General Medical Council won’t take any motion against pro-life doctor

The General Medical Council (GMC) has ended a three-year investigation right into a retired neurologist and Catholic priest with a choice to take no further motion.

Dr Patrick Pullicino, who in 2012 was one among the doctors to boost the alarm about abuses within the Liverpool Care Pathway, was investigated after fitness to practise concerns were raised by gender and sexuality academic Celia Kitzinger. 

She claimed that he had been biased within the medical opinion he gave in a 2021 court case about end-of-life treatment. 

The case involved a middle-aged Polish man named only as RS who had suffered brain damage from a heart attack, and the query of whether nutrition and fluids needs to be removed.

It was suggested that Pullicino, 74, had allowed his faith to prejudice his opinion and that he “can have deliberately misdiagnosed the patient within the hope of saving his life”. 

Following a closed-door tribunal to find out whether his medical practice needs to be suspended, the GMC has decided to not take any motion. 

“Dr Pullicino is an experienced Consultant Neurologist, with specialist registration and a licence to practise, and we’ve got no evidence to suggest that he lacks competence to evaluate a patient’s level of consciousness,” it said.

The decision from the GMC continued: “We wouldn’t have evidence to support an allegation that [his medical opinion] was inaccurate.

“We conclude that there is no such thing as a realistic prospect of proving these allegations they usually are concluded with no motion.”

In regards to Dr Pullicino’s beliefs they ruled: “No evidence was adduced to support the allegation that Dr Pullicino’s religious faith or personal beliefs affected his opinion on Patient RS.”

Responding to the choice, Dr Pullicino said he was “relieved and pleased” but said that the GMC “should never have allowed an investigation to proceed against me”. 

He said he had been “clearly targeted” due to his religious beliefs and his conviction that “medical professionals should do every little thing possible to save lots of one other human’s life”.

“I’m concerned that it has taken so long for me to be vindicated and cleared,” he added. 

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, which supported him in his case: “The irony shouldn’t escape us that that is a health care provider under investigation for actually trying to save lots of a life.”

She continued, “The case highlights the growing pressure on medical professionals not to interrupt ranks with their colleagues who had taken a controversial decision to finish a patient’s life.

“In sensitive end-of-life cases, dissenting health workers risk severe criticism by courts and activists, resulting in protracted and stressful investigations by skilled regulators.” 

She added, “We need more doctors and experts who’re prepared to be fearless in defending the patient’s right to life.”