A Victorian surgeon charged with raping a doctor, after allegedly removing a condom during sex without his permission, is allowed to keep practising, a tribunal says. The male surgeon was charged with rape and sexual assault in September last year over the alleged incident with the male doctor in mid-2017. The incident unfolded after the pair went out for dinner, then had sex in the doctor’s home. The surgeon assured him he would use a condom, but the doctor discovered he had removed it during intercourse and became “very upset”. When he asked the surgeon why, he replied it “feels better”, the tribunal was told. The doctor alleged that the surgeon reassured him his health was not at risk, even though he had unprotected sex with other men as recently as six weeks earlier. The surgeon had also admitted earlier during dinner he was taking medicine to lower his chance of HIV infection, to which the doctor replied it he saw it as an added safety net and would always use a condom. Feeling “very distressed and concerned” after the unprotected sex, the doctor reported the matter to police. The surgeon informed the Medical Board of Australia of the charges and said he would fight them. The board then suspended him from practising in November 2018, describing the alleged conduct as “egregious” and said it would undermine confidence in the medical profession if the public was aware of the circumstances claimed. However, the surgeon successfully overturned the suspension at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal which ruled by majority the immediate action was not in the public interest. The tribunal said while the allegations are “grave”, they are yet to be tested in court and it could be at least a year before the charges are dealt with. It also said there’s no evidence justifying an immediate suspension, on the basis the surgeon poses a serious risk to others. The Medical Board is fighting the VCAT ruling, with a trial set for the Supreme Court in July.
