Queensland surgeon fined for sharing photo of patient’s swastika-tattooed penis

A surgeon has been reprimanded and fined after sharing a photo of a comatose patient’s penis, which was tattooed with a swastika.

• An orthopaedic surgeon was fined $10,000 for sharing a photo of a comatose patient’s swastika tattoo.
• The photo was shared on WhatsApp without any clinical purpose, leading to a tribunal investigation.
• Tribunal member Peter Murphy SC stated the surgeon’s conduct was serious, highlighting the patient’s vulnerability.

An orthopaedic surgeon has been reprimanded and fined $10,000 after sharing a photo of a comatose patient’s penis, which was tattooed with a swastika, on WhatsApp.

The surgeon, whose name has been suppressed, was treating the man in a regional Queensland hospital in April 2019 after a home-made pipe-bomb exploded in his hands.

The man was placed in intensive care where he was intubated and placed in a coma for a week, during which he was treated by the doctor who was employed by the hospital.

While undergoing treatment, the surgeon “noticed the swastika tattoo and photographed it”, a finding by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal states.

The surgeon proceeded to share the photo with other treating practitioners on WhatsApp “or a similar platform”, which had “no clinical or medical purpose”.

A notification was made to the Office of the Health Ombudsman in December 2019, with a subsequent investigation being referred to the medical tribunal.

In his decision, Tribunal member Peter Murphy SC said the surgeon’s unprofessional conduct was serious, but he “immediately regretted” taking the photo.

“The patient was unconscious and particularly vulnerable,” Murphy said.

“The trust reposed by the patient in his treating doctors can be seen to be particularly acute in those circumstances.”

– Agence France-Presse