The Innocence of Ben Goldacre.

I often worry about Ben. Ben for some reason has never understood the General Medical Council. This is what he says in his latest production in the Guardian.

"Neither the General Medical Council nor the British Medical Association have ever sued anyone for saying that their members are up to no good. I asked them.

I think that Ben is of the view that free speech should reign. He also fails to grasp the concept that he is a time bomb waiting to happen at the GMC. I say this because Ben has gathered more enemies. He appears to collect them by his justified criticisms. The problem is that one day these enemies will refer him to the GMC and there will be nothing he can do about it apart from sit around much like a large duck.

Well, just so that Ben knows this, I was taken down the General Medical Council procedures for Libel/defamation [ Stream 1] in 2003-2004. Apparently, I had criticised Dr Tim Woodman and he felt it was libellous. The complaint was thrown out after I tactically maneuvred the event. I reversed the complaint back on Dr Woodman and faxed his local PCT. All good things come to those who wait afterall. We were both cleared, a result I predicted very well indeed.

Just to clarify that Ben is technically correct - the GMC do not have the procedures in place to sanction libelous material unless they evoke Rule 57 of the Good Medical Practice guidelines.

Rule 57 "You must make sure that your conduct at all times justifies your patients’ trust in you and the public’s trust in the profession"

In 2007, the GMC admitted to me that they didn't try libel and defamation cases - thats after having tried me for libel and defamation four years before that.

Finally, criticism of the BMA results in no representation.

So Ben is technically correct on paper - but in reality, matters are rather different.

Dr Rita Pal