A Canberra doctor who displayed a "high degree of callousness" in his care of a laser skin therapy patient has failed in a bid to have the suspension of his medical registration reduced.
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Late last year, the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal banned Dr Nathem Al-Naser from practising medicine for nine months following five breaches of the doctors' code of conduct.
The breaches took place in 2014, when Dr Al-Naser failed to assess "Patient K" and obtain her informed consent before the woman underwent invasive laser skin treatment on her face at the Canberra Laser Biotherapy Clinic, a Belconnen business Dr Al-Naser owned until it ceased operating.
Dr Al-Naser also failed to explore less invasive options to treat blemishes believed to be the result of acne scarring on the woman's face, to provide the woman with adequate aftercare, and to keep adequate records.
The tribunal found the woman was given such inadequate information before the invasive procedure that when the laser started, she thought it was a low-intensity tool being used merely to take a "test patch" of skin.
During and after the procedure, the woman experienced pain and discomfort. She was also concerned about the appearance of her face. A combination of these factors overshadowed her son's first birthday party three days after the treatment.
Tribunal senior member Graeme Lunney SC and member Marie Matheson decided in December last year that Dr Al-Naser's medical registration should be suspended for nine months, starting on Christmas Day.
They found it was "difficult to detect" any genuine remorse from the doctor following his failures in the treatment of "Patient K".
They also took into account his history of misconduct, which includes being banned from supervising a practice for two years after failing to report a doctor he employed at the Belconnen Medical Centre for engaging in sexual acts with a patient during consultations billed to Medicare.
The tribunal found it necessary to send "a strong message" to Dr Al-Naser that he could not continue to ignore the standards of his profession.
The suspension decision says Dr Al-Naser's disciplinary history shows "a persistent willingness to ignore rules when convenient to do so".
"Furthermore the evidence ... indicates a high degree of callousness in the breaches of standards of care in relation to Patient K," the decision says.
Within a week of the tribunal ruling that Dr Al-Naser would be suspended, he applied to appeal the sanction.
At a hearing in February, his barrister Steven Whybrow argued the nine-month ban was "manifestly excessive" and should be reduced to three months.
On March 20, shortly before the suspension would have lapsed had the appeal succeeded, tribunal presidential member Geoffrey McCarthy and senior member David Kerslake dismissed the application.
The appeal decision also refers to a separate tribunal case in which Dr Al-Naser, who owns the Belconnen Medical Centre and Conder Surgery, was ordered not to have contact with female patients indefinitely. This followed alleged "boundary violations" including an attempt to kiss a woman.
That order was made in May 2019, a little more than six months before the doctor's medical registration was suspended in the laser skin treatment case.
