Tribunal finds Dr Arkadi Bronstein guilty of professional misconduct

A tribunal has found that while it was not suggested the doctor’s conduct resulted in a patient’s death, he was guilty of multiple procedural failures.

Medical practitioner Dr Arkadi Bronstein has been found guilty of professional misconduct after an incident at Maclean Hospital.

A doctor who was working at Maclean Hospital has been found guilty of professional misconduct after an investigation into his handling of a case in the emergency department.

The Civil and Administrative Tribunal released its decision after a five-day hearing into three separate complaints against medical practitioner Dr Arkadi Bronstein for incidents that occurred in June 2018.

They included failure to take proper action in respect of a 58-year-old quadriplegic man who presented to the hospital emergency department with respiratory failure, prescribing inappropriate quantities of medication to a 25-year-old pregnant woman suffering chest tightness, normotensive, tachycardia and dysrhythmia, and failure to keep an adequate record of his treatment for both patients.

In his defence, Dr Bronstein denied that he was guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct.

Two doctors who were familiar with the quadriplegic man’s long medical history provided evidence at the hearing.

The man’s medical history included three intensive care episodes in 12 months.

Dr Dean Robertson told the tribunal that he “harboured concerns regarding the work performance of Dr Bronstein” and did not regard him as “highly competent” but assumed he could manage the male patient who was, at the time of the incident, in a stable condition.

Dr Robertson added that he expected the patient would improve as he had previously been in hospital in a similar state and recovered.

The patient died later that day.

Tribunal documents state that it is not suggested Dr Bronstein’s conduct resulted in the man’s death.

He was, however, accused of multiple procedural failures.

They included notifying senior hospital staff upon receiving the male patient into his care, sufficiently seeking specialist assistance, inappropriate delegation of care to nursing staff and failing to provide adequate care and treatment after the man’s condition began to deteriorate.

In a separate complaint, Dr Bronstein was accused of multiple procedural failures while caring for a 25-year-old pregnant woman who presented to Maclean Hospital emergency department with irregular heart function.

The complaint included failure to obtain a detailed history of the woman prior to prescribing medication, providing sufficient information to specialists to ensure appropriate clinical advice concerning the woman’s treatment, prescribing medication that was inappropriate for pregnancy and administering an “excessive” quantity of one of the medications.

Dr Bronstein responded to the allegations.

“I admit that I did not keep a record of my treatment of (the woman),” his statement to the tribunal reads.

“I sought specialist involvement in the care of (her) and those specialists would have kept detailed clinical notes.”

The tribunal ruled that Dr Bronstein’s conduct in relation to both patients constituted unsatisfactory professional conduct.

It also ruled that his conduct in relation to the quadriplegic man constituted professional misconduct.

Disciplinary sanctions are to be considered during a second stage of Tribunal proceedings.