The Portuguese Medical Council has suspended an obstetrician suspected of negligence for failing to detect the malformations of a baby whose faceless birth shocked the country.
The doctor was unanimously suspended for six months on Tuesday by the Discipline Council of the College of Physicians and had previously been the subject of six other complaints, en24.news reported, the oldest of which dates back to 2013.Â
The Disciplinary Council decided to open an investigation after the birth had made headlines. The Justice Department is also investigating the case following a complaint filed against the doctor by the parents.
Baby Rodrigo was born on October 7 without a nose, eyes or part of his skull at a hospital in Setubal, about 40 kilometres south of Lisbon.
“There is strong evidence” of the doctor’s negligence, which “may lead to a disciplinary sanction”, Alexandre Valentim Lourenco, medical council chief for the southern region had told broadcaster RTP.
