Dr Thomas Goyer: Weight loss and cosmetic doctor banned
Thomas Goyer treated many patients around Sydney for weight loss and erectile dysfunction. But the doctor’s conduct has been described as reprehensible, unbelievable and a serious departure from standards.
Mosman
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A controversial weight-loss doctor has been banned from treating patients.
Dr Thomas Goyer worked at the Medical Weight Loss Institute but came to the attention of regulators for his practices.
His conduct was described as reprehensible, unbelievable and a serious departure from standards.
A series of complaints were made against the North Sydney-based doctor who provided services to overweight patients not in person, but over the phone.
Among his misdemeanours he prescribed a drug that had been removed from sale because of its adverse side effects but continued prescribing it while supplies were available.
“We find that the practitioner’s conduct in prescribing compounded stimulant medication for this cohort of particularly vulnerable patients, without a physical examination, was totally inappropriate,” a report by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal said.
It added that the prescriptions for people with hypertension was “particularly reprehensible”.
The drugs of choice for his patients included diethylpropion capsules, sublingual drops of human chorionic gonadotrophin and injectable hCG.
Expert Professor Gary Wittert told the tribunal that diethylpropion has a similar effect to amphetamines and has been withdrawn in both Europe and Australia.
Human chorionic gonadotrophin injections have no benefit as a diet agent and are associated with increased risk of stroke and DVT.
Prof Wittert said hCG “should not have been prescribed at all”.
“The departure from accepted standards of practice invites strong criticism,” Prof Wittert said.
Dr Goyer qualified as a doctor from the University of Queensland in 2004 and has worked in various roles since then including at Laser Clinics Australia, Eden Laser Clinics, The Skin Project at North Sydney, Concept Cosmetic Medicine and the Advanced Medical Institute.
The Tribunal brought up his previous comments about his work at the AMI.
He had said that he adjusted the way he talked to patients because “no one dies of erectile dysfunction” and that the $1000-a-day job was not as “terrible” as it would be to practice as a GP.
The Health Care Complaints Commission prosecuted a complaint against Dr Goyer at the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal over his work from 2015-2017.
Dr Goyer was found guilty of professional misconduct in August last year. In a further decision handed down in late December the Tribunal cancelled his registration and ordered that he cannot make an application for review for 12 months.
In a statement from October, Dr Goyer said the finding of professional misconduct was the “appropriate outcome” and offered his “sincere apology to those patients who were dissatisfied with the provision of services by MWI”. He added that he was “thankful” no patient suffered harm and acknowledged his approach was “poor practice”.
The Tribunal said the cancellation was necessary to uphold the integrity of the profession. It noted significant doubt about his integrity and his demonstrated lack of clinical skills and judgment.
Dr Goyer was ordered to pay 80 per cent of the HCCC’s costs.