An emergency physician who shared pictures of his sufferers on-line with out their consent and made racist, sexist and derogatory remarks on-line, together with saying “some girls need to be raped,” has been disqualified from working as a physician till late 2023.
The Medical Board of Australia suspended Dr Christopher Kwan Chen Lee’s registration in 2019, after an investigation into posts he made on on-line boards.
On Monday, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Vcat) printed a choice to cancel Lee’s medical registration and disqualify him from reapplying for registration till 9 December 2023.
Lee was suspended from working by the Tasmanian well being practitioners tribunal for six weeks in early 2019, after he admitted to posting a collection of sexist and racist remarks on-line.
The Australian Well being Practitioner Regulation Company then launched an investigation into Lee’s conduct after Guardian Australia revealed Lee’s offensive remarks went far past these thought of by the tribunal, and included sharing pictures of lifeless our bodies, movies of deadly automobile crashes and sexually specific images of his spouse.
Lee additionally posted his handwritten medical notes on-line, together with a photograph of the gangrenous foot of a affected person he described as “totally septic”, in addition to particulars about that affected person’s psychological well being, age and coverings.
He wrote on the discussion board, which was hosted in Singapore, that his on-line feedback didn't matter, as a result of: “Aussies don’t care about what goes on in a separate discussion board abroad.”
The Vcat determination stated that Lee, who additionally labored in a hospital in Victoria, had his registration cancelled for conduct it described as “outrageous” and “far past the requirements anticipated” of the occupation.
Lee admitted to the tribunal that he made the posts, agreed they have been “completely unacceptable”, and agreed that his conduct amounted to skilled misconduct and that he must be reprimanded. Nonetheless, he disagreed with the Medical Board of Australia’s submission that his registration must be cancelled.
The tribunal described its determination as tough however agreed with Lee that his beforehand untreated autism spectrum dysfunction (ASD) had performed a job in his conduct.
“On the one hand, the conduct is so outrageous and up to now past the requirements anticipated of – and the belief reposed in – the medical practitioners, that it's laborious to see that Dr Lee may ever efficiently return to observe in a way that might assuage neighborhood concern and shield the fame of the medical occupation,” the Vcat determination stated.
“However, there may be little doubt in our thoughts … that his ASD is now being handled and managed successfully and, given his comparatively younger age [35], it might be unlucky if he have been by no means capable of return to observe.”
The tribunal discovered that whereas it was essential to cancel Lee’s registration, the entire disqualification interval must be 4 and a half years, backdated to June 2019 when he was final allowed to practise.
The Medical Board of Australia chair, Anne Tonkin, stated she welcomed the result.
“Medical doctors are revered and trusted members of the neighborhood,” she stated.
“When that belief is eroded by unacceptable and abhorrent conduct, whether or not in individual or on-line, that may have critical penalties for affected person security.”
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