NSW doctor banned for five years but not charged over mum’s death

A doctor was disqualified after a Tribunal heard a woman died following steroid injections he gave her. The patient’s family wants to know why he has not been charged by police over the treatment.

The father of a woman who died after a doctor injected steroids into her neck is demanding to know why, three years later, the doctor has not been charged in relation to her treatment.

The circumstances surrounding his daughter’s death also raise serious questions about doctor training and the health regulator.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was a 38-year-old mother of four from Taree. She died on August 3, 2018, four days after an injection given to her by Dr Atef Sallam for neck pain sent her into cardiac arrest.

In proceedings brought against Dr Sallam by the Health Care Complaints Commission, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal found it was “apparent that Patient A died in consequence of spinal injection treatment provided by the respondent. The Tribunal has been provided with statements obtained by the NSW Police Force concerning Patient A’s treatment and the subsequent admission to hospital where she died”.

A NSW mum who died in 2018 and cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Dr Sallam did not use any radiological equipment to guide the needle, which is standard practice. Such a procedure without that equipment was described as “fraught with danger” by the tribunal.

Expert witness Dr Geoffrey Parker, a neuroradiologist, gave evidence that the woman “suffered a respiratory arrest due to injection of local anaesthetic into the subarachnoid space”.

Dr Sallam was disqualified from being a registered health professional for a period of five years but, despite being found by the Tribunal to have caused her death, he has not been charged by police.

“We just want justice,” the woman’s father, who also cannot be named legally, said.

The woman’s father wants justice for his daughter and grandchildren.

“She went there for cortisone injections for her neck, she had bad pain in her neck. When he administered it she went into cardiac arrest.

“I had to make the decision to turn off her life support.”

The woman left behind four children aged between two and 17.

The father said he had asked Taree Police what they were doing about the death of his daughter.

“I’ve been ringing Taree Police and first they said we don’t know where he is, we don’t know if he’s in Australia. I got a private investigator and he’s in Earlwood,” he said.

NSW Police confirmed in a statement that “at this time, no charges have been laid and inquiries are continuing”.

The case also raises serious questions about the HCCC, which the tribunal heard was aware of previous issues with Dr Sallam.

One month after the woman died, Dr Sallam was found guilty of professional misconduct relating to 19 previous complaints from the same medical practice for prescribing morphine, fentanyl and oxycodone to drug-dependent patients between the years 2012 and 2015.

The HCCC did not file actions on the complaints until March 2018.

“There were 19 complaints laid against him for doing prescriptions for oxycodone and other painkillers and he was suspended for a year, then in August this year he was suspended for another five years,” the father said.

In the Tribunal hearing Dr Sallam, an immigrant from Egypt, explained he had not had any training in prescribing Schedule 8 drugs.

“During the time I practised in Egypt in general practice I did not prescribe the drugs listed in Schedule 8 or Schedule 4,” he said.

“During the time I spent in the Australian hospital system — August 2004 to April 2008 — I did not receive any training or education about the regulatory system concerning the prescribing of Schedule 8 drugs. Nor did I encounter the issue during my studies for College Fellowship.

“I have never really received any specific education in relation to schedule 8 medications. I only needed one year of supervised general practice experience in Australia to be eligible to sit the Fellowship exams.”

Asked why police were not pursuing the case or had not made an arrest, a police spokeswoman said: “Unfortunately we cannot provide any extra detail.”

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