Authorities are trying to persuade a surgeon linked to the deaths of at least 87 patients to return to Australia to testify in a government inquiry, and a Queensland state official said yesterday that the doctor would not be arrested if he came voluntarily.
It was unclear whether this would have any effect on encouraging Indian-trained Jayant Patel to travel to Australia from where he is believed to be staying in the US. Although no criminal charges are pending in the case, the inquiry has recommended that a murder or manslaughter charge be filed against him.
Patel -- dubbed "Dr. Death" by his former colleagues -- is the subject of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into why he was allowed to practice medicine in Queensland state despite having previously been cited for negligence in Oregon and New York states.
Last week, the inquiry recommended that Patel be charged with the murder or manslaughter of a patient who died after undergoing an operation that several other doctors had allegedly refused to perform because it was too risky.
Patel left Australia in April after allegations against him first surfaced, and he is now believed to be in Portland, Oregon.
His lawyers have repeatedly refused to make any comments about the claims against him.
Queensland state officials have said they would provide Patel with one-way airfare to Australia and free accommodation here if he volunteers to testify before the commission, which does not have the power to bring criminal charges against him.
Tony McGrady, the state's development minister and a former police minister, was heading yesterday to Oregon to deliver a letter to Patel's Portland-based lawyer, Stephen Houze.
"Obviously, I will be doing everything that is humanly possible to encourage Dr. Patel to return to Queensland," McGrady told reporters by telephone as he waited to board the airplane. "It's in everybody's interest, including his own, for him to return and have his day at the inquiry."
Asked if Patel would be arrested if he returned to Queensland, McGrady said: "No, because there's no charges against him. There is no warrant out for Dr. Patel's arrest at this stage."
However, the state's leader, Premier Peter Beattie, on Tuesday ruled out giving Patel immunity from prosecution and said the government would consider extraditing him to Australia if state police decide to bring criminal charges against him.
"Extradition of an American citizen here in the United States is incredibly difficult," Beattie told reporters in Los Angeles upon his arrival to the US for an 11-day trade mission. "We know that, but are prepared to go down that road."
Beattie read from the commission's report, saying it was important for Oregon residents to know about the inquiry's recommendations against Patel, including the murder charge.
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