By EMMANUEL WERE

A man has filed a petition in the High Court to disband the medical board, citing its inability to handle medical negligence cases.

Mr Muturia Mwangi filed the case yesterday against the Medical Practitioners and Dentist Board.

The Attorney General has also been named as a respondent.

In his petition, Mwangi, claims the board as currently constituted is “partial, biased, unconstitutional, fraudulent, incompetent and heavily weighed by conflict of interests.”

“A declaration that the medical practitioners and dentists board as currently constituted and being unconstitutional be disbanded and be replaced by an independent tribunal with the capacity to protect the rights of patients,” reads part of the petition.

The petition was received at the Judicial Review and constitutional and Human Rights registry.

Mwangi claims the board lacks an independent source of funding thus heavily compromising its independence. It collects funds from doctors, dentists and healthcare facilities through an annual registration fee.

He further claims the board lacks independence, impartiality and determines cases with bias. 

Half of the board membership is elected by the doctors while the other half by the Minister of Health.

The board comprises 15 doctors, and there has been concern over its independence since it does not accommodate community members like it is the practice in other countries.

The Standard confirmed the board was served by Dr Kiama Wangai, the lawyer representing Mwangi yesterday afternoon.

“We have received and given it to our lawyers,” said the board’s CEO Daniel Yumbya. “The lawyer will advice on the way forward so I cannot comment.”

Mwangi named Dr James Kirii and Kiria-ini Mission Hospitals as interested parties in the case. His wife, Charity Mutiria, died at the hospital after giving birth to their daughter, Grace Mutiria, who also passed on.

“Kiriaini Mission Hospital ran a maternity service without the requisite facilities for the blood transfusion as a result the deceased Charity Mugure Mutiria bled to death,” reads part of the petition. 

The board is a statutory authority established under Cap 253 Laws of Kenya to regulate the practice of medicine and dentistry.