Hunter takes aim at Tufton
Suspended neurosurgeon sues health minister, claims failure to appoint appeal tribunal left career in limbo
Published:Sunday | December 21, 2025 | 12:04 AMKimone Francis - Senior Staff Reporter
Neurosurgeon Dr Roger Hunter has filed an application in the Supreme Court for an emergency judicial review, accusing Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton of dereliction of duty.
At the centre of the legal dispute is Hunter’s claim that Tufton has failed to fulfil a statutory obligation under the Medical Act to appoint a tribunal to hear appeals from aggrieved practitioners. As a result, Hunter said he has been left in a professional “no-man’s land”, unable to overturn his suspension.
The six-page notice of application was filed on December 16 through his attorney, Hugh Wildman. It follows a one-year suspension imposed by the Medical Council of Jamaica in May 2025, a decision Hunter alleges was reached in a “star chamber” process without his knowledge or a formal hearing.
Among the reliefs sought, Hunter is asking the court to grant him leave to pursue judicial review of the minister’s actions; to declare that Tufton’s failure to appoint a Medical Appeal Tribunal under Section 12 of the Medical Act is unlawful, null and void; to issue an order of certiorari quashing the minister’s decision not to appoint the tribunal; and to issue an order of mandamus compelling Tufton to do so.
ALLEGED MEDICAL ACT BREACH
Hunter argues that the minister has breached the Medical Act by failing or refusing to appoint members of the appeal tribunal. He further claims that this failure violates his constitutional rights, depriving him of due process and a fair hearing within a reasonable time.
He also asserts that the absence of the tribunal has caused him irreparable harm, as he remains barred from continuing his 30-year medical career and earning a livelihood. He is seeking a stay of proceedings in relation to the Medical Council’s suspension until his appeal can be heard by a properly constituted tribunal.
In a 14-page supporting affidavit, Hunter said the Medical Council received a complaint from a professor and medical doctor alleging unprofessional conduct and disparaging remarks he purportedly made in a widely circulated voice note.
He said an emergency meeting was held on May 28, 2025 by the Medical Council, which voted to suspend him for one year.
But Hunter said there was a lack of due process, arguing that the Medical Council reached this decision without a formal hearing and without informing him of the allegations, which, he said, he only discovered via social media and news reports.
According to Hunter, the Council’s own minutes indicate that it believed the Medical Act allowed it to suspend a practitioner without a formal hearing based on its internal inquiry. He is now challenging what he describes as the absence of any effective appeal mechanism.
According to the spinal surgeon, Section 12 of the Medical Act of Jamaica requires the minister of health to establish a Medical Appeal Tribunal for aggrieved practitioners.
Hunter’s affidavit said despite multiple inquiries by his attorneys, to the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the minister directly, they received no confirmation that the tribunal exists or is functional.
It said on December 12, inquiries at Jamaica Printing Services confirmed that “no such tribunal had been gazetted”.
Hunter said Tufton’s failure to appoint the tribunal has left him with no remedy to challenge his suspension, effectively preventing him from practising his profession and earning a living.