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A RESPECTED Rockhampton psychiatrist and would-be politician has had his medical licence revoked after a sex scandal involving a former patient. In a written judgment on penalty handed down on Friday, Judge Kerry O'Brien ordered that Christopher John Alroe's registration with the Medical Board of Queensland be cancelled and he not be allowed to apply for re-registration for four years. He also ordered that Alroe, 50, pay the board's costs. In December 2003, Alroe was found guilty by the Health Practitioners Tribunal of unsatisfactory professional conduct for a sexual relationship with a registered nurse he treated for a bipolar disorder. The treatment ended when the 52-year-old woman's condition improved in August 1998 and the two later had sex four times. The tribunal criticised Alroe, a former state chairman of the Australian Doctors Fund, former flying doctor and part-time playwright, for preying on the woman's vulnerability and loneliness, and for using their previous professional relationship for his own gratification. Alroe appealed the tribunal's findings on 25 grounds, with the central issue being the acceptance of the complainant's credibility. But the appeal was unanimously dismissed by Justices Margaret McMurdo, Glen Williams and Peter Dutney last October. Alroe had claimed the woman had been stalking him for about 12 years and the allegations of a sexual relationship were a figment of her imagination. Alroe, a father-of-four, was forced to withdraw his Nationals candidacy for the federal seat of Capricornia in last year's election because of the investigation and imminent disciplinary action. He had stood as the Liberal Party candidate in the same seat in 1993. In the written judgment, Judge O'Brien said there was a significant power imbalance between Alroe and his patient. He described the woman as a "lonely and vulnerable lady, flattered by the attention of an intelligent man who shared her interests in literature and writing". He said Alroe deliberately cultivated the friendship to his own end, in conduct that could only be described as "predatory and exploitative". "I am of the view that so serious is the conduct of the registrant (Alroe) in this case that the only appropriate penalty is one which involves cancellation of his registration," Judge O'Brien wrote. Alroe had his licence suspended in January last year and has not practised since then. The cancellation takes effect from that date. Judge O'Brien said he also took into account references tendered on Alroe's behalf that spoke of his regard in the medical profession and his contribution to the army reserve, public health and the medical community generally. Alroe, who has been a medical practitioner since 1977 and a psychiatrist since 1988, also reached the ranks of lieutenant-colonel and senior medical officer of the 11th Brigade in the Australian Army Reserve. He was the first army reserve specialist to be appointed to lead Australian troops overseas, heading the health element with the Bougainville peacekeeping force. AAP (10-5-05) Leanne Edmistone |
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