As a previous member of the Malaysian medical profession, I feel very upset with the various parties continuing to debate the various aspects of Anwar Ibrahim's impending spinal cord compression with continued oblivion.

It is mindful to note that whatever happens, it will put Malaysia in very bad light with regards to human rights.

Whilst this quarreling on the theoretical and hypothetical aspects of the legality of the process continues, I am also surprised by the continued silence of the Malaysian Medical Association and other specialist professional medical bodies on the issue.

It appears that their silence may mean consent/agreement or does it mean fear, apathy or political fence sitting? Or even a combination of these?

The Hippocratic Oath (and versions of it) insists that the practising doctor remains apolitical, has no religious and racial bias in his/her work and treats everyone equally. In war, doctors must treat injured soldiers from both sides - as how it should be.

The modern precepts of patient autonomy accept that it is a patient's right to choose his treatment and medical attendant, based on informed consent. In a civilised society, no doctor of whatever status or skill should be pompous enough to exert his or her influence on this right - for whatever reason.

The fact that the medical profession in Malaysia has been incapable of a united and powerful voice for yet another sufferer tells us that paternalism is still very much alive there or that the profession suffers from sordid apathy - like most other institutions and many other professions there.

I have previously posted within a closed professional bulletin board on the dubious scientific DNA evidence then used in Anwar's trial. DNA carried in spermatozoa is cleaved by enzymes called endonucleases upon cell death and traditional fingerprinting techniques remain very difficult to validate.

But whatever the circumstances of his trial, an urgent review of his present plight is necessary if one were to put things right. It remains unclear what the medical objective facts of Anwar's spinal compression woes might be - though the press, which has no scientific or medical training, seems to be drawing dramatic conclusions and presenting the 'facts' all the time.

With the current scenario, if Anwar moves on to get paraplegia, Malaysia's badly-tainted human rights record will go further down the tubes to compete in the same league with some of its Asean neighbours and certainly with some African states.

If Anwar is given therapy now - whether locally or by a doctor or doctors of his choice - and he recovers, at least some damage control and even repair may ensue.

As someone had previously noted , even the unpleasant Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos allowed his arch political enemy overseas for urgent medical treatment.

Pak Lah, you have already shown that you are more human than many past greedy, cruel and megalomaniac politicians. You have nothing to lose, only a lot to gain by allowing Anwar out to get his relief . Please do it.