Dr Peter Spencer accuses medical board and Coroner of conducting a ‘corrupted investigation’

A doctor whose wife died of cocaine toxicity in their Docklands apartment is fighting to return to work and has accused the medical board of “absolute corruption”.

Dr Peter Spencer has appealed to temporarily lift a suspension imposed on him by the Medical Board of Australia. Picture: Channel 9

A suspended doctor who waited three hours to call an ambulance after slicing his wife’s throat in an attempt to save her life, has accused the national medical board of “absolute corruption” in his fight to return to work.

In a fiery VCAT hearing on Thursday, sleep and respiratory physician Dr Peter Spencer appealed to temporarily lift a suspension imposed on him by the Medical Board of Australia, allowing him to return to work until a tribunal decision on the board’s final investigation was made.

The suspension was imposed after Judge John Cain in a coroner’s inquest last year said that Dr Spencer may have committed “negligent manslaughter” by waiting so long to call for help as his wife Mayumi Spencer died of cocaine toxicity in January 2015 in their Docklands apartment.

According to court documents Dr Spencer tried to resuscitate his wife after she started vomiting and had a fit at their Docklands apartment about 4am January 17, 2015.

Dr Spencer’s wife Mayumi Spencer died in 2015. Picture: Channel 9

He sliced her throat open believing she had a blockage, attempting to perform a cricothyroidotomy and CPR.

He then waited 3.5 hours before calling an ambulance – a delay which Judge Cain in his coronial inquest said may have been an indictable offence.

Judge Cain’s findings were passed on to the Director of Public Prosecutions in June 2023, though Dr Spencer has not been charged and has appealed the coroner’s findings to the Supreme Court.

During the three hour VCAT hearing Dr Spencer accused the MBA and Coroner of conducting a “corrupted investigation” with “no reliance on facts or evidence”.

Dr Spencer sliced his wife’s throat open believing she had a blockage. Picture: Channel 9

“VCAT and the MBA cannot rely on corrupted, unlawful findings of Judge Cain in determining its decision,” he said.

“The very fact that the DPP have reviewed the case and concluded no charges after seven years means the second review by its nature is likely to come to the same conclusion.”

In one outburst during the MBA’s submissions, Dr Spencer objected that the board was “making things up” and said the investigation was “absolutely corrupt” before he was muted by Senior Member Elisabeth Wentworth.

Moreover Dr Spencer said the allegations that he “didn’t act accordingly” during his wife’s death were “false” and that they had no relevance to his work.

“None of these claims are true … there is substantial evidence and they will be reviewed in court. Any decision using this is made in error of law,” he said.

He also rejected allegations that he had abused his wife, despite court documents revealing that Ms Spencer applied and obtained an interim family violence intervention order in August 2012 against him before it was withdrawn six months later.

Any return to work would be on an interim basis until the MBA completed and submitted its final investigation, which could be dependent on if any charges are laid.

In its submission to VCAT, the MBA said Dr Spencer posed “a serious risk to persons and it is necessary to protect public health and safety” and that he would “undermine the confidence in the medical profession if allowed to continue work.”

Despite being granted a registration by the MBA under strict conditions to return to work in 2021, he was suspended following the coronial inquest in 2023.

The tribunal reserved its decision as to whether Dr Spencer could return to work on an interim basis.