Reports--Muslim Doctors/Nurses Placing Lives at Risk

According to news reports received from a variety of sources, most notably in those countries where there is a diverse religious population, Muslim nurses and physicians sometimes place lives in danger due to their refuasl to perform necessary and life-saving procedures.

The latest of these incidents has occurred in Turkey, the result of which has created a medical scandal within the Turkish Parliament.

As you will read in the following news report, a 17 year old male was forced to have a testicle surgically removed due to the refusal of 'turban-wearing medical personnel' to treat the condition before it reached critical proportions.

The incident has thrown Turkey into turmoil concerning the state of its heath care system:

Medical scandal in Konya makes waves in Turkish Parliament

'A medical scandal surrounding a 17 year old male shepherd from Konya who was unable to receive proper attention at the Konya Testing Hospital due to the fact that two of the attending radiology doctors were women wearing headscarves, has grown.

'The shepherd, referred to only as "A.G." in reports, arrived at the Konya Testing Hospital complaining of swollen testicles, and was sent to get ultrasound tests, but was refused service by two female doctors wearing headscarves. The shepherd later had to have one of his testicles removed by operation. Yesterday the Turkish Parliament debated the case, with opposition CHP Party members asserting that they would be following the case. Meanwhile, the Konya hospital's head of urology, Doctor Celal Tutuncu, said yesterday that he felt that the case was very "black and white," and that as soon as documents showing exactly which doctors had refused service to the shepherd were made clear, action would be taken.

'A top CHP lawyer, Atilla Kart, spoke to Hurriyet yesterday, noting he was not "surprised" by the case, saying "This is the destruction wrought by religious references spilling over into public adminstration."

'He went on: "This is the point at which Turkey's public administration has arrived. It is clear that that turbaned doctor was working with the full knowledge of the hospital administration.....But in fact the incident is not limited to the administration of the hospital; I believe it is also linked to the regional administration too. We see now what can happen when religious exploitation and religious references are carried over into our government....Konya is a photograph of the general situation in Turkey."'