Strip for an injection, headache patient told

A Cape Town doctor treated a female patient suffering from a headache by asking her to strip down to just her G-string before giving her an injection.

And despite being found guilty of sexual harassment, Dr Johan Reid - who has a chequered past - was only suspended for three months by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).

The sanction has angered the woman, as well as medical ethics experts, who say Reid's licence should have been taken away, given his past behaviour.

The tearful woman, who is 39 and employed in the financial sector, this week told of her unhappiness following a four-year legal battle.

"I really don't know what I achieved with all of this. I mean, three months suspended is nothing," she told the Sunday Times. "After everything I've been through in the past four years - my illness and then the trauma of Dr Reid and this case - it's really been tough."

In documents filed with the council, the Table View woman told how she consulted Reid, who charged R800 an hour, hoping he would help with her "continued headaches" and bouts of forgetfulness.

Instead, she claimed, he insisted she strip to her G-string before injecting her with vitamin B12.

When she asked why she had to take her pants off, Reid told her he had to inject her in "the right place" and "he did not want to get blood on (her) clothes".

He rubbed cotton wool against her buttock for an "uncomfortable" period of time, apparently to make the bleeding stop.

According to her statement, Reid also asked her to remove her bra when he used a stethoscope.

Reid hit back, denying all allegations and accusing the patient of "confabulation" owing to a neurological disorder.

Reid, who intends appealing against the finding, also accused the patient of becoming aggressive when he told her to stop smoking.

Despite his suspension, Reid continued to advertise his neurology services on a local medical website, medpages.co.za, and placed a classified advert in a regional Cape Town newspaper two weeks ago in which he described himself as a "migraine expert".

On Friday, a receptionist at his office at the N1 City Hospital in Goodwood said Reid was "on leave" and would return in April.

This is the second time Reid has been convicted by the council. In 2007, he was found guilty of six counts of misconduct committed between 2001 and 2005 (which culminated in one guilty charge).

He was fined R60000 - R10000 for each offence - but continued practising.

Professor Marc Blockman, chairman of the Research Ethics Committee at the University of Cape Town, said Reid should have been given a harsher sentence.

"This is a tragic event and terrible for the profession, and, more importantly, for the woman involved. I hope she gets sufficient counselling ... to help deal with this horrific event."

The woman's lawyer, Meshack Mapholisa, said Reid should have been struck off the doctor's register for at least five years.

"This is a serious offence that is very prevalent in the medical profession."

A spokesman for the health professions council said that if Reid committed a similar offence during his three months' suspension, he would be suspended for a further four years and nine months.