Channel 7 Today Tonight (Adelaide)

Medical Board's Practices 22 July 2005

This version of the transcript has been edited by Dr Robert N Moles

In order of appearance

Leigh McCluskey, Presenter
Nick Xenophon, Independent Member of the Legislative Council of South Australia
Eric Sorensen, Relative of Person Who Died
David Wright, Relative of Former Complainant
Graham Archer, Producer and interviewer
Professor Ross Kalucy, Member of the Medical Board, Former President [File tape]

Program

Leigh McClusky

When Adelaide grandmother Ruth Sorensen was discharged from the QEH [Queen Elizabeth Hospital] she was told she was simply suffering back pain. But 24 hours later she was dead. Mrs Sorensen’s treatment has since been deemed seriously inadequate - and although there was no link made, her doctor Stuart Moreau was found to have a history of drug abuse, including cannabis use. Now the tragic case added further to concerns first raised by Today Tonight about the effort of the State’s Medical Board to properly protect the public from drug using doctors. As Graham Archer reports, “No Pokies” MP Nick Xenophon says the public has little reason to trust the Medical Board’s performance, and today he’s called for the mandatory random drug testing of all South Australian doctors.

Nick Xenophon

The Medical Board in the past has failed South Australians, has failed people in our health system. They’ve had a job to do, I don’t believe they’ve done it, and I don’t believe that they deserve the trust of South Australians today.

Eric Sorensen

But then as information came forward, it became anger, and now it’s sort of more or less like, you know, a crusade, like, see what we can get - see what we can get done and how we can fix things and, you know.

Graham Archer

Not surprisingly, Eric Sorensen is angry.

Eric Sorensen

They only had to add up two and two to find out that there was a mistake. And something should have been offered the family in an apology - some counselling - some sort of knowledge from somebody who’s been through that situation before.

Graham Archer

So is Dave Wright.

David Wright

I’ve never felt so much aggression in my life against a certain bunch of people. And I mean aggression, I’m not joking.

Graham Archer

As are many others.

Former male complainant

To my knowledge I don’t -- haven’t been contacted by anyone from the … from the hospital or by anybody in those … any of those areas.

Graham Archer

What they’re angry about is the failure of the South Australian Medical Board to properly protect the public from negligent doctors and those affected by drugs.

Professor Ross Kalucy

Stop them, else I’ll walk out.

Graham Archer

The man at the centre of the crisis is long serving Board Member and former President Professor Ross Kalucy. Today Tonight first raised this issue over a year ago when we quizzed Kalucy about his handling of the Dr Stephen Rabone case.

Graham Archer

Well, what about the case of Dr Steven Rabone for instance?

Professor Ross Kalucy

I don’t know about that.

Graham Archer

I think you would.

Rabone was a long term drug abuser who’s alleged to have infected over a dozen of his patients with Hepatitis C by injecting their painkillers [into himself] and then turning the polluted needles on them. Under Kalucy, the Board appears to be more concerned with healing doctors, than protecting their patients.

Professor Ross Kalucy

In the old days, I mean, somebody came in with a drug problem they’re just off the register. And people like myself didn’t think that was reasonable - so we started a different kind of program, which tries to offer a doctor the chance for - to get well and to be rehabilitated and be productive.

Graham Archer

Which is fine, but what happens when the doctor becomes a positive threat to public health?

Former female complainant

The Medical Board’s primary task is public interest. So these impairment programs that the Boards conduct are important to keep doctors practicing, but not at the expense of the public interest.

Graham Archer

The Rabone case is a scandal that is still met with denials from the Board.

I mean you were President of the Board when that case went through.

Professor Ross Kalucy

Don’t know.

Graham Archer

And the reference to cannabis use by doctors has a current and tragic ring.

Eric Sorensen

Well when we found out that he was - he was under the influence of the - the marijuana and the - the antidepressants and he was stealing the antidepressants and, you know, we thought well hang on, there’s - there is something drastically wrong here with this sort of a system.

Graham Archer

Eric Sorensen’s mother Ruth died in 2002 after being sent home by the QEH’s head of their Emergency Department - Dr Stuart Mauro.

Eric Sorensen

If the hospital had done basic blood tests and a basic X-ray, the possibility of her being diagnosed correctly - having a minor operation and being a healthy woman today - could have been achieved.

Graham Archer

It was later revealed Dr Mauro had a chronic cannabis habit - and though the Coroner couldn’t link that to Ruth’s death, he attacked the Medical Board for their failure to deal with and alert the hospital to the doctor’s obvious problems.

Eric Sorensen

He was the - the man in charge on the - on the night when my mother was there.

Graham Archer

All of this and more has become the subject of a Parliamentary Committee Review into the Board’s performance.

Parliamentary Committee – voice over

Question: With ten cones a week you would not stop a doctor?
Professor Kalucy: I would think about it.

Eric Sorensen

They are not ice-cream cones, they are cones of marijuana.

Graham Archer

No Pokies MP Nick Xenophon has been one of those committee members.

Nick Xenophon

It’s as transparent as mud. It seems to be a club where they look after their own and where the interests of the public seem to be secondary and that’s just not good enough and it’s got to change.

Graham Archer

This long overdue scrutiny of the Board illustrates just how out of touch they are with their core responsibilities to the public.

Parliamentary Committee – voice over

Question: It seems the Jockey Cub has a better drug policy than you have.
Professor Kalucy: That may be true.

Nick Xenophon

If you’re a horse in this state, it seems you’re in better hands than if you’re a patient in our medical system. And that to me is just not good enough.

Graham Archer

Do you think doctors should be randomly drug tested?

Nick Xenophon

If any profession deserves to be the subject of mandatory random drug tests, it’s got to be the medical profession because doctors make life or death decisions, day in, day out, and patients need to know that those doctors aren’t off their faces on alcohol or drugs and that’s why we need to bring in mandatory random testing as soon as possible.

Graham Archer

It won’t go down well, but for lots of reasons the Board needs a broom through the whole place. Perhaps the recommendations of the Committee might start the clean-up.

Nick Xenophon

The overwhelmingly majority of doctors who are doing the right thing shouldn’t have any problems with this. It will strengthen the system, it will increase public confidence, and most importantly it will get rid of those doctors that shouldn’t be practicing medicine.

Eric Sorensen

And I think it would be more painful for a survivor of some negligence to hear people say that it’s still going on and there’s still not a lot being done about it.

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