The health minister and Dr Hoogland 
                              John R Malott
                              Laguna Niguel, California

                              2:43pm, Thu: Somebody at the Ministry of Health has failed his or her ‘Internet
                              test’, and Health Minister Chua Jui Meng should be embarrassed. According to
                              your report, Anwar delaying surgery at his own peril, House told (April 17),
                              Chua said that his staff had carried out a search on the Internet on Dr Thomas
                              Hoogland and found nothing on him! 

                              Your article quotes the minister as saying, "Over the past five years there has
                              not been any literature on this doctor. If he is a specialist, he should have at
                              least one or two reports in the medical journals." Chua also claimed that
                              Hoogland has conducted only 300 to 400 surgeries. 

                              It's a government official's worst nightmare. You end up looking foolish because
                              your staff has not done their homework. So let's look at the facts, which actually
                              are very easy to find. 

                              First, the Alpha Klinik has a very prominent website - in six languages. As
                              head of the clinic's back surgery division, Hoogland is featured very prominently
                              on the site. Click on the section called "back", and there is a portrait of
                              Hoogland, which describes his professional qualifications. This is a man who
                              has published 22 scientific articles, contributed to four books, and spoken at
                              over 100 medical conferences. He is a member of the American Academy of
                              Orthopaedic Surgeons, the German Society for Orthopaedics and
                              Traumatology, the North American Spine Society, the Scientific Society for
                              Spinal Microsurgery (of which he is president), the International Society for
                              Minimal Intervention Spine Surgery, and the Society for Spine Surgery
                              Research. 

                              And although Chua says Hoogland has performed only 300 to 400 surgeries, the
                              truth is that he performed over 8,000 - including over 6,000 minimal invasive
                              spine operations - during his career as a surgeon. 

                              Chua has every right to be embarrassed for misinforming Parliament. But there
                              is a second issue. The minister has twice criticised Hoogland's alleged “lack of
                              medical ethics" for stating, factually, that the KL General Hospital does not have
                              all the necessary equipment, facilities, and experience to conduct endoscopic
                              surgery. 

                              Now, perhaps, Chua would like to consider his own ethical question: Is it right
                              for a government's health minister to stand in his nation's legislature and falsely
                              disparage the qualifications and experience of a prominent international
                              surgeon? 

                             Alpha Clinic Homepage

                             Background Information 
                             Dr Thomas Hoogland