A doctor accused of failing to spot that Baby Peter was suffering abuse days before his death is "suicidal" and unfit to appear before a disciplinary hearing, the General Medical Council heard.
Consultant paediatrician Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat was due to face misconduct allegations at a GMC fitness to practise panel in central London on Monday morning.
But the hearing was halted after being told that her mental health had "broken down" and she has left the country.
Counsel for the GMC, Rebecca Poulet QC, said she received a report on Sunday night from a doctor who had examined Dr Al-Zayyat.
The consultant psychiatrist wrote: "In my opinion, Dr Al-Zayyat has become so seriously ill that she is unfit to defend herself before a public hearing and unfit to instruct her solicitors.
"The pressure on her has been such that her mental health has broken down completely, and the possibility of suicide is a very real one."
Mary O'Rourke QC, for Dr Al-Zayyat, said her instructing solicitor was told on Monday that the doctor was no longer in the UK.
GMC panel chairman Ralph Bergmann adjourned the hearing for an hour and indicated that he would hear more detailed submissions about Dr Al-Zayyat's health in private.
