Recent entries
- Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads'
- "I'll pay the fee," says Hinch
- 'Pathetic' and 'dangerous' sentence
- US Defence's 'news' irks Hinch
- Richmond denies St Kilda incident
- It's 'No, Prime Minister' from Hinch
- Greens' downfall imminent?
- Back-watching time for the PM?
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What we're talking about
- Christine on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' isn't it funny how DHS don't recognise the psychological effects of domestic violence on children and continue to allow ... more
- Warrior princess on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' There is a family In the Cairns Area who are Foster Carers.Atherton Child Safety have threatened the carers and own ... more
- duncan on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' i have spent time with this family. it is a house full of love. "mum", grandfather and older sblings.this cannot be an issue ... more
- Tracey on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Family Law is different from the rest of the law in this country.. Ie. Family Law is based on probability: ie if it might ... more
- carol annetta on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' having known this family for some time i am disgusted with the treatment she has received. it seems more of a witch hunt ... more
- Maureen Hillary on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Derryn,I have counselled traumatized parents as a result of DHS staff.There are great staff workers who care but they ... more
- Janet Tavener on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I am a visitor to this country.My attention was drawn to the case of these children and their foster mother by a relative of ... more
- sam on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Happening in Tasmania also.Wewon a court case over 8 months ago and due process still hasn't been done.We spent 17,000 ... more
- Anne Glover on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I just cannot believe what the DHS has put the Foster Mother, and the children through - I thought the DHS was supposed to ... more
- Tracey on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' DHS are the most disgraceful organization I have ever had the displeasure of becoming involved with. They are so ... more
- Vicki on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Hi Derryn,I have known this carer since primary school, she has always put others above herself. Being a carer myself I know ... more
- Gran'ma Pam on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' As any of us with any sense know, these children should NEVER have been taken from this lady (mum) in the first place, they ... more
- Dominic Lombardo on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I see my daughter every six months DHS are conducting a vendetta against me I have not been told why I can only see her ... more
- cassy houghton on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Hello Derryn,Firstly i would like to thankyou for your support and the willingness to help this beautiful family.I ... more
- Warrior princess on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Im a carer also in Qld. I see this happen way too much from our Government. They are starting to use Carers own children as ... more
- paul on "I'll pay the fee," says Hinch I believe what Liberal Party has done is stupid. But I feel for candidates like Joh Bauch and James Buonopane who want to ... more
- Andrea on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Why are these public servants allowed to blatantly flout the law without the same consequences the rest of society faces? I ... more
- birth mother on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' i am the birth morther of these 4 children and i just want to say dhs dont care they just want the kids in care so they can ... more
- Frances Goff on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Derryn, Firstly, Happy BirthdayHaving worked in a primary school for 15 year I have seen some terrible things regarding DHS ... more
- Karen on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Hi Derryn, I have known these children through "the system".for all of their lives. I have had regular contact with them ... more
Physician, Heal Thyself
I want to talk to you about what I call the 'Edelsten Syndrome'. Doctors who are disbarred for disgraceful, unethical, even criminal behaviour, in one state who then pop up and start practicing again in another state. And it is not illegal. Unwitting patients at the new place they hang up their diploma have no way of knowing that the doctor has been run out of, say, New South Wales for some medical or even criminal malfeasance.
The disgraced Geoffrey Edelsten, who has now been disbarred in both Victoria and New South Wales (and who did jail time in Sydney) still swaggers around happy to be called 'doctor' and even 'professor'.
There is a classic case this week. A doctor banned from practicing medicine for ten years in New South Wales is trying to get registered in Victoria.
Sydney anaesthetist Gerrit Reimers was banned for drug abuse and contributing to the death of one of his patients. Reimers was acquitted of manslaughter over the death of a 74-year-old patient who died of brain damage after he allegedly failed to notice she was not breathing after a colon operation.
He reportedly did not administer CPR and refused help from other doctors.
Reimers, a narcotics addict, admitted taking drugs the night before the fatal operation. He would order extra stocks of pethidine for operations and use surplus supplies on himself.
The Victorian Medical Board quite rightly rejected his application and Reimer is now appealing that decision through VCAT.
Indicatively, he tried to have his name suppressed. I guess if reinstated he wouldn’t want Melburnians to know about his past.
Pethidine was also involved in the case of Dr. James Peters – the man now under police investigation for being responsible for more than 35 women contracting Hepatitis C after he injected them at a Melbourne late term abortion clinic.
In 1996 Peters was given a six-month suspended jail term in August 1996 after pleading guilty to 20 charges over providing his wife with a two-year non-stop supply of pethidine.
Dr Peters surrendered his medical registration but got it back about five years ago.
He was suspended in February over the Hep C scandal.
Cases such as these raise two important issues: That when a doctor is disbarred in one state he or she should be banned from practicing anywhere in Australia. And, in serious cases, some doctors should be struck off for life.
PLAYING NOW: Joanna Flynn, Chairwoman of the Medical Board of Australia speaks to Derryn Hinch about the doctor registration process.
