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SOUTH AFRICA: ‘Dr. Death’ could be stripped of medical license

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REPORTING FROM JOHANNESBURG -- In South Africa, they call him ‘Dr. Death.’

Wouter Basson, who ran the apartheid government’s secret germ and chemical warfare program, Project Coast, escaped conviction for drug possession, conspiracy and murder when a judge acquitted him in 2002. He was accused of trying to create poisons that were lethal only to blacks.

But more than 20 years after he ran Project Coast, his bid for a quiet life as a cardiologist in Cape Town is under threat. Basson is facing an inquiry by the Health Professions Council of South Africa for unethical conduct. If found guilty, Basson could be struck off the medical roll.

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He is charged with manufacturing illegal drugs in the 1980s and 1990s, some of which were allegedly used against apartheid activists abducted by security forces.

Much of what Basson did was top secret. He argued in his 2002 trial that he was only following orders during his years employed by the apartheid military from 1981 to 1993.

The council has dropped several charges against Basson for lack of evidence, including some relating to the alleged use of South African troops to test drugs such as Mandrax, ecstasy, tear gas and an incapacitating agent, BZ.

He still faces charges related to the alleged loading of thousands of mortar bombs with tear gas, making cyanide capsules to allow apartheid operatives to commit suicide, and providing drugs to disorient prisoners.

Steven Miles, a medical ethics expert at the University of Minnesota, told a council hearing Tuesday in Pretoria that Basson’s work on chemical and germ warfare had violated medical ethics.

Doctors are supposed to promote health, but Basson had done the opposite, Miles said, calling Basson’s work repugnant to the conscience of humankind.

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Basson told reporters Monday that he just wanted to get on with his job as a doctor.

‘I closed this chapter 20 years ago,’ he said. ‘All I want is to continue serving the country as a medical professional.’

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-- Robyn Dixon

facebook.com/latimesdixon

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