Constraints to the Regulation of Medical Malpractices in Cameroon

Abstract

The sharp decline in the ethical standard of medical practice in Cameroon is alarming. The professional practice of health personnel is so deplorable that there are questions as to whether these medical practitioners are actually supervised, monitored, and controlled. This study seeks to investigate the reasons for the persistence of medical malpractices in Cameroon despite the existence of regulatory mechanisms. These malpractices, mostly committed by conventional medical practitioners, are characterized amongst others by; poor reception, exorbitant bills, corruption, diversion of patients, absenteeism, quackery, parallel sale of drugs, and illegal practice of medicine.  These deviant dispositions of health personnel, although contrary to deontology, are so embedded in Cameroonian hospitals causing the death of countless patients every day. This research posits that inefficient regulation, the lack of political will by the government to contain the expansion of these unethical anti-values, coupled with the malfunctioning of the judicial machinery are primarily responsible for the persistence of these malpractices, thereby placing a constraint on the regulatory mechanisms put in place to censor these behaviours.  If the reoccurrence of these negative practices is to be curtailed, there is an urgent need to instill more stringent regulations coupled with effective implementation.