The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority imposed the ban because of Mr Dank’s possession, trafficking and prescription of Performance and Image Enhancing Drugs (PIEDs).
The Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) prosecuted a complaint against Dr Meneghetti before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (the Tribunal) alleging unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct for prescribing various peptide hormones, human growth hormones and other PIEDs to Mr Dank and to eight other patients he referred to her. In addition to Dr Meneghetti’s prescribing practices, the HCCC also complained about the inappropriate professional relationship she had with Mr Dank and her failure to properly maintain contemporaneous clinical records.
It was alleged that Dr Meneghetti prescribed drugs that were, or had been, registered on the Australia Register of Therapeutic Goods without a proper therapeutic purpose and in excessive quantities and combinations. It was also alleged that Dr Meneghetti prescribed drugs which had never been registered in Australia and that they were prescribed “without reliable evidence of the quality, safety or efficacy of those drugs for use in humans” and “where there are no valid medical indications for use of those drugs”.
Dr Meneghetti admitted that her conduct amounted to professional misconduct and the Tribunal found the complaints to be proven.
The contentious issue for the Tribunal was what protective orders should be made. To that end, the Tribunal noted that Dr Meneghetti had been practising without any other complaint for more than 20 years and there was no suggestion that she lacked the skill or capacity to be a good general practitioner. It also considered that it was highly unlikely that Dr Meneghetti would engage in further misconduct if it permitted her to continue to practise with appropriate conditions in place.
However, the Tribunal ultimately found that Dr Meneghetti’s conduct was so serious and continued for so long, that cancellation of her registration was necessary to maintain confidence in the medical profession. The Tribunal also made an order preventing Dr Meneghetti from re-applying for 18 months. She was ordered to pay the HCCC’s costs as assessed, if not agreed.
The full decision in Health Care Complaints Commission v Meneghetti [2020] NSWCATOD 39 can be read here.
