Page 8 - The Local Paper - Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Phone transcripts Text messages tabled at Tribunal
■ Messages alleged to have been sent between Dr Hassan Alkazali and a patient were tabled at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, at which he has been found to have engaged in professional misconduct. One exchange of messages on May 25, 2013, said: Dr: I just like u personality. OK leave the issue have a good day C: Dr isn’t ur wife good enough for u Dr: not very regular plus I like Iraqi Christian they r very clean & make husband happy in bed. Pls keep all this secret bc [sister] told me not to contact with u wallah To be honest with u I wasn’t ask u to be mine in particular but I want from u if u have Christian Iraqi girl that is divorced & clean I will marry her to be my second wife not in a court of in mosque or church just between me and her If u don’t have such friend pls ignore all out (sic) today conversation as if nothing happened. ★ Dr: But u didn’t tell me, u able to find friend for me or not? So I can close this issue as well? C: OK Dr thank u. what issue Dr: What I am saying is r u able to find friend of u that can be mine, Or u don’t have anyone If u have no one then that is ok I appreciate u as my patient & family friend I know forget me & u we going to be only friends & dr & patient nothing more I am asking if u have girl interested to have casual with me let me know and really appreciate that C: No worries Dr: Thank u & have good day ★ C: Hi dr Hassan, I just want to tell u that I can’t com in anymore to see u coz I just don’t feel comfortable about what u said u pretty much told me u want to have sex with me I’m your patient not your wife u shouldn’t be talking like that with me ok, I looked at you like a brother u were one of the best doctors I knew and I respected u more than anything but you made me feel very uncomfortable with all the text you have sent me you should see me as one of your clients not your toys Dr: don’t be silly I was joking wallah Wallah wallah wallah I was joking my wife is my life wallah wallah wallah don’t be selly (sic) I was joking to u same way wallah wallah wallah & since when I have read and with very close family friends so don’t be selly beyond the limit We been joking even more with u and [niece] being lesbian. We know v well u are not plus u married & I know that so it would be last thing in my life to be serious, pls come tomorrow with [niece] & wallah I will do the best for u so don’t be selly I want to see u tomorrow morning with [niece] & let us have a deal not to have deep joks like this anymore is that okay? I respect u & [sister] & all u family as v good friends & [sister] brings to me honey & food to me & my wife Promise u we both never talk about these issues anymore wallah wallah wallah I need u answer now We will never talk about these issues anymore neither u nor me If u agree say yes C: Don’t worry about its ok Dr: Good c u tomorrow with [niece] & we will win I promise u Y? C: No sorry I can’t come no more
Tribunal satisfied
■ In its determination, VCAT said: “The Tribunal is satisfied that Dr Alkazali’s telephone call to the complainant on May 25, 2013 was not for a genuine medical enquiry. Furthermore, the Tribunal accepts the evidence of the complainant that Dr Alkazali asked her to meet him for sex at his other house. Accordingly, the Tribunal is comfortably satisfied that Particular 1(a) has been proven.”
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Kinglake doctor’s misconduct TRIBUNAL HEARS
■ Former Kinglake medico, Dr Hassan Alkazali, was late last month found to have sexually propositioned a patient by telephone and text messages. In an action brought by the Medical Board ofAustralia, Dr Alkazali was found also to have given inappropriate advice to a patient as to how to obtain a disability support pension. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal - with Judge Jenkins, Vice-President; and Dr B. Burge and Dr A. Reddy - found that DrAlkazali attempted to “deceive or mislead the Board”. The Tribunal, in a decision published on January 20, found that Dr Alkazali “has engaged in professional misconduct”. VCAT was told that in May 2013, Dr Alkazali “engaged in professional misconduct by disregarding the professional boundaries that should exist between a medical medical practitioner and patient”. The Tribunal was told that DrAlkazali caused text messages to be sent from his mobile phone that were inappropriate and/or sexual in nature. Dr Alkazali told the female patient by telephone that he wanted to have sex with her, it was alleged. DrAlkazali is said to have sent text messages that enquired of the woman’s personal and marital status, and/or her sexual activities. The Tribunal was told that DrAlkazali asked for sexual favours from the patient, and asked if she had any friends who would be interested in having sexual intercourse with him and/or a close personal relationship with him. Dr Alkazali is alleged to have detailed his own sexual preferences and/or romantic preferences. The Tribunal was told that Dr Alkazali disregarded the professional boundaries that should exist between a medical practitioner and patient. The woman said she had been uncomfortable with the text messages she received from him, and did not propose to consult with him. Dr Alkazali continued to send messages, she said. In a 2013 letter to the Medical Board of Australia, Dr Alkazali said there had been no sexual text messages, that he had never asked anyone to have sex, and he said he believed the patient had a “psychotic episode”. He later acknowledged that “the conduct to which he has admitted was improper”. At all times in these allegations, Dr Alkazali was practising out of his Glenroy clinic. The Good Medicine Practice: A Code of Conduct for Doctoirs in Australia warns that a breach of sexual boundaries is unethical and unprofessional “because it exploits the doctor-patient relationship, undermines the trust that patients (and the community) have in
● A photo of Dr Hassan Alkazali, according to the Linked In website
Doctor still practising ■ As recently as yesterday (Tues.), patients could still make online appointments to visit Dr Hassan Alkazali at the Justin Avenue Medical Clinic in Glenroy, where he has practised since May 2012. “I am the principle (sic) and director of my own medical clinic,” he says in his Linked In summary. “I work beside my beautiful wife, Dr Ibtihal Altawil, six days/week. “We (are) both general practitioners. I have started working in this clinic in 02/05/2012. It is our own clinic and in sha Allah we will continue providing medical services to the people through it “As a GP I started since 1993 until now.” Dr Alkazali comments online: “Like to continue as a general practitioner.” their doctors and may cause profound psychological harm to patients and compromise their medical care”. Judge Jenkins and his VCAT colleagues were told that DrAlkazali advised the patrient what she should say to a psychologist in order to obtain a favourable psychologist report that would be supportive of an application for a disability pension. The doctor said that she needed to act “dumb” in her meeting with a psychologist. The Tribunal heard evidence from the woman and her niece. The Tribunal had an “extraction report” of the messages between Dr Alkazali and the woman. DrAlkazali tried to make allegations of alleged tax improprieties by the woman and her niece, the Tribunal said. The Tribunal was told that in one text message, the doctor wrote: “Pls keep all this secret bc [sister] told me not to contact with u wallah”. In another, the doctor texted “But good dr needs good girl to play with”. The Tribunal was told one text message from the doctor
said: “In sh Allah, I am asking if u want nice guy for casual sex very secretly”. Dr Alkazali was first registered as a medical practitioner on December 21, 2001. He has held registration as a general practitioner since 2005. DrAlkazali told the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency in 2013: “I have a very stable marriage and have two healthy grown-up teenagers. “The last thing I am interested in is bheaving in a manner that has been described by (the complainant).” Later in the same year, Dr Alkazali said the patient had sent him personal messages regarding her sexual behaviour and her intention to have him as her boyfriend. He said he regarded the messages as “just silly jokes” between two friends. Dr Alkazali said he had not tried to deceive the Board, but was trying to protect her privacy. ■ The Tribunal plans to make determinations about the case. DrAlkazali has until February 20 to file and serve any written submissions as to determinations, upon which he proposes to rely.
Parliament hears ‘64 complaints’
■ Former Kinglake GP HassanAlkazali has been consistently in the public spotlight. In 2008, he was investigated over a patient's death but given the all-clear to keep practising. The Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria was investigating Dr Alkazali over a series of complaints, including a claim he misdiagnosed a man for two months before he was admitted to the Northern Hospital's intensive care unit and died. The board found there were deficiencies in Dr Alkazali's performance and that he would benefit from a period of "mentoring", reported the Herald Sun. Then-Federal Liberal MP Fran Bailey told Parliament in 2008 that more than 64 complaints had been made against Dr Alkazali. “They ranged from misdiagnosing a patients with pancreatic cancer and ruptured appendixes to overbilling for appointments, over-servicing and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme fraud. “Dr Alkazali, who runs the Up There Cazaly Medical Centre, said he had worked in Australia since 2001 and none of his patients had died or suffered because of his treatment,” reported the Herald Sun. Mrs Bailey told Federal Parliament: “On October 2 last year (2007), residents of Kinglake, in my electorate, contacted the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoriawith serious concerns about their overseas trained GP, Dr Hassan Alkazali. “These people, in the presence of the local police, made me aware of their concerns. “The most serious allegations were, firstly, Medicare fraud, and I am advised that those making the allegations have signed statutory declarations to this effect. “The Medicare fraud relates to a sustained and regular practice of overbilling for appointments and overservicing. “One example of this is generating surgical procedures for mole removal, regardless of the reason for consultation. “The second allegation was PBS fraud. This relates to Dr Alkazali using patients’ healthcare cards to buy prescription drugs, including pethidine. “Finally, what I regard as the most serious charges are incorrect diagnosis and a lack of care that have led to needless, prolonged suffering by patients. “Emergency surgery had to be performed to save the life of at least one patient that I am aware of who had a condition misdiagnosed by Dr Alkazali, to prevent permanent damage caused by a course of treatment prescribed or action carried out by Dr Alkazali. “I have been advised of 64 such serious cases, and many of the people affected have made both personal and written representation to the Medical Practitioners Board. “The reason I am raising these issues here tonight is that the medical board has taken no action to suspend Dr Alkazali’s licence to practice. It has done nothing to protect the residents of Kinglake. “Let me provide this House with some examples of why I am totally at a loss to understand why the medical board has not acted to suspend DrAlkazali. “The first relates to a man who sought medical attention because of severe pain and other symptoms over a period of eight weeks. “At no time were tests ordered to assist in diagnosis. “Rather, the patient was told to take a painkiller and rest. “In sheer desperation, as this man’s condition was deteriorating, his wife took him by ambulance to the Northern Hospital, where he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and prescribed appropriate medication. “For two months, this man suffered extreme levels of pain and discomfort needlessly. He died not long after. “His widow, still dealing with her grief, decided that no-one should have to go through what her husband endured, so she bravely decided to tell her story to the medical board. “On travelling to Melbourne to meet with the board, she was forced to encounter the very person who caused so much suffering to her husband - Dr Alkazali - even though she had been assured of confidentiality,” Mrs Bailey said.