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Islamists in the Hospital Ward

by Daniel Pipes
Fri, 29 Dec 2006
updated Sun, 17 Aug 2008

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A number of incidents are showing the incompatibility of radical Islam with modern medicine. Here are a trio to get this blog going, with more examples to be listed, in reverse chronological order, as they occur:

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American Muslima medical student refuses male patients: Patrick Poole documents in "CAIR's Medical School Grievance Theater" how Iram Qureshi of Dublin, Ohio, dismissed from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine last month for her poor academic record, has turned to the Council on American-Islamic Relations and sued the school. Her attorney has raised allegations of religious discrimination, such as her reluctance to conduct chest and pelvic examinations on male subjects. (July 17, 2008)

French Muslim couple fined for refusing male doctor at childbirth: A French Muslim couple sued a hospital in Bourg-en-Bresse in eastern France for €100,000 after their son, Mohammed Ijjou, was born heavily handicapped on November 8, 1998, as a result of neurological complications during birth. Instead, the couple found itself fined €1,000 because the father, Radouane Ijjou, physically barred a male doctor from entering his wife's room for half an hour to carry out tests, citing religious reasons, after a midwife asked for help with the wife's labor. The court in Lyon found that "the child's condition is totally due to the attitude of Radouane Ijjou"; had the doctor been allowed in, the texts could have prevented the complications. Therefore, the hospital could not be held responsible. (June 11, 2008)

British female Muslim doctors "must remove veil": New guidelines issued yesterday by the UK's General Medical Council (in a document titled Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice) requires doctors to set aside personal and cultural preferences. Specfically, under the general guideline that religious clothing must not impede trust and communication with patients, female Muslim doctors must be prepared to remove their veil to treat patients effectively:

it is important that patients feel able to build relationships of trust and communicate freely with their doctors. Some patients, for example, may find that a face veil worn by their doctor presents an obstacle to effective communication and the development of trust. You must be prepared to respond to a patient's individual needs and take steps to anticipate and overcome any perceived barrier to communication. In some situations this may require you to set aside your personal and cultural preferences in order to provide effective patient care.

The Muslim Council of Britain endorsed the guidance, so long as it permits female doctors to wear a hijab, which does not cover the face. The chairman of the MCB's medical committee, Abdullah Shehu, explained: "While wearing a veil does not preclude someone from practising medicine, there is no harm in removing it where the ability to communicate or care for the patient is compromised. The Muslim community very much welcomes this guidance." (March 18, 2008)

British female Muslim medics refuse to battle superbugs: Crisis talks are underway with medical staff who object to hospital hygiene rules because of their understanding of Islamic modesty regulations. The new breed of superbugs, such as such as MRSA and Clostridium difficle, require medical personnel to roll up their sleeves when washing their hands and to remove arm coverings when in the operating room. But female medics in hospitals in at least three major English cities (Alder Hey children's hospital in Liverpool, Leicester University hospital, and Sheffield University hospital) have refused to follow the "bare below the elbows" dress code, on the grounds that this is immodest.

Some students have threatened to quit their course work rather than expose their arms. They won support from the Islamic Medical Association, which holds that women covering all their body in public, except for the face and hands, is a basic tenet of Islam. "No practising Muslim woman – doctor, medical student, nurse, or patient – should be forced to bare her arms below the elbow."

In contrast, the medical director at Alder Hey, Dr. Steve Ryan, emphasized that "We specify bare below elbows, no wrist watches, nail varnish or false nails in clinical areas. Good hand hygiene is one of the most important and simplest actions we can take to prevent healthcare associated infections.' He added that "A number of female Muslim students had approached the University of Liverpool to ask if we would provide facilities for them to change their outerwear and hijab for theatre scrubs. We were pleased to accommodate this request and these facilities have now been incorporated."

Dr. Charles Tannock, a Conservative MEP and former hospital consultant, took a tougher stand: "These students are being trained using taxpayers' money and they have a duty of care to their patients not to put their health at risk. Perhaps these women should not be choosing medicine as a career if they feel unable to abide by the guidelines everyone else has to follow." (February 27, 2008)

Belgian Muslimas may not refuse male doctors: Going in precisely in the opposite direction from their Dutch counterparts, the Belgian gynecological association has issued a code of conduct for patients that takes away their right to refuse a male doctor in emergency childbirths. Women coming in to give birth will have to sign the code to be serviced. Johan Van Wiemeersch, chairman of the association, warns that the police can be called in if the patient (or her husband) then reneges on the agreement. (February 2, 2008)

Dutch Muslimas may refuse male doctors: The Dutch physicians organization, Koninklijke Nederlandsche Maatschappij tot bevordering der Geneeskunst, has issued new guidelines, following an incident in an Amersfoort hospital when a pregnant Muslim woman refused treatment by a male gynecologist. The guidelines urge hospitals, except in emergency cases, to find ways to fulfill Islamist women's wishes. (December 18, 2007) Feb. 8, 2008 update: The KNMG requires patients who want to be treated by a doctor of one or other gender to state this when making an appointment, or else the preference is not operational. Also, this choice is limited to the sex of the doctor and cannot extend to skin color, political conviction, or religion.

Muslim husband ejects male anesthetist from the operating room: Hospital personnel are not the only Islamists in the wards. Here's a case of a patient's husband from Bree, Belgium: When a pregnant Muslim arrived late at night needing an emergency Caesarean, the hospital called Dr. Philippe Becx to serve as anesthetist.

However, her husband blocked the door and demanded a female anesthetist. The latter was unavailable. After a two-hour discussion proved fruitless, an imam was summoned. The imam permitted the doctor to apply an epidural injection, but only if the woman was fully covered with only a small area of skin showing. During the surgery itself, performed by a female gynecologist, the anesthetist was to remain in the hallway. Through a door that was slightly ajar, he shouted instructions to a nurse who was monitoring the anesthesia.

Despite all this, the Caesarean was succesful. (October 27, 2007)

British Muslim medical students reject kafir ways: In a report by Daniel Foggo and Abul Taher in the The Sunday Times (London), we learn that

Some Muslim medical students are refusing to attend lectures or answer exam questions on alcohol-related or sexually transmitted diseases because they claim it offends their religious beliefs. Some trainee doctors say learning to treat the diseases conflicts with their faith, which states that Muslims should not drink alcohol and rejects sexual promiscuity. A small number of Muslim medical students have even refused to treat patients of the opposite sex. One male student was prepared to fail his final exams rather than carry out a basic examination of a female patient.

The British Medical Association has received reports of Muslim students who did not want to learn anything about alcohol or the effects of overconsumption. "They are so opposed to the consumption of it they don't want to learn anything about it." (October 7, 2007)

Doctor urges Muslims to shun haram vaccines: Dr. Abdul Majid Katme, a psychiatrist who has worked in the National Health Service for 15 years and heads the Islamic Medical Association, wants British Muslims not to vaccinate their children against measles, mumps, rubella, MMR, diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis, and meningitis. He argues, writes Abul Taher in London's Sunday Times, that these and almost all vaccines contain products derived from proscribed animal or human tissue, making them haram, or unlawful, for Muslims. "Many vaccines, especially those given to children, are full of haram substances — human parts, gelatine from pork, alcohol, animal/monkey parts, all coming from the West who do not have knowledge of halal or haram. It is forbidden in Islam to have any of these haram substances in our bodies."

Instead of relying on vaccines, Katme wants Muslims to let their children develop their own immune system naturally. Leading "Islamically healthy lives," he believes, is enough to ward off illnesses and diseases. "You see, God created us perfect and with a very strong defence system. If you breast-feed your child for two years — as the Koran says — and you eat Koranic food like olives and black seed, and you do ablution each time you pray, then you will have a strong defence system." (January 28, 2007)

The UK National Health Service should provide Muslims with faith-based services: So argues Aziz Sheikh, professor of primary care research and development at the University of Edinburgh (and an activist in the Muslim Council of Britain), calling for doctors of the same gender as their patients and helping patients "avoid porcine and alcohol derived drugs." (January 13, 2007)

A typical anti-bacterial gel found in UK hospitals.

I could not believe it - the signs are large enough and clear enough but they just took no notice and walked straight onto the ward. I was there almost every day for three weeks and I saw it repeated dozens and dozens of times. When I raised the matter with the nursing staff they just shrugged and said that Muslims were refusing to use the gel because it contained alcohol. They said they couldn't force visitors to use the gel and I understand that — but I was astonished that anyone who didn't wash their hands was allowed onto a ward. I know the dangers that bugs like MRSA can cause. They kill hundreds of patients a year.

Male refused treatment by female doctors: A 17-year-old male shepherd from Konya, Turkey, referred to only as "A.G.," arrived at the Konya Testing Hospital complaining of swollen testicles. He was sent to get ultrasound tests, but two headscarved (i.e., Islamist) female radiology doctors refused him service. Not receiving proper attention, A.G. later had one of his testicles removed by operation. The case has provoked much attention. The hospital's head of urology, Celal Tutuncu, portrayed the case as very "black and white," and said that action would be taken. Members of the opposition CHP party raised the case in parliament in December 2006. A CHP lawyer, Atilla Kart, noted that "This is the destruction wrought by religious references spilling over into public administration."

Male relatives preventing female patients from being treated by male doctors: So rampant is the problem in France of Muslim husbands preventing their wives and other female relatives from being treated by male doctors (for example, women in labor have not had epidurals because the anesthetist was a man) that Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin reportedly planned in February 2004 to propose legislation to stop this from happening (how he plans to do this is not explained). (December 29, 2006)

Related Topics: Radical Islam

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