Doctor who killed UK patient could lose licence

A doctor who killed an English patient with a massive morphine overdose is to face a “fit for practice” hearing that could mean he is finally stripped of his German licence, medical authorities confirmed Thursday.

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The medical association of Westfalen-Lippe in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia wants Dr. Daniel Ubani to be de-registered and is making moves to have him declared unfit, spokesman Volker Heiliger told The Local, confirming a report by British broadcaster BBC.

Ubani, a cosmetic surgeon in the Rhineland city of Witten, has continued to practice despite being found responsible for the accidental death of David Gray, 70, and receiving a nine-month suspended sentence and €5,000 fine.

The medical association alone does not have the power to de-register Ubani. Instead they will pass the results of the hearing to the local authorities in the city of Arnsberg who actually employ Ubani, Heiliger said.

“We hope that any outcome of the hearing will have an influence on their decision,” he said.

Heiliger said the hearing would scrutinise three cases of suspected negligence, all of which took place over the same weekend that Ubani worked as a locum in Cambridgeshire, Britain in February 2008.

His patient Gray died after Ubani gave him 100mg of diamorphine, which is 10 times the recommended daily dose. Ubani later admitted he had got diamorphine mixed up with pethidine, which is given in much higher doses.

It was Ubani’s first shift as a relief doctor in Britain and had arrived in the country the day before. He was tired and his English language skills were considered limited.

Despite a coronial finding in Britain that Ubani was "incompetent and not of an acceptable standard," he has never been tried for negligence in Britain because German law allowed him to face justice instead in his home country.

Gray’s partner, Lynda Bubb, told the coronial inquiry the German doctor seemed "tired" and "dithery."

Iris Edwards, 86, who lived in a care home in Ely, died of a heart attack the day after she was treated by the 67-year-old doctor, though the British coroner concluded she died of natural causes.

Last month, Gray’s two sons confronted and heckled Ubani at a medical conference, demanding to know why he was still practising. They were arrested.