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Performance and professional standards panel
Jurisdiction: Victoria Date of Decision: 29 December 2020
Informed Consent - Lack of consent
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.