NASSAU, BAHAMAS- The Supreme Court has dismissed a doctor’s legal challenge against the Bahamas Medical Council over the suspension of his medical licence following disciplinary proceedings involving allegations that he issued 185 sick slips for Atlantis Resort employees without conducting medical examinations.
The ruling involves Dr. Bertram Sears, who challenged the Council’s July 2021 decision regarding his application to have his name restored to the medical register and his licence reinstated.
Chief Justice Sir Ian Winder ruled that Sears’ judicial review application was filed too late, finding that he failed to provide a sufficient explanation for the delay in bringing the matter before the Court.
The disciplinary proceedings against Sears arose from a formal complaint by Atlantis Resort, which alleged that between November 2014 and February 2015, he issued 185 sick certificates without examining patients to determine whether the certificates should have been granted.
The Bahamas Medical Council’s Disciplinary Committee conducted hearings, where Sears was legally represented, and found that he was guilty of serious professional misconduct. The Committee recommended that he complete the PROBE Programme in Medical Ethics, Boundaries and Professionalism before his licence could be restored.
The Court heard that Sears attended the PROBE Programme in Colorado in 2017 but was unsuccessful. His licence remained suspended, and he later completed an online ethics course through Case Western Reserve University, which he argued was equivalent to the required programme.
In July 2021, the Medical Council advised Sears that he needed to provide additional evidence to determine whether the Case Western course was equivalent to the PROBE programme.
Sears argued that the Council acted unlawfully and unreasonably by failing to restore his licence, while the Medical Council maintained that it had not rejected his application but had instead requested further evidence supporting his claim that the two courses were equivalent.
Chief Justice Winder accepted the Council’s position, finding that Sears did not act promptly in challenging the 2021 decision and did not provide a sufficient reason for the delay.
The Court also found that allowing the challenge to proceed could negatively affect the administration of the medical regulatory system, given the years that had passed since the condition requiring completion of the PROBE programme was imposed.
The Chief Justice dismissed Sears’ judicial review application and ordered that the Bahamas Medical Council be awarded its costs.
