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Medical Council Postpones Stephen Spiteri’s Sitting On Dodgy Medical Certificates… Two Weeks After Confirming It

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Malta’s airports are set to reopen with COVID-19 restrictions slowly being lifted. But the Medical Council is postponing its case against the Nationalist Party’s Shadow Health Minister embroiled in dodgy medical certificates scandals because of the pandemic, two weeks after finally confirming a date.

Lovin Malta revealed first revealed that Spiteri was giving out medical certificates to patients without seeing them in November 2017, publishing a telephone recording with his receptionist, who revealed details of his medical certificates racket.

Anybody wanting a medical certificate was permitted to leave their details and a €5 note at a Kalkara pharmacy and pick up a signed certificate later on in the day, despite not having been examined by Spiteri.

The revelations sparked a Medical Council inquiry which could see Spiteri lose his doctor’s warrant if found guilty. The first hearing took place in October 2018. However, the case is still dragging on a year and a half later with sittings regularly delayed.

A sitting was finally set on 12th May for 1st June at 2pm, but the wait will continue after the Medical Council informed Lovin Malta that the hearing will be delayed because of the pandemic.

Active cases have just started to drop, with crowds already gathering in their droves and public services like the courts going online, but it seems like the panel of doctors will have to wait until the pandemic is truly over to continue.

This presents some serious issues. According to case law, an inquiry that takes more than two years would no longer be valid.

Spiteri has always denied wrongdoing. The issue erupted after Lovin Malta published a damning telephone recording with his receptionist, who revealed details of his medical certificates racket.

The Nationalist Party has refused to take action against Spiteri.

What do you think of the latest delay? Comment below

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Julian is the former editor of Lovin Malta and has a particular interest in politics, the environment, social issues, and human interest stories.

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