Death doctor gets second life

A doctor in Mpumalanga who issued a notice-of-death certificate three months after a toddler died - and without seeing her body - yesterday got off with a warning.

Dr Ntando Mdluli, 41, who runs a private practice in rural Kabokweni, near Barberton, became embroiled in the settlement of an allegedly fraudulent R3500 insurance claim by issuing the death notice.

He yesterday pleaded guilty to three charges of unprofessional conduct.

The Health Professions' Council of SA ruled that if he were found guilty of a dishonest practice within the next three years he would be barred from practising for two years.

Mdluli was also criminally charged for issuing the certificate and was given a two-year suspended sentence in 2011.

In September 2011, a mother told Mdluli that her child had died . He signed and issued the notice-of-death certificate without examining the body.

"I was not aware that I had done anything wrong until it was pointed out to me by Standard Bank," Mdluli told the council.

"A good deed had turned bad and had all the hallmarks of the law of unintended consequences.

"I only have myself to blame; I ought to have known better," he said.

Mdluli, who received his medical degree at the University of Limpopo in 2004, explained that when he opened his practice six years ago he was approached by an undertaker to help with the issuing of death certificates.

He said that, though at first he examined the bodies at the mortuary, this was time-consuming and resulted in his neglecting his patients.

He said he had, over the years, developed a relationship of trust with the undertaker and arranged that the undertaker provide him with a letter undertaking that the deceased died of natural causes.

"This was the beginning of my wrongdoing and downfall, which have led me to being before this committee. I [delegated] my medical responsibility to the funeral parlour."

He said that he would no longer issue notice-of-death certificates and that the case had almost cost him his marriage.