Dr Attila Danko offered to pay for woman’s drug prescription ‘if the patient engaged in a sexual relationship’

A Victorian doctor has been investigated for professional misconduct after he pressured a patient to engage in a “sugar-dating relationship”.

Dr Attila Danko had his medical registration suspended following an investigation by the medical watchdog.

A doctor offered to buy medicinal cannabis for a female ­patient in exchange for sex, a tribunal has heard.

Dr Attila Danko, general practitioner and renowned vaping advocate, had his medical registration suspended following an Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency investigation in 2020.

The medical watchdog ­referred serious allegations of professional misconduct to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal which last week found it proven that Dr Danko attempted to use a cannabidiol (CBD) prescription to bargain a “sugar-dating ­relationship” with a female ­patient who had a history of drug and sexual abuse.

Sugar dating is when an older wealthy person and a young person exchange sex or companionship for payment or support.

Dr Danko offered to provide the woman with a cannabidiol (CBD) prescription.

Dr Danko, founder of the New Nicotine Alliance Australia, met the woman at a ­nicotine law reform conference in 2017. The pair began communicating online, with the woman disclosing she was a victim of sexual abuse and had a history of drug abuse, overdose and suicidal behaviour.

In an interview with AHPRA, the woman said Dr Danko suggested she undergo a medicinal cannabis trial under his care and that he would pay for the drugs in ­exchange for intimacy.

“I said that the CBD thing was way too expensive, I can’t afford $270 a month,” the woman said. “Attila suggested that as a part of the deal to get the cannabis we could enter into some sort of sex-work, sugar-dating relationship.”

In his AHPRA interview, Dr Danko conceded he pressured the patient for sexual intimacy.

“I was providing her with something that was really useful to her. And I didn’t want it to be directly a transactional thing but I think there was sort of a, um, perhaps a bit of an unspoken, ah, thing where, um, you know, would make her more likely to be positive towards me and then engage in a more equal sexual relationship,” he said.

The tribunal heard evidence the relationship deteriorated after an unwanted kiss and Dr Danko’s refusal to allow the woman to bring a support person to a medical ­appointment.

“He received a message from her that he had triggered her trauma …. he thought his position was in jeopardy,” the tribunal heard. “He thought that he needed to offer her things to make her happy, so he offered to pay for the CBD.”

The tribunal found proven Dr Danko implied he would pay for it “if the patient engaged in a sexual relationship or “sugar dating” relationship with him”. The tribunal will hand down its determinations at a later date.