Former Nationalist Party president and St Philips Hospital CEO Frank Portelli was fined €10,000 by the Medical Council after he was found guilty of making defamatory allegations about former Labour MP Louis Buhagiar, who occasionally worked at the hospital.
The Medical Council ruled that Dr Portelli, who recently contested the June 6 MEP election on a PN ticket, had made allegations aimed at tarnishing Prof. Buhagiar's reputation. It also ruled that if the fine is not paid by October 1, his name would be struck off the medical register.
The case dates back to July 21, 2003, when the Medical Council was informed by Prof. Buhagiar that Dr Portelli had suspended him from working as a consultant at St Philip's Hospital due to "repeated complaints about the professional fees you charge patients".
The council, presided over by Josella Farrugia, heard that that the letter which Dr Portelli had sent to Prof. Buhagiar was copied to all the staff at St Philip's Hospital and to the Medical Association of Malta.
Dr Portelli had also written to Josie Muscat, a director at St James Capua Hospital, asking him to also suspend Prof. Buhagiar from working at his hospital.
Prof. Buhagiar took exception to this and filed an official complaint against Dr Portelli accusing him of spreading false allegations with the intention of damaging his reputation in medical circles. In 2005, the council ordered that an official inquiry be opened against Dr Portelli over the complaints.
Prof. Buhagiar insisted that consultants in private hospitals had the right to charge patients as much as they wanted and that the hospital's management could not instruct consultants what rates to charge. He added that foreign patients were charged international rates.
Dr Muscat testified that, some time before this issue of overcharging surfaced, he met Dr Portelli over a possible cooperation agreement between the two private hospitals. When Dr Portelli suspended Prof. Buhagiar, the former had written to him asking him to also suspend Prof. Buhagiar in the light of the cooperation between St Philip's and St James Capua.
Dr Muscat said he refused because his hospital had no problems with Prof. Buhagiar. He also explained that consultants were independent professionals and that it was normal practice for patients to deal with consultants directly. The hospital had absolutely no control over consultant's fees.
The council accepted these arguments and ruled that it was evident that Dr Portelli's letter, which he had circulated to other people, was aimed at tarnishing Prof. Buhagiar's reputation.
It therefore ordered Dr Portelli to pay a €10,000 fine within three months.
The issue concerning the medical fees charged by Prof. Buhagiar had been raised by The Times after a British tourist, back in 2002, received a bill for Lm674.60 for a 36-hour stay.
She was eventually transferred to St Luke's Hospital because her insurance would not cover the operation she needed.