PHILIPSBURG--A total of eighteen women have signed a letter asking the Inspectorate of Health to look into the transfer of their files from gynaecologist Dr. Michel Petit to gynaecologist Dr. Randall Friday.
The petition, sent to the Inspectorate on Tuesday, was spearheaded by Lonneke Roos-Cramer and Bregje Boetekees-Van't Hof, patients of the former OB/GYN clinic in St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC).
In their letter the women said they were concerned about the recent developments related to the dismantling of the clinic and the subsequent actions of Dr. Petit.
"Dr. Petit has removed all the files of the patients of his former clinic at SMMC and given these to Dr. Friday, based on a cooperation agreement they supposedly entered into." They said these files had been created by either Dr. Petit or two other gynaecologists, who no longer work in St. Maarten, during consultations in their clinic.
"The files that were created during admission of OB/GYN patients in the SMMC are still physically in the SMMC. This was confirmed to us by one of the gynaecologists who is currently working at SMMC. We have followed the reports in the newspapers and concluded that, according to the Court of First Instance, Dr. Petit's actions are legally allowed.
"However, our concern is of a more ethical and personal nature. We believe that a medical file first and foremost belongs to the patient and are concerned that these files have now disappeared. Never did Dr. Petit contact any one of us to ask our permission to transfer our files to the clinic of Dr. Friday. Also, we are very worried about the safety of all the patients," the women stated in their letter.
"In the event of an acute medical situation whereby a patient is to be admitted or treated at the SMMC, all data from the visits to the former clinic are missing and not available for the treating physician at SMMC. The treating physician can then not make a fully informed diagnosis and/or treatment, as very important medical data are gone. This can result, as you can imagine, in serious or even life-threatening situations," the women said.
"As this involves medical files with, for all patients, very sensitive information, we have decided to contact you. We are kindly asking you to investigate this situation and advise us on how to solve this. Of course we can just pass by Dr. Friday's office and pick up our file, but this seems to be the world upside-down and will not prevent a re-occurrence in the future."
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