Doctor accused of injecting himself

A doctor said to have been found unconscious on a hospital floor after apparently injecting himself with an anaesthetic in 2008 says his rights were breached in a Medical Council hearing on his fitness to practice.

He claims he was denied legal assistance.

The man, identified only as Dr Q in documents in the Court of First Instance, is seeking a judicial review regarding proceedings and decisions of the council hearing. He wants regulations barring legal assistance at such hearings declared unconstitutional.

A Medical Council secretary discovered in March last year that the doctor was found unconscious in the male changing room of a United Christian Hospital operating suite on November 4, 2008, the court filing said. Dr Q had intravenously injected himself with propofol, according to the council's information.

Propofol is the most commonly used drug that anaesthetists administer to induce unconsciousness, the filing said.

The Medical Council's preliminary investigation committee then raised questions about whether any physical or mental conditions had impaired Dr Q from practising.

Since January, the case has been before the council's health committee, which has the power to recommend he be temporarily removed from the general register.

Dr Q claims regulations prohibiting him from receiving help from counsel or a solicitor at the hearings are unconstitutional, and that the hearings, having breached his rights, are null and void. He has also requested a court order stopping the current health committee hearings.

According to the filing, the doctor, not understanding the procedure, offered himself for questioning during the hearings and faced what he claimed were wrongful and unfair allegations.