Dubai doctor faces manslaughter charge in UK

MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE: Dr Mitra Nikkhah denies gross negligence following the death of a patient in England in 2006.

A doctor now working and living in Dubai is on trial in the UK charged with the manslaughter of an elderly patient when she allegedly ignored instructions that he was allergic to penicillin and insisted he took the drug.

Dr Mitra Nikkhah is accused of manslaughter through gross negligence after David Townsend went into anaphylactic shock and died after taking medication she had prescribed.

A court in Plymouth, south west England, heard that Townsend and his wife Joan both told Nikkhah that he was allergic but she could not find any information on the surgery's computer about his condition and so prescribed the medication anyway.

Nikkhah, 41, who now lives and works in Dubai, was working as a locum doctor at the St Budeaux Health Centre in Plymouth, Devon, reported the Plymouth Evening Herald.

The court heard Nikkhah told police she does not remember any conversation about penicillin other than when she asked if Mr Townsend suffered any allergies and the couple looking "confused".

She has pleaded not guilty to one count of manslaughter through gross negligence.

Townsend, 73, died at his home in Antony Gardens, Plymouth, on May 25, 2006.

Phillip Mott QC, prosecuting, told the court the case hinged on the conversation in the surgery.

The court heard Nikkhah was trained in Romania in 1995 before coming to the UK in 2001 and in 2004 qualified as a locum GP.

The trial continues.

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READERS' COMMENTS

Dubai welcomes them
Posted by Henry, London, UK on Friday 21 November 2008 at 10:37 UAE time

We all know that Dubai welcomes any one who says I am British regardless of his qualifications. They pay a UK citizen far more than any one from any other country. Should they have been fair with treating people equally upon only their qualifications, they would have employed more skilled people even from the Arab world itself.

Is Dubai a magnet for cons?
Posted by Brian, Dubai, UAE on Tuesday 18 November 2008 at 17:59 UAE time


Why is it that all these sort of failures find Dubai a haven to come to? They not only ruin the reputation of this city but leverage their past failures to earn quick bucks, before moving on to another refugee camp!

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