A Perth GP has become the third doctor in a week to be disciplined by the Medical Board, after it was revealed he failed to maintain proper professional boundaries with a female patient.
Sugan Appasamy was last month reprimanded for engaging in unprofessional conduct with a patient for around six months between October 2013 and May 2014, and ordered to pay $10,000 in costs.
The then Yanchep based GP had fought the Medical Board's findings, leading the matter to be decided by the State Administrative Tribunal, but on June 22, the two parties reached a settlement.
They agreed Dr Appasamy made "numerous phone calls" and sent "numerous text messages" of a personal nature to a patient he had treated for gynaecological issues.
Dr Appasamy had also provided the woman with treatment for depression and counselling for psychological and marital issues, with the Medical Board finding the reasons the woman was seeking medical advice were aggravating factors in his misconduct.
Another allegation was withdrawn during the tribunal process.
Following the interactions, Dr Appasamy had been subject to chaperone conditions immediately imposed on him in 2014.
He has voluntarily undertaken further education on professional boundaries, has no prior history of misconduct, and said the investigation had caused him considerable stress and anxiety.
The finding, delivered on June 22, came the same day Perth doctor Anish Dwarka Singh was fined $5000 and banned from practising medicine for ten years for unnecessarily prescribing steroids and human growth hormone to patients.
Another doctor, Alistair Nuttall, was disqualified from practising medicine for one year on June 19 after he encouraged a 10-year-old cancer sufferer to pursue alternative therapies overseas.