PHILIPSBURG -- Judge Coen Luijks ruled on August 22 that the decision by the Inspectorate of Public Health to suspend Dr. Angelica Arrindell's medical practice was "completely unfounded," attorney Remco Stomp said on Sunday evening.

 

The Inspectorate had suspended Arrindell from practising medicine as of June 24.

 

The judge said in his ruling that the Inspectorate had not been able to prove that it had the authority to ban or even suspend Arrindell from practising medicine.

 

"There simply is no legal basis for what the Inspectorate has done. This means that Dr. Arrindell is fully allowed to continue her practice, a practice she has successfully run for more than 12 years," Stomp said.

 

Arrindell, he added, had suffered from various defamation attempts from the Inspectorate and a few individuals who sought to profit from the situation created.

 

"Nevertheless, thanks to the overwhelming support of many of her patients, her husband and her attorney Ms. Judith Vogelpoel from Stomp Lawyers, she is preparing to open her clinic shortly, for which a separate public notice will be given in the local newspapers," Stomp said.

 

Arrindell's brother, family practitioner Dr. Pedro Arrindell, had said in an open letter to Health Minister Cornelius de Weever following the announcement of the suspension in June that his sister had become intermittently mentally challenged nine months before, which had led to incidents on various occasions in which her medical competence had been compromised.

He had put a contingency plan in place for any of her patients who believed he would better manage the continuity of their care.

 

Inspector General Dr. Earl Best had said in announcing the suspension that based on a thorough evaluation of complaints received of Arrindell's performance as a general practitioner and indications received with regard to her health, the Inspectorate was of the opinion that it was no longer responsible to have Arrindell continue her practice as a medical doctor established at Madame Estate Health Care Centre, Rembrandtplein Unit 4, for the time being.

 

Based on the national ordinance "LV Inspectie (PB 2003 no 8 art. 2 and 11)," the Inspectorate is the authority tasked with the supervision of and enforcement in the health care sector, Best had said in an announcement of the suspension. The suspension would be re-evaluated after the Inspectorate had received more information on Arrindell's health status, he had said at the time.

 

(The Daily Herald)