Medical syndicate calls for speeding up endorsement of Penal Code amendments

AMMAN — The Jordan Medical Association (JMA) on Tuesday called on the concerned authorities to accelerate endorsing a proposed amendment to the Penal Code that stiffens penalties against assailants of medics.

The call follows an attack against a neurologist at a private hospital in Amman on Tuesday.

Doctor Mohammad Samaha is currently at the intensive care unit of a private hospital after being attacked by the family of a patient he operated on last year, his son, Mazen, told The Jordan Times.

“This practice is unacceptable and not justified at all,” said Basem Kiswani, head of the JMA’s complaints committee.

He told The Jordan Times that although there has been a drop in such attacks this year compared to previous ones, “our goal is to eliminate such incidents completely”.

Noting that 21 cases of assaults against doctors were registered since the beginning of the year, Kiswani said the figure was more than double that last year.

The Cabinet last week approved the mandating reasons for draft amendments to the Penal Code that stiffen penalties against assailants of educators and medical personnel.

The amended law, which was referred to the Legislation and Opinion Bureau, stipulates no less than one-year imprisonment for those who assault teachers, faculty members at colleges and universities, nurses and doctors while they are on duty.

The punishment also applies if the educators or healthcare workers are attacked for an action or decision they have taken in their professional capacity.

Health Ministry Spokesperson Hatem Azrui agreed that the number of assaults has dropped, but noted that the ministry’s goal is also to end this phenomenon.

In a phone interview with The Jordan Times, Azrui said 38 assaults on medics — doctors and nurses — were registered at public health facilities in the first half of this year, compared to 42 in the same period last year.

“We hope this issue will be over once the amendments to the law are enforced,” he added.