Interdicted but not broken

Interdicted from his post at the May Pen Hospital in Clarendon for running as a candidate in the September general election, Dr Aujae Dixon returns to court on Tuesday to learn whether he will secure an injunction blocking disciplinary action against him until his constitutional challenge is heard.

Dixon is seeking an order restraining the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA) from “implementing or acting upon its decision to place the claimant on interdiction until the trial or determination of the [constitutional] claim, or until further order of the court”.

The application, filed on October 21, names the SRHA as first defendant and the attorney general as second defendant.

The interdiction bars him from working in the public health system and also restricts him from travelling outside Jamaica without government permission, a condition not covered under the Staff Orders provision the SRHA sad he had breached.

Despite this, Dixon has been determined to continue practising medicine, especially after Hurricane Melissa devastated the island’s western end on October 28.

Since then, he and several colleagues have launched medical outreach efforts in hard-hit communities. What began as pop-up clinics quickly expanded into home visits for residents unable to travel, and to rewriting or filling prescriptions for patients with no access to pharmacies.

“Our little medical mission is called Operation Vital Relief,” he told The Gleaner. “Initially, we went in just to do pop-up clinics, but then we recognised that in going to run the clinics, we needed to have additional items, just for people that we see in these remote areas that we go to for clinics. So, care packages, we put together some of that [together] and we learned to always to travel with water.”

To support the effort, Dixon enlisted friends – medical professionals and logistics coordinators – to organise clinics and supplies. They created an Amazon wish list with nearly US$40,000 in basic medical items, diapers, formula, female hygiene products, and other items.

“The wish list took off,” he said. “It has garnered about US$36,000, in addition to other things that persons sent to us, totalling about US$40,000 so far, in terms of supplies that have been contributed to this initiative.”

Using these supplies, the team has been operating weekend pop-up clinics and plans to continue for at least four months.

Because members are working professionals, weekday clinics are rare, but when possible, they coordinate with local leaders who help identify high-need communities and arrange logistics. The team performs basic health checks – blood pressure, blood sugar – and rewrite prescriptions.

FILLING AND DELIVERING PRESCRIPTIONS

“In some instances, we rewrite the prescriptions, and have them dropped off to a pharmacy in Kingston, pay for those medications and they are picked up by the member of parliament (MP),” he said, noting that Hanover Western MP Heatha Miller-Bennett has done this.

“She then took the medications to the persons who needed it. These are persons who were in remote areas that probably wouldn’t reach a pharmacy. And so yes, we will continue this initiative,” Dixon told The Gleaner.

“I have had to be pulling on my emergency funds since this interdiction to make this contribution, but, you know, I recognise that there are persons in a more dire emergency than mine.

“And regardless of what’s happening, I made a decision that there’s no way I could see this happening to my fellow countrymen and not provide some kind of assistance,” he explained.

Dixon’s legal trouble follows his unsuccessful bid to represent the People’s National Party (PNP) in Clarendon North Central in the September 3 general election.

On September 16, he received a letter stating he had breached Public Sector Staff Order 4.2.6(1), which the SRHA says prohibits public servants from participating in politics at any level.

A meeting to determine the percentage of his salary to be withheld – which could be 100 per cent, 50 per cent, 25 percent, or 5 per cent – has not yet been held. According to Dixon, several factors, including the availability of attorneys and representatives from the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association), have prevented the hearing from going forward.

The PNP has condemned the interdiction, calling it “an egregious injustice” and an affront to constitutional rights of expression and association.

Dixon’s attorney, Maurice McCurdy, argued that the SRHA’s action is unlawful and violates rights guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

The action, he said, has breached Dixon’s constitutional rights, including his freedom of thought, belief and association, as well as his right to fair and humane treatment under the law.

The attorney also stated that restrictions placed on Dixon’s movement violate his right to move freely within Jamaica and to live or travel where he chooses.

erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com