Two obstetricians verbally abused a woman and told her no specialist in Canberra would treat her because she had dared to tell the Press about the case of her son who died after an operation, the ACT Coroners’ Court was told yesterday (mon16nov).
The court is inquiring into the death of Brian Lankuts who died after an operation at Royal Canberra Hospital two years ago.
The father, Michael Lankuts, who is representing himself and his wife, Carol, said from the Bar table he wanted to make a statement.
He said his wife became pregnant, and, bearing no grudges, went back to the original obstetrician who had misdiagnosed Brian. The obstetrician, whom he named, and another one subsequently “”subjected her to the most disgusting verbal abuse before throwing her out of their surgeries.”
“”She was told how dare she criticise the medical profession to The Canberra Times and told her that they would make sure that no other specialist would see her in Canberra,” he said.
(The story of the death of Brian Lankuts was subsequently published in The Canberra Times and five doctors are suing for defamation over it.)
Mr Lankuts said the obstetricians had advised his wife to get out of Canberra. She had rung every other obstetrician in Canberra but had been turned down. Eventually, she had found a doctor and his locum who would see her. But she had gone to Adelaide to have the baby, fearful that these two doctors might not be on duty at the time the baby arrived.
The Australian Medical Association had refused to speak to them or return their calls.
The two obstetricians he named were not represented at the inquest. No sworn evidence has been given about the incidents.
Mr Lankuts said in his statement that “”certain legal representatives” of ACT health authorities had pressured nurses to alter statements. This was denied by counsel for the ACT Board of Health, Pamela Burton, denied this.
Mr Lankuts said the nurses, who had their careers on the line, had been gotten to. He asked that they be called as witnesses, to which the Coroner, John Burns, agreed.
Mr Lankuts said the original medical file on Brian had been freely accessible at Royal Canberra to the doctors and health authorities who had a lot to lose if the case went against them. The file had been accessible to them for 18 months even though it had been known there would be an investigation and that the parents had asserted a medical cover-up. He said documents had been edited and had gone missing.
The first copy he had received under Freedom of Information had been 94 pages. The second copy he had been given by ACT legal representatives had been 174 pages. The third copy from the court had been 265 pages. The parents had been given edited copies, while the doctors had access to the whole file.
The case, which began with a week of hearing in September resumed yesterday and will continue at least through this week.
Pregnant woman abused by two obstetricians. Told she would never get treated in Canberra after daring to go to the press about Baby Brian, coroners court told. In fairness have not named them because it was an unsworn statement from the bar table and these two were not represented, though no legal reason why we can’t. Carol Lankuts is likely to give direct evidence of the incidents later. If you think to contrary, the doctors he named are M.A.Stafford-Bell and P.M. Mutton.