A Dunedin doctor is likely to be censured and fined $3000 after a professional misconduct hearing concluded yesterday.
A medical disciplinary tribunal also indicated he will be fined 40% of the procedural costs, or about $75,000, although the figure has yet to be finalised.
The tribunal issued indications of liability and sentencing after a four-day hearing.
The doctor, who has interim name suppression, will also be required to notify his employer and the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners of the outcome.
The doctor missed alerts on patient Nikki Cockburn’s file, overprescribed a potent drug and failed to provide crucial information about pregnancy risks.
Chairwoman Alison Douglass said the doctor had caused "harm and distress" to Ms Cockburn and her family.
The censure would signal the seriousness of the case to the practitioner and the wider public, she said.
No supervision requirements were made, as the doctor was not considered to pose an ongoing risk to the public.
The case was a departure from his practicing history, she said.
"You have been a dedicated GP and you’ve dedicated your life to patients over many years."
The doctor was accused of professional misconduct and it was alleged he departed from accepted standards of care while treating Ms Cockburn for a severe skin condition between 2013 and 2018.
The doctor prescribed steroid ointment Dermol for Ms Cockburn’s persistent psoriasis, "often at frequent intervals and in large amounts", prosecuting counsel Lisa Preston said earlier in the hearing.
"He did so despite a written warning from another practitioner in August 2012 that care should be taken when scripting Dermol and, in early 2014, two written advices he received from a dermatologist, including that Ms Cockburn should never use Dermol again."
Ms Cockburn developed drug-induced Cushing’s syndrome and adrenal insufficiency.
Her primary GP was the most prolific prescriber of Dermol to her by a significant margin.
On October 9, 2013, he prescribed acitretin, known by its brand Neotigason, but did not first ensure Ms Cockburn was not pregnant, nor provide full information about risks for women of child-bearing age.
Severe foetal malformation can occur during acitretin use and the guidance at the time was for patients to continue with contraception for two years after ending use of the drug.
Ms Cockburn had just become pregnant and she felt compelled to terminate the pregnancy, as well as a subsequent pregnancy, the second occurring despite emergency contraception.
Ms Cockburn said earlier in the hearing she had trusted the doctor.
