A regional doctor who failed to disclose criminal convictions for assault and dishonesty offences as well as professional misconduct in New Zealand has lost his appeal to practice medicine in NSW.
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Dr Julian White, a specialist general practitioner in Narrabri, in north west NSW, had his registration revoked in November 2023 but appealed against the decision.
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal on June 19 found his conduct was "entirely inconsistent" with the "honourable practice of an honourable profession" of medicine that regarded integrity, trustworthiness and moral values as integral.
In August 1999 Dr White's medical licence was cancelled in New Zealand after he was found guilty of "disgraceful conduct" that included reusing hypodermic needles on patients.
He was finally readmitted as a doctor in New Zealand in 2008.
Dr White moved to regional Western Australia in 2010 but by 2019 the West Australian State Administrative Tribunal found "professional misconduct" .
That misconduct related to failing to maintain adequate records in relation to numerous patients and failing to coordinate appropriate and urgent care for a young boy.
The tribunal ordered he be mentored by a senior doctor, take part in further education, pay costs of $15,000 and report for a review in six months.
Dr White then returned to New Zealand and by July 2019 was charged and convicted of assaulting a teenage girl and repeatedly forging documents for financial gain among other charges.
He failed to disclose to New Zealand medical authorities about the West Australian investigation or the criminal charges against him when he applied to renew his medical licence.
In 2021 he signed an agreement he would not practice medicine in New Zealand and moved to Condobolin in regional NSW where he failed to disclose that he had been charged with various offences in New Zealand on his specialist medical registration in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
As the Medical Board began investigating these charges in 2023 he was separately reported for another offence for overprescribing medication including to his partner's sister and himself.
He was assessed by an addiction psychiatrist who concluded he was an " impaired practitioner" and diagnosed an Alcohol Use Disorder, Opiate Use Disorder and Benzodiazepine Use Disorder.
But the specialist concluded given Dr White was an "extremely valuable and dedicated rural and remote doctor" he should be able to work, albeit with conditions on his registration in a "well settled and supportive environment".
But the NSW tribunal agreed with the Medical Board that Dr White was not a suitable person to hold specialised registration as a medical practitioner. It ordered him to pay the costs of the Medical Board.