GP’s ex-wife sues him for mismanaging her cardiac risk factors during their marriage
In his defence, the GP argued it was not 'a professional relationship of GP and patient' and he therefore did not owe a duty of care.
The ex-wife of a GP who he treated for 17 years during their marriage is suing him for negligence, accusing him of failing to manage her cardiac risk factors before she had a stroke.
Victorian County Court documents allege the GP gave her substandard treatment for hypertension and hyperlipidaemia before she had a stroke in 2012 that resulted in cognitive deficits and impaired speech.
The doctor accepted that he had treated his then-wife, who was a registered nurse, both at their home and at his clinic.
But in his statement of defence he has denied owing her a duty of care, saying any treatment was not “within a professional relationship of registered GP and patient but rather as an incident of marriage between the parties”.
