Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan has come under fire from the family of environmentalist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh, who have accused him of obtaining Kublalsingh’s private medical records without their permission. The family also wants Khan to clarify statements he made yesterday about Kublalsingh’s health. Khan, who visited Kublalsingh at the St Clair Medical Centre on Sunday, yesterday said the leader of the Highway Re-Route Movement (HRM) appeared normal and he was “flabbergasted” by the state of Kublalsingh’s health. He said he was surprised how strong Kublalsingh seemed, especially for someone who had gone without food and water for almost three weeks.
Kublalsingh fell unconscious for about 30 minutes on Sunday in the car park at Maracas Bay after suffering heatstroke. He was taken to St Clair where he was given intravenous fluid. Kublalsingh is on a second hunger strike over the disputed Debe to Mon Desir section of the Solomon Hochoy Highway to Point Fortin. In a statement yesterday, signed by Hayden Kublalsingh, his family said: “We wish to make it very clear that Dr Khan was not provided access to any medical reports of Dr Kublalsingh either by his family or by his attendant physician in this matter. “In these circumstances, we call upon the minister to indicate how, through whom and on what basis were these reports allegedly obtained by him, as well as the basis for publication of the contents of such reports without the permission or consent of Dr Kublalsingh or family members.” It said the privacy of any aspect of Kublalsingh’s medical reports had not been waived and Khan was therefore in further breach of professional medical ethics, which, they said, had been reported to the Medical Board.
Kublalsingh Back Tomorrow
Contacted yesterday, Kublalsingh said he was resting at his D’Abadie home and was doing better but was still feeling “a bit weak.” He said he expected to return to his protest camp outside the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair, tomorrow and maintained he would continue the hunger strike unless Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who visited him on Sunday but did not commit to anything during that time, agreed to mediation and to abide by the findings of the Armstrong Report.
Khan Responds
But contacted yesterday Khan shot back, saying he never took any such records. “Absolutely not. I never took anybody’s medical records and I do not have such records in my possession. I have my clinical acumen in my possession,” he said. He said he spoke to the doctor who was in charge of Kublalsingh and got feedback about his condition. “I simply asked the doctor about Mr Kublalsingh. I asked him how he was going and he said, ‘Pretty good.’ I asked him how were Mr Kublalsingh’s vital signs, and he said, ‘Normal.’ I asked him about the level of hydration; he said Mr Kublalsingh was not that dehydrated. “If anybody is saying otherwise and they want to disprove what the doctor said, let them make their medical records public. As a medical doctor looking on, I think Mr Kublalsingh is in perfect condition... he was very vocal and very strong.”
Khan said during his visit Kublalsingh shook his hand and again apologised for cursing when Khan visited him during his first hunger strike in 2012. “When he shook my hand he did it with vigour. I was extremely shocked last night (Sunday), looking at a gentleman who has been fasting for such a long time and in such strong health,” Khan said. Asked if he believed it was all a farce, the Health Minister opted not to use those words. “But what I find to be very coincidental is the fact that Mr Kublalsingh ended up at St Clair, which is in very close proximity to where the candlelight vigil took place,” Khan added. Supporters held a pre-planned vigil on Sunday evening at the Nelson Mandela Park (formerly King George V Park) outside the window of Kublalsingh’s room at the clinic. But that event had been planned since Friday when Kublalsingh wrapped up.
Doctor: Wayne was dehydrated
Dr Asante Van West-Charles-Le Blanc, Kublalsingh’s physician, maintained yesterday that when he was taken into St Clair on Sunday he was dehydrated and visibly shaking and shivering. “He was under two blankets when I saw him and to say he was strong, I think that is incorrect,” VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc said. She said she did not examine Kublalsingh on Sunday but briefly spoke to him. “I can’t tell you who Dr Khan spoke to and I am not going to be in a verbal battle with anyone. “Dr Kublalsingh was definitely dehydrated when I saw him in the Casualty Department and in terms of organ failure, I have always maintained that organ damage was possible, and it may not be visible in blood tests right away.”