He added, “I sought the intervention of my connections and the friends of the deceased’s family to convince them I was not responsible for his death and that it was only his destiny. We’ve tried to explain that their behavior was wrong and socially unacceptable and contradicts the teachings of Islam, but to no avail. In the end, the issue was settled in a tribal meeting, where I paid blood money. Some people are not aware of the doctor’s limits in treating people, which leads them to accuse him of responsibility for patients' deaths.”
Social researcher Qasem Muhammad, also from Babil, blames what’s happening on “ignorance and the will to extort doctors to obtain money.”
Sheikh Majid Alklipy, a tribal leader, provided Al-Monitor with other examples. In his position in 2014, he “settled three conflicts with doctors, one of which ended with the doctor paying $4,000 in damages to a patient who underwent a failed surgery.”
Author and journalist Jawad al-Shammari believes a political factor is contributing to the doctors' predicament. He told Al-Monitor, “The gangs are operating under a political agenda that targets doctors and academics to empty the country of its scientific assets.”
Shammari gave the example of an Iraqi doctor, whose name he withheld for security reasons. As reported by his friends, someone called the doctor, who works at a Baghdad hospital, and threatened to kill him and kidnap his daughter and wife if he were to disclose information about the bribery and corruption going on in the hospital. “This doctor attempted to flee Iraq, but failed as he was not able to take his family with him,” Shammari added.
Dr. Ali Sahib of Karbala told Al-Monitor these ongoing threats make the doctors “feel insecure and unable to practice this sensitive profession, which requires concentration and safety.”
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