Prescribing narcotics in the Middle East

October 31, 2008

If you think the consequences are tough here, you haven’t seen this case in Saudi Arabia:

Egyptian Raouf Amin languishes in a Saudi jail and is punished with 70 lashes once a week. Cut off from his family in Egypt, the 52-year-old doctor was convicted for prescribing painkillers to a Saudi princess that led to her addiction.

An appeal court judge ruled that Amin will be beaten weekly until he has received 1,500 lashes – and then he’ll spend another 14 years behind bars.

Talk about setting a precedent. I can’t imagine any Saudi physician would be willing to prescribe narcotics after reading this.



Related posts:

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  4. Primary care docs "in the middle"
  5. Reader take: Peer review as potential courtroom evidence
  6. The Sophie Currier saga continues
  7. Reputation and narcotics


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{ 1 comment }

1 Anonymous October 31, 2008 at 8:33 pm

I’m surprised they did not order him hanged or cut off his hands.

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