Two doctors who administered Valium to an asthmatic migrant shortly before he died almost 10 years ago were this morning cleared of involuntary homicide after a court ruled that there was no link between the death and the medicine they administered.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera ruled that the migrant had died of natural causes and not due to any act of commission or commission by the two doctors.

Doctors Elaine Desira, 33, and Ritienne Debono, 36, were working at St Luke's Hospital on the night of February 6, 2005 when Eritrean national Sagid Iisraquay Tegualde died a few hours after being administered the tranquilliser. It was given to him because he was being violent and refusing treatment.

The doctors had been arraigned in 2009 and the ban on the publication of their names was lifted by the court this morning.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera said there was no doubt that the doctors had done their very best to treat the migrant in the best possible way. The fact that the patient was aggressive and refusing treatment, as well as the language barrier, made it even more difficult for them in their efforts to save his life.

The court heard that Mr Tegualde had a history of asthma and suffered from TB and it was not the first time that he had been admitted to hospital.

The Eritrean had arrived in Malta on September 17, 2004. He had already entered the country illegally once before and been deported but he somehow returned.

A month before his death, he suffered an asthma attack at the Safi Detention Centre, where he was being detained. A doctor from the Paola health centre was called and the patient was referred to hospital. When the ambulance arrived, he became violent and refused to go.

On February 4, 2005 he was taken to St Luke's Hospital and placed in the M8 ward. A day later he was examined by Dr Desira and the patient again behaved violently.

He was short of breath, aggressive and refused to be examined. He was so agitated that he even tried to rip the door out of its hinges.

Dr Desira consulted with her superior, Dr Debono, and a decision was taken to administer five milligrams of Valium, a tranquilliser, in an attempt to calm him down and treat him properly.

Doctors did their best in unfortunate circumstances to save the migrant's life- Court

Court experts told the court that asthma patients should never be given Valium but other experts contradicted this, saying there was no link between the cause of death and this medicinal.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera said the autopsy had revealed that the Eritrean died as a result of a collapsed lung and intra-pulmonary haemorrhage due to bronchial asthma. These were considered to be "natural causes", the court heard.
She said the evidence and the autopsy did not conclude that the Valium had contributed to the death.

Valium, the court heard, had a short-lasting effect that lasts an average of 15 mins. It therefore did not add up that the migrant died two hours later, the court said. Neither did it result that the migrant died of an overdose of this medicinal.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera said that "no link could ever be established" between the treatment given and the medicine administered and the cause of death and that, as a result, the doctors could not be found guilty of involuntary homicide.

The decision to prescribe the medicine administered was a good one in the circumstances as it did not contribute to the death, the court said in its 45-page judgment. Moreover, the difficulties encountered by the doctors in their attempt to treat the migrant did not help the situation.

The magistrate said the evidence heard in court showed that doctors had acted "with the expected diligence" when treating a patient who was aggressive towards them. In addition, it had been established "and without a shadow of doubt" that the patient had died due to natural causes and not as a result of "an act of commission or omission" on the part of the doctors accused of causing his death.

As she cleared the two doctors of the charges brought against them, Magistrate Scerri Herrera declared that they "had done their best in such unfortunate circumstances" to save the migrant's life.

Police Inspector Joseph Agius prosecuted. Lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha appeared for Dr Debono while lawyer Anna Mallia appeared for Dr Desira.