Judges slam medical board’s failed bid to reinstate emergency suspension
Natural justice demanded the board instead progress the disciplinary proceedings as quickly as possible, they said.
Three judges have criticised a Medical Board of Australia bid to reinstate a doctor’s emergency suspension, saying natural justice demanded finalising the case, not dragging it out.
The board suspended the hospital specialist in April 2024 after he self-reported that police had charged him with assaulting his baby.
He had taken the newborn to ED with bruises and a fractured rib, which he admitted possibly happened when he performed leg manoeuvres and applied pressure to his child’s abdomen to help him defecate.
In August 2024, the WA State Administrative Tribunal overturned the suspension, saying the doctor, whose name was suppressed, did not pose a serious risk to the public or the general reputation of doctors.
