CAY HILL:--- The St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) in a letter to the Inspectorate of Health of St. Maarten claimed that they conducted the necessary screening procedures prior to hiring wanted vascular surgeon Dr. Robert Willem Johan Muller. Dr. Muller worked as a surgeon at the St. Maarten Medical Center for close to three months while he was under investigation by the Inspectorate of Health of the Netherlands (IGZ). SMMC claims that based on their research, Dr. Muller did not perform any vascular procedures during his work stint at the St. Maarten Medical Center.
SMN News reported that Dr. Muller left the island last month and moved to Switzerland but SMMC said he left to work in France.
A report coming out of the Netherlands and the letter IGZ sent to Dr. Muller on July 31st, 2013 prohibited him from practicing medicine as the investigation continues. The Inspectorate is trying to locate Dr. Muller in order to put him in front of a medical court while family members of his victims are also trying to locate Dr. Muller to bring charges against him. The report which was finalized on July 31st, 2013 states that Dr. Muller is responsible for the deaths of several persons and while they already identified two, the list will get longer by the time the investigation ends.
Based on information provided to SMN News, the Department of Public Health is required to contact the Inspectorate of the Netherlands when they are conducting screening. It is not clear if the Department did a quick search three months ago in the BIG registry and did not find the conclusion of the report since it was not yet published.
SMN News made several phone calls to the Department of Public Health on Friday to obtain information on the screening process but no one could be reached at the department by phone. Secretary General for Labour and Health Joireen Wuite said they will supply the information when they get the time to do so.
In an invited comment, Minister of Health Cornelius de Weever said that based on the screening process the applicant has to provide some documents which are: a copy of their valid passport, a copy their BIG registration, their resume, certified copies of their diplomas, and the working agreement between the applicant (specialist) and SMMC. De Weever said all of the documents that were required were submitted and the BIG registry showed that Dr. Muller had a clean record. Minister De Weever said that the Department of Public Health also did a background check in South Africa and Australia where Dr. Muller worked in the past and they did not find anything suspicious.
When SMN News asked the Minister of Health how the Department of Public Health determines that a doctor has a clean record, Minister De Weever said that the department does so by checking the BIG registry since that is the current procedure to follow.
SMN News asked the Minister if he knew that the only time reports are published in the BIG registry is after an investigation is completed, Minister De Weever admitted that is the case. When asked if the Department of Public Health ever contacted the Inspectorate to make inquires about doctors who want to practice medicine on St. Maarten, Minister de Weever said that is done when the applicant is suspicious or refuses to share information. He said that right now the Department of Public Health and the Inspectorate on St. Maarten would have to review the current procedures and if there is need for tweaking then that has to be done.
As for Dr. Muller, Minister De Weever said he worked at SMMC for a period of two months which was his trial period. During that time he did not perform any vascular surgeries on St. Maarten. Minister De Weever said based on information given by SMMC, Dr. Muller stopped working for SMMC at the end of his probation period because he claimed that he wanted to take up a new position in France.
Click here to view the letter sent to Dr. Muller by IGZ on July 31st, 2013.
