Apartheid Chemical Weapons Doctor Faces Medical Ethics Hearing

A South African cardiologist, who once led the country's secret chemical and biological weapons program, will face a disciplinary hearing. The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) will judge if Dr. Wouter Basson is still fit to practice medicine. Basson headed "Project Coast," the apartheid-era government's covert warfare program. It worked to develop poisons and other banned weapons. He has avoided permanent professional consequences for these actions for decades. The HPCSA hearing will not put him on criminal trial. Instead, it will examine his ethical conduct as a doctor. The council must decide if his past work violated medical ethics. Basson has been called "Dr. Death" and "Dr. Delay" by local media. This is due to his alleged role in the old program and his long legal history. He has faced previous ethics complaints and a lengthy criminal trial in the past. He was acquitted on all criminal charges in 2002.