A WA doctor who developed an inappropriate relationship with a heroin addict patient, including buying her lingerie and over-prescribing her drugs, has been banned from practicing medicine for two years.
Create a free account to read this article
or signup to continue reading
Gregory Duck, 62, saw the female patient - whose identity has been protected - nearly 70 times over a period of 18 months between 2012 and 2014.
During that time, the general practitioner treated the woman at his home and once at her hotel room.
According to the State Administrative Tribunal - which stripped Dr Duck of his medical licence last week – the GP breached professional boundaries by taking the woman out for dinners, buying her gifts and taking photos of her in lingerie he purchased for her.
Dr Duck saw the patient regularly - sometimes up to three times a week - and prescribed her large amounts of valium, xanax and benzodiazepine tablets which was reasonable to suspect she was abusing or selling illegally, the tribunal found.
It also found Dr Duck inappropriately planned to conduct a detoxification program with the patient in a hotel room.
It is not clear whether on this occasion, or another, the patient took heroin while in the hotel room and was found by Dr Duck collapsed in the bathroom.
"The fact that the professional boundaries between Dr Duck and Patient A almost completely collapsed, demonstrated a clear need to protect the public," the SAT decision report read.
"In addition, Dr Duck's failure to appreciate his level of competence makes him a risk to other patients should he again fail to recognise his limitations.
"Over-prescription of drugs to a patient places the patient at risk of over medication and of engaging in illicit activities."
The tribunal concluded on February 14 that Dr Duck's licence should be cancelled.
"He is disqualified from applying for registration for a period of two years from the date of this order," it said.
Dr Duck is the second WA doctor to be disqualified from practicing medicine in the last month. Another doctor, Vinpin Lal, was struck from the medical register earlier in February for engaging in a sex act with a patient.
Dr Lal accused his patient - who cannot be named for legal reasons - of trying to extort money from him after she performed oral sex on him in a consultation room in November 2013.
He accused the woman of forcing herself on him - but has since admitted the act was consensual.
The patient was cleared of blackmail charges after a trial in the District Court in 2015, but Lal's professional conduct during the incident remained under scrutiny with the SAT.
The tribunal's decision found "Dr Lal, in the course of his practice as a medical practitioner registered under the National Law, behaved in a way that constitutes professional misconduct in that on 18 November 2013, Dr Lal engaged in sexual contact with the patient during the course of a consultation at Dr Lal's practice".
"The conduct... was aggravated by the fact that Dr Lal had treated the patient for gynaecological issues, and in or about September 2013, had provided her with medication to increase her libido.
