The case centered on the conduct of a general practitioner, the Respondent, in his dealings with the mother of a six-year-old patient referred to as Patient A. Patient A had a severe medical history, including cerebral palsy, global developmental delay, and Aicardi-Goutieres syndrome, was quadriplegic, non-verbal and fed through a nasal gastric tube.
On 13 December 2021, Patient A’s mother attended a consultation with the Respondent. She asked the Respondent to write her a script for insulin so she could give it to Patient A. The Respondent hand wrote a script for Insulin Aspart 100 units per ml, 10ml, for injection. The Respondent did not make any record of the insulin prescription in the medical records of Patient A or her mother. There was no medical requirement for Patient A to be prescribed insulin.
On 5 January 2022, Patient A’s mother returned to the Respondent and said she had filled the last script for insulin but had thrown it out, and asked the Respondent to prescribe another script for insulin. The Respondent generated a prescription on the computer for Insulin Aspart 100 units per mL, 10ml, for injection and gave it to Patient A’s mother. He then deleted the script from the Practice’s computer records. Again, there was no medical requirement for Patient A to be prescribed insulin.
Patient A’s mother obtained the insulin from a pharmacy and injected it into Patient A’s arm on 17 January 2022. Patient A became unwell and was driven to Denmark Hospital for treatment. She was transferred to Albany Hospital and eventually to Perth Children’s Hospital where she underwent testing and received urgent medical intervention further to a significant hypoglycaemic episode and high insulin level. Medical tests reported that Patient A had potentially fatal levels of synthetic, exogenously administered insulin.
Criminal Proceedings
On 3 February 2022, the Respondent was arrested and charged with one count of Attempt to Unlawfully Kill. The Respondent pled guilty to the charge and was sentenced to five years and six months imprisonment. His appeal against the sentence was unsuccessful. Patient A’s mother was found guilty of endangering the child’s life and sentenced to 3 years in prison.
Disciplinary Proceedings
On the application of the parties, the Tribunal made orders published 7 October 2025 that the Respondent behaved in a way that constitutes professional misconduct for the purposes of section 196(1)(b)(iii) of the National Law, in that:
- In December 2021 and January 2022, the Respondent issued insulin prescriptions to the mother of Patient A despite there being no medical need, knowing she intended to inject the insulin into her child and that doing so could be fatal.
- He failed to maintain adequate clinical records by not recording details of the 13 December 2021 insulin prescription and attempting to conceal the 5 January 2022 insulin prescription by deleting details of the same from the Practice’s computer records;
- Between 20 January and 3 February 2022, he did not contact clinicians at Perth Children’s Hospital to disclose the insulin administration details relevant to Patient A’s treatment;
- He breached professional boundaries by booking and paying for hotel accommodation for Patient A’s mother; and
- On 19 December 2022, he was convicted on one charge of Attempt to Unlawfully Kill pursuant to s283(1) of the Criminal Code (WA).
Sanctions Imposed
The Tribunal ordered that the respondent be reprimanded, his registration be cancelled, he was to be disqualified from applying for re-registration for 20 years and prohibited from providing any health service or using the title “Doctor” until re-registered. He was also ordered to pay the Medical Board’s costs of $3,000.
