But, is the Ministry too late? And did they fail to act decisively when they had already been warned? As we mentioned last night there had been a previous complaint of inappropriate behavior made against the same doctor by the family of a 16 year old.
Courtney Menzies has been speaking with the family of this teenager - and has a history of their 8 month battle to get the ministry to finally do something. Here's her report:
In March of this year, a 23-year-old woman alleged that she was violently sexually assaulted at a clinic in Punta Gorda by the radiologist, Dr Desmond Arzu.
But it's not the first time Dr Arzu has been accused of a professional misconduct after a medical examination. Back in June, 2022, a 16-year-old girl visited a hospital in Belmopan, where her mother says she endured a jarring experience.
Following the incident, the doctor then allegedly reached out to the girl via Instagram and sent her an inappropriate message.
After the incident occurred, the minor's father immediately reported it to the Ministry of Health. He also emailed the hospital with all the relevant documents.
That was June 28th. When the family received no response, the father followed up with another email on July 6th.
He was then told that the regional manager was on sick leave, and he would have to wait until the next day for a response.
Except he didn't get that response, and was forced to send another email on July 26th. In that email, he said, quote, "I have been patiently awaiting a response regarding my complaint on behalf of my sixteen year old daughter against Dr. Arzu but it seems I am being ignored. I called in an attempt to speak with [the regional manager] but instead was stuck speaking with someone that seemed only vaguely familiar with the complaint and in haste to end the conversation promised that before the end of the same day I would have been contacted with an update but have not heard back since (that was Thursday July 21). I am now sending this email in order to document all attempts made to get resolve in this issue. I am assuming that no action has been taken against Dr. Arzu and that he is still being allowed to attend young, vulnerable patients." End quote.
That same day, the hospital replied and said quote, "Since the event originated at the Hospital, it fell on the Regional Managers to reprimand him which I believe she did. Two weeks ago, if not earlier. I also gather that Dr. Arzu was prepared to submit an apology on his behalf." End quote.
But that "reprimand" Dr Arzu got for professional misconduct with a 16-year-old girl was two warning letters. In this correspondence sent to the family, it says that one of the letters was given by the regional manager, and another by the Director of Hospital Services, Dr Jorge Polanco. The correspondence adds that these letters were placed in Dr Arzu's personal file.
This was sent February 22nd. A month later, Dr Arzu allegedly assaulted a young woman during an ultrasound.
We reached out to Dr Polanco in March and then in April, and both times our messages went unanswered. Today, we contacted him again to ask for an interview, to which he responded that a press release would be issued. When we requested again, he added, quote, "This topic will be fully ventilated in court. The MOHW really cannot provide more information at this point in time apart from what has been shared publicly." End quote.
But the only reason the matter is currently in the courts is because MOHW did not formally respond to the 23-year-old victim, which then forced her to take matters into her own hands and make a report to the police.
As it stands now, Dr Arzu is currently out on bail, and will be back in court on July 28th.
We did reach out to Arzu's attorney, Bryan Neal for comment but up to news time he had not responded.
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