitate” instructions to ICU staff, then wrote the instructions down and personally supervised carrying them out.

M?A, 49, from India, the ICU attending physician on the day of the incident in February 2009, was acquitted of refusing to resuscitate the patient on instructions from Adelsmayr.

Two days after issuing the non-resuscitation order, Adelsmayr shut down the man’s life-support equipment and increased his morphine dose from 5mg to nearly 12mg, resulting in a fatal heart attack.

The dead man was said to have suffered from heart problems for some time.

The two doctors were investigated after the incident by a medical committee at the hospital, which found them liable. The committee deemed their actions illegitimate and in violation of Dubai Health Authority regulations. They were then referred to the Dubai Public Prosecutor for criminal investigation. They denied the charges.

The committee head, Ashraf Mahmood Al Houthy, an Egyptian medical consultant, told prosecutors Adelsmayr had violated the medical practice code.

“The orders, which were issued verbally then backed up by writing, violated the medical practice code in Dubai, as the patient was conscious and not clinically dead,” he said.

Euthanasia is illegal under federal law and doctors are required to revive patients regardless of the patients’ wishes.

During the trial, M?A’s defence lawyer told the court that the nurse attending to the patient forged an electronic report changing the time of death to 30 minutes after the actual time, to ensure that M?A had arrived to make the death his responsibility.

She gave the court a report from Rashid Hospital to prove the forgery. The hospital declined to comment.

Adelsmayr told The National last night that two independent reports – by Dubai Health Authority and the Higher Committee for Medical Liabilty – had cleared him of any wrongdoing.

The DHA report says some of his actions were “clinically inappropriate but did not contribute directly (significantly) in causing harm to the patient”.

The doctor says the DHA report was incorrectly translated into Arabic. “Today’s judment is based on that report,” he said.

salamir@thenational.ae

RESULT

Wolves 1 (Traore 67')

Tottenham 2 (Moura 8', Vertonghen 90 1')

Man of the Match: Adama Traore (Wolves)

UAE currency

10 tips for entry-level job seekers

Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
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Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

MATCH INFO

Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')

Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')

Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

England v South Africa Test series:

First Test: at Lord's, England won by 211 runs

Second Test: at Trent Bridge, South Africa won by 340 runs

Third Test: at The Oval, July 27-31

Fourth Test: at Old Trafford, August 4-8

Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away

It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.

The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.

But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.

At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.

The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.

After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.

Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.

And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.

At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.

And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.

* Agence France Presse