Number 131: In approximately 1959 a Surgeon in Port Elizabeth excised a mole from the leg of Ray Schauder and he informed her that the mole was benign. Two years later, Ray – herself a Medical Doctor, after discovering a lump in her groin, returned to the surgeon who had conducted the procedure. He confirmed that, indeed, the excised mole was malignant. He had taken the view that there was nothing the Medical Profession at the time nor anyone could do for Ray and, for humanitarian reasons, he did not provide her with the information. It transpired that other Doctors had agreed with the Surgeon’s approach.

Ray believed fervently that it is the Doctor’s obligation to provide the patient with the relevant information. He does not have the prerogative to not do so! She sued and despite being gravely ill she gave clear, courageous evidence from her deathbed. Ray passed away soon afterwards. My late father, Sol Schkolne z”l, acted as her Attorney.

The Case, in two ways, was pioneering within the South African context: It was the first time that a Legal Case was held in an individual’s private home. Secondly, while the Case itself was settled without a ruling on the matter, the considerable publicity it aroused led to the subsequent ruling that every Patient has the right to all information held on them by Medical Practitioners.

The inscription on the tray of the tea-set given as a gift to my father, in gratitude for his work on the Case, reads: “To Skol, In deepest appreciation of service far beyond the call of duty and of friendship greatly treasured.    Ray and Desmond 1961”

Through my childhood in Port Elizabeth my father often evoked Ray Schauder z”l and the Case she insisted on holding, as a model reflecting huge courage and also the imperative, however uncomfortable, to stand up for one’s principles and for what is right!