The Association of Physicians in Portugal has suspended an obstetrician after being accused of negligence because he did not detect birth defects of a child born without a face, under public pressure in a case that rocked the country.
Rodrigo is still in the pediatric department of the hospital where he was born in Setubal, and the disciplinary committee decided to open an investigation after the birth made headlines.
The judiciary is also investigating this case following a complaint by the child's parents against the doctor.
The doctor was also prosecuted under six other complaints, the oldest of which was from 2013. He was suspended for six months by a unanimous decision by the Disciplinary Committee of the Medical Association.
"There are strong indications" of negligence on the part of doctor Artur Carvalho "that could lead to disciplinary punishment," said Alexandre Valentim Lorenzo, chairman of the Council of the Medical Association of Southern Portugal.
On 7 October, Rodrigo's parents, who were born with no nose, no eyes and no part of the brain, discovered these congenital malformations in the child following the delivery at São Bernardo Hospital in Setوبbal, about forty kilometers south of the capital Lisbon.
Doctor Artur Carvalho said the pregnancy was carried out at a private hospital in Setubal, where he performed three echoes without a problem.
Asked about a possible birth defect in the sixth month of pregnancy following a more detailed procedure at the request of the parents, the doctor tried to reassure them, and Joana Simao, sister of the mother of Portuguese TVI 24, told them that some parts of the face were not Occasionally visible during filming when the baby's face is attached to the mother's abdomen.