A homeopathic doctor operating in the Southern Highlands has been banned from practicing medicine for at least five years after he was found to have developed an inappropriate "personal and financial" relationship with an elderly patient to whom he gave "significantly" sub-standard treatment.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal this week found Bowral doctor Michael Cleary guilty of professional misconduct and unsatisfactory professional conduct after a two day hearing in September in which it was revealed the Cleary family had accepted more than $200,000 from the elderly woman, known simply as Patient A in the proceedings.
The tribunal heard allegations from the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission that Dr Cleary treated the woman from 2004 until her death in January 2019 at the age of 87, during which time she developed a "grandmotherly" relationship with the doctor's family.
This resulted in the woman attending family holidays, going to their school functions, gifting more than $200,000 to the family, mainly to pay for school fees and car loans, and spending $100,000 to build a granny flat at the Cleary's Joadja home so Dr Cleary could care for her if she became too unwell to live by herself.
Dr Cleary also met with a third party at one stage to discuss he and his wife becoming co-executors of the woman's will, however that did not merterialise.
Lawyers for the commission argued Dr Cleary's actions amounted to both unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct in that he "failed to observe proper professional boundaries" with the woman.
The commission brought in its own medical expert, Professor Vicki Kotsirilos, to review both Dr Cleary's relationship with the woman and his medical treatment of her.
Dr Kotsirilos concluded Dr Cleary should have transferred medical care of the woman to another doctor due to their close relationship - a matter Dr Cleary admitted he knew was an "obvious step" that he did not take.
She also reviewed the medical treatment Dr Cleary had given the woman, concluding that he had failed to adequately treat her many serious intestinal and urinary tract conditions, nor had he referred her to appropriate specialist for further assessment or given her "appropriate and adequate" treatment after she had her gallbladder removed in Southern Highlands Private Hospital in October 2018.
Professor Kotsirilos also found Dr Cleary's medical notes relating to her care to be of poor standard, noting the majority of records were "absent" and that the few entries that were available were "mostly illegible and of poor quality".
In a written response to the allegations, Dr Cleary admitted his records were "insufficiently detailed" but claimed his time in consultation was always focused on providing [the woman] with the best care".
Professor Kotsirilos concluded that Dr Cleary continuing to treat the woman in the context of her close friendship with him and his family amounted to an "unethical relationship". She also said based on Dr Cleary's clinical records, the woman "did not receive the best medical care she deserved".
The tribunal accepted Professor Kotsirilos' conclusions and found Dr Cleary's conduct amounted to professional misconduct, but stopped short of finding he had "exploited" the woman.
Dr Cleary's lawyers confirmed their client had not practised medicine in the past two years.
The tribunal found Dr Cleary had a "casual attitude" towards the proceedings, which provided "little basis for confidence that he has learned from his mistakes".
They agreed to cancel Dr Cleary's medical licence in the interests of public safety and ban him for applying for a renewal for five years.
The Illawarra Mercury newsroom is funded by our readers. You can subscribe to support our journalism here.
