PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) lost the injunction it had filed at the Court of First Instance in a bid to obtain files of patients that were removed from the hospital by gynaecologist Michel A.L. Petit following his retirement as per December 15, 2010.
Judge Diederik Thierry stated in his written verdict, which was made public Tuesday, that Dr. Petit had been in his right when, after his retirement, he had transferred all the remaining files from his practice to Dr. Randall Friday's Women's Health Services clinic on A.J.C. Brouwer Road.
In the injunction, which was filed December 27, SMMC had requested the Court to order Petit and OB-Gyn Care N.V. to hand over the medical files of SMMC's patients from mid-2000 until now within 48 hours after the verdict.
These files should be handed over to the hospital's General Director George Scot, or to the Head of SMMC Outpatient's Clinic, it was requested.
The hospital had also requested the court to impose a penalty of US $1,000 on a daily basis in case of non-compliance, and to condemn Petit to payment of the cost of the legal procedures.
From 1991 until December 2010, Petit had been working as an independent gynaecologist at SMMC. Until 2009, Petit had been working there with two other gynaecologists in an N.V. named OB-Gyn.
According to SMMC, Petit had promised to leave his patients' files at the hospital after his retirement. But despite this promise, Petit had taken all the files and refused to make these available.
According to the hospital, Petit did not have any interest in keeping the files, while SMMC, because of its responsibility towards its patients, should be able to immediately access the files.
According to Petit, the hospital was falsely claiming that it is obligated to store patients' files. He stated he had never been employed by the hospital, and therefore the hospital was not entitled to his files.
According to Petit, he had only taken those files of patients who had visited him for consultations and had not delivered their babies at SMMC, and of those patients who had not otherwise been treated as an intramural patient or outpatient at SMMC.
Judge Thierry said SMMC had failed to prove the incorrectness of Petit's statements, which he therefore considered to be true.
The judge added that the Civil Code mentions that a practicing doctor is obligated to keep record of the treatment of patients, but the law does not state anything about the ownership of these files.
This led the judge to the conclusion in the injunction that the contested patient files belong to Ob-Gyn, and Dr. Petit's successor, Dr. Friday.
The judge added that patients have the legal right to terminate their relationship with a physician at all times. This means that patients who do not wish to be treated by Dr. Friday may seek the assistance of another doctor and have their files transferred to their new doctor.
SMMC was ordered to pay the legal cost of the injunction, which was estimated at NAf. 1,500.
The Daily Herald has learned that several of Dr. Petit's former patients are considering filing an official complaint with the Health Inspectorate concerning the transfer of their files.
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