KEY POINTS:
Waikato GP David Gilgen has been struck off the medical register after being found guilty of forging a colleague's signature on three prescriptions for anabolic steroids and ordering the drugs over the internet.
Gilgen was also ordered to pay court costs of $10,000, New Zealand Doctor online reported.
Gilgen appeared before the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal in Hamilton last week to face two charges of misconduct.
He confirmed at the hearing that the forged prescriptions were made out for two reasonably high profile sports people - a basketball player and a professional kickboxer.
In announcing its penalty decision, the tribunal acknowledged the significant contribution Gilgen had made to Maori and community health, but said he needed to use his skills in a different way.
Under the circumstances, including his previous disciplinary history, the tribunal had no reasonable alternative to striking him off.
The Medical Council suspended Gilgen in 2005 for a prescription error, but he continued seeing patients at the Waahi Medical Clinic in Huntly until his practising certificate ran out in December 2005.
The forged prescriptions were made out in March and April 2006, a time when Gilgen was no longer a practising GP, and one was for a patient who had moved to Australia.
- NZPA
