Panel hearing summary 2020.0896

Decision of the Medical Board of Australia

Performance and professional standards panel 

Jurisdiction: Victoria
Date of Decision: 29 December 2020

Classification of Notification

Informed Consent - Lack of consent

Summary

The Board referred allegations that the Practitioner failed to obtain informed consent from multiple intellectually disabled patients prior to administering a general anaesthetic.

The Panel accepted that the Practitioner held an honest and mistaken belief that the State Trustee could provide consent for each of the patients. The Panel did not believe the Practitioner acted with malice or malintent, and noted that he was placed in a difficult position which was compounded by misinformation provided to him by those around him. Accordingly, the Panel found that the Practitioner had no case to answer and decided that no further action should be taken.