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'Suicide' GP guilty of misconduct | 'Suicide' GP guilty of misconduct |
(about 4 hours later) | |
A Glasgow GP who prescribed sleeping pills to a suicidal patient has been found guilty of misconduct by the General Medical Council. | A Glasgow GP who prescribed sleeping pills to a suicidal patient has been found guilty of misconduct by the General Medical Council. |
The GMC's Fitness to Practise Panel criticised Dr Iain Kerr's treatment of the woman, who took her life in 2005. | The GMC's Fitness to Practise Panel criticised Dr Iain Kerr's treatment of the woman, who took her life in 2005. |
It also found that his fitness to practise was impaired. | |
The panel will hear more submissions before deciding whether Dr Kerr, 61, from Williamwood Medical Centre in Clarkston, should be struck off. | |
During the hearing in Manchester, the panel heard that Dr Kerr supplied sodium amytal to the elderly woman, known as Patient A, in 1998. | |
It was alleged that this was after she had expressed unhappiness with her quality of life and said she had considered suicide. | |
He also prescribed temazepan to the woman on 1 December 2005 despite a suspected failed suicide attempt two days before. | |
'Professional disrepute' | |
The woman was found dead at her home 11 days later. She had suffered an overdose of different drugs including Temazepam. | |
On Tuesday, the GMC panel ruled that Dr Kerr's decision to prescribe sleeping tablets to Patient A was "inappropriate and irresponsible". | |
It said this was "likely to bring the profession into disrepute" and not in the patient's best interest. | |
Dr Kerr was also branded irresponsible for not referring Patient A to hospital after she initially overdosed on Temazepam tablets in 2005. | |
But the panel found he had not prescribed sleeping pills to the woman after she told him she was unhappy with her quality of life. | |
It also found he had not failed to take adequate measures to dissuade her from suicide. | |
The hearing continues. |