Dr Daniel Ubani loses legal fight to silence victim’s sons

Doctor who accidentally killed David Gray on only UK shift as locum GP fails to stop attempts to get him banned in Germany A German doctor who accidentally killed a patient on his only UK shift as a locum GP on out-of-hours duty has failed in the latest round of his legal battle to silence the patient’s sons. A Munich appeal court has dismissed continuing attempts by Daniel Ubani to stop Rory and Stuart Gray trying to get him banned in his own country and questioning EU judicial and medical rules. Ubani killed their father, David Gray, at his Cambridgeshire home with a tenfold overdose of the painkiller diamorphine in February 2008, an act that a coroner ruled unlawful killing and led to him being barred by the General Medical Council from working in Britain. Ubani, whose main work is as a cosmetic surgeon, wanted to stop the brothers continuing to demand the changes to extradition arrangements and to EU rules over the checking of medical qualifications and competence. The doctor was given a suspended prison sentence in Germany and ordered to pay €5,000 in legal costs for killing Gray by negligence just as British authorities were seeking to pursue a possible manslaughter charge. He claimed the brothers were making false statements about him. Last summer the Grays interrupted Ubani’s appearance at a medical conference in Germany to publicise the case. He retaliated by trying to stop them criticising him anywhere in the EU or approaching within 550 metres of him. A court in Kempten, southern Germany, ruled against him and said the brothers could call him a charlatan or killer, but not an animal. Ubani’s appeal on the finding was dismissed this month. The judge said the appeal had “no chance of success” and rejected it because “the matter is of no fundamental importance”. He faces court costs of €15,000 for the initial case and €14,000 for the appeal, in addition to the brothers’ legal costs and expenses. Ubani was recently fined €7,000 by medical authorities over Gray’s death for breaking his country’s code of conduct for doctors, although he is still free to practise there. Rory Gray, a satellite engineer in Germany, said: “Considering he had flown to the UK at the age of 65 to do a weekend shift for £45 pounds an hour, out of which he had to pay his own flights, travel and accommodation, I would imagine this would be quite a significant financial burden.” Doctors Health Germany Europe James Meikle guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 25, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.