Doctor who smacked infant after ‘painful bites’ cleared of misconduct: tribunal
The doctor has been cleared as they reacted 'impulsively' to a painful event, the New Zealand tribunal found.
A New Zealand doctor accused of smacking an infant who bit them several times has been cleared of misconduct charges after a tribunal found their reaction was “understandable”.
The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal found that the doctor had temporarily lost self-control after being bitten on the neck and arm by the infant at a medical facility in February 2022.
The infant, whose age was not disclosed, had visited the hospital earlier in the day, where the doctor had performed an “invasive” procedure requiring stitches.
Later that evening, the family returned to the hospital as a stitch in the child’s surgical wound on his scrotum had come undone.
