The Dangers of Drug Use by Doctors

By Blake O’Connor and Ugur Nedim

A prominent Sydney dentist has been banned from practising after using the drug ice and formulating an elaborate scheme to avoid being drug tested.

Young Hoon Sun ran a successful dentistry and cosmetic surgery practice in the Sydney CBD, but began using ice after the tragic death of his brother in 2010. In order to avoid being tested, he fabricated airline tickets and sales receipts to make it appear he was on holidays at the time of the scheduled tests.

Sun admitted to the Tribunal that he was a habitual user of ice and that the tickets were to avoid testing, which has raised concerns that he was operating on clients under the influence of ice.

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal cancelled Sun’s right to practise in order to protect the general public.

This case is not the first and certainly not the worst example of doctors using illegal drugs.

Other Cases

An anaesthetist with a declared drug habit, Victorian doctor James Peters infected 56 women with Hepatitis C after injecting himself with prefilled syringes of the opioid fentanyl, which were intended for patients. After using a portion for himself, he then used the same syringes to deliver the rest of the fentanyl to patients.

Peters was subsequently convicted of several offences and sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment. He had a long history of drug addiction whilst working at the Box Hill Hospital, which he declared to the medical board. However, he failed to declare his Hepatitis C status. The case prompted many to question why Peters was allowed to continue practising despite his declared drug habit.

A similar situation occurred in the United States, where a doctor infected 45 patients with Hepatitis C after injecting them with the same drug, fentanyl. Many of the patients developed lifelong complications – one having his leg amputated as a result of the virus. The doctor was deregistered, prosecuted and sentenced to 39 years in prison.

Drug Use Common Amongst Doctors

Two NSW studies raised concerns about drug use amongst medical practitioners, suggesting that:

• the use of prescription drugs is more common amongst doctors than the general population, presumably due to the relative ease of access; and
• 0.4% of the medical profession had ceased to prescribe Schedule eight drugs as the result of confirmed self-administration of opioids.

Statistics also suggest that Australian doctors have higher rates of mental illness, substance abuse, burnout and suicide than the general public, frequently caused by the high stress levels associated with medical practice.

Mandatory Drug Testing

Due to cases like that of Dr Peters, there have been calls to implement a uniform mandatory drug testing regime on all medical practitioners.

Currently in NSW, doctors can be tested by direction of the Medical Council of New South Wales if a condition has been imposed on their registration as a result of an inquiry or hearing, or the self-reporting of drug abuse.

If a positive drug test is returned, the Council can then take disciplinary action. However, many believe the current regime is inadequate and exposes members of the public to the dangers of being treated by drug-affected practitioners.