Banned Sydney doctor appeals drugs conviction

July 28, 2010

A SYDNEY doctor banned from medicine for 10 years for abusing drugs and contributing to the death of a patient is fighting to become registered to practise in Victoria.

Anaesthetist Gerrit Reimers, 46, is appealing against a decision by the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria, which rejected his application for registration.

Dr Reimers, who was previously addicted to painkillers, was the first doctor in NSW to face a criminal charge over the death of a patient.

His attempt to have his name suppressed was dismissed by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal yesterday but senior member Robert Davis agreed to close his file until a full hearing in August.

Dr Reimers was acquitted of manslaughter over the death of Shirley Byrne, 74, who died of brain damage in 2000 after Dr Reimers allegedly failed to notice she was not breathing after a colon operation.

The NSW Medical Tribunal found Dr Reimers guilty of 13 counts of misconduct and said he "contributed" to Ms Byrne's death.

"He was shown to be willing on many occasions to put his own interest above those of patients, probably in the case of SB [Shirley Byrne], at least contributing to her tragic death," the tribunal said in its judgment. "It is difficult to conceive that a more serious finding could be made against a medical practitioner."

The tribunal was told he did not administer CPR and refused help from other doctors.

"He demonstrated, in the tribunal's view, extremely significant deficiencies both of character and skill in the practise of medicine," the tribunal's judgment said.

The complaints against Dr Reimers ranged from 1996 to 2000, when he was suspended from practising, and involved nine patients at Ryde, Liverpool, Hornsby and Hawkesbury District Hospitals.

Dr Reimers ordered extra stocks of pethidine for theatre operations, using surplus supplies himself and admitted taking drugs the night before Ms Byrne's operation.

He told VCAT yesterday the evidence in his case file was incomplete and would prejudice a fair hearing.

Telegraph