A claim of discrimination filed by a doctor in a wheelchair against the Committee for the Approval of Specialists has been dismissed by the courts after it was established that the doctor did not qualify for registration as a specialist.

Dr Naged Megally told the court, presided over by Mr Justice Anthony Ellul, that he held the post of resident specialist in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department of Mater Dei, and claimed that he was the only doctor in that hospital who was specialised in foetal ultrasound.

In 1986, Dr Megally was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and became wheelchair bound. He applied to the committee to be registered as a specialist in Obstetrics and Gynaecology but his application had been dismissed. According to Dr Megally, this refusal was discriminatory.

The minister, the Chief Government Medical Officer and the Attorney General all pleaded that they ought not to have been made a party to the suit, and their plea was upheld by the court.

On its part, the committee pleaded that no discrimination had taken place and that it was Dr Megally who was trying to take undue advantage of his disability. According to the committee, Dr Megally was only qualified in the field of foetal ultrasound and did not have the full qualifications to be accredited as a specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology.

Mr Justice Ellul siad that in 2003, a specialist register had been introduced in terms of which a doctor who claimed to be a specialist in a particular field had to be approved by the committee and have his qualifications evaluated.

In May 2009, the committee refused Dr Megally's application saying that despite his vast experience in carrying out ultrasound examinations, he lacked training and experience in the full breadth of obstetrics and gynaecology and was, therefore, not eligible to be registered as a specialist in this field.

The court heard that Dr Megally did not have full training in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology and could not perform surgery. His disability had impeded his full training, but this did not mean that he was entitled to registration as a specialist.

The committee's refusal to grant accreditation to Dr Megally was not because of his disability but because he had not completed his training in all aspects of this medical field.

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