Anti-vax doctor Mark Hobart loses appeal to overturn ban on medical licence

A Victorian doctor banned from practising medicine after he was accused of issuing fake Covid vaccine exemptions says he will take his fight to the High Court after he lost his appeal.

Dr Mark Hobart is going to the High Court to overturn a ban to practise medicine.

An anti-vax doctor has lost his appeal against an indefinite ban imposed by the national medical watchdog which declared him a danger to patients.

Dr Mark Hobart, a North Sunshine-based GP accused of issuing fake Covid-19 vaccine exemptions, last week was refused leave to appeal a Supreme Court ruling upholding the ban.

Dr Hobart declared he would now take his fight to the nation’s highest court.

“I will appeal to the HCA (High Court of Australia). A win there will cover the nation,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Medical Board of Australia suspended Dr Hobart’s practising licence in 2021 after his McIntyre Rd clinic was raided by the Department of Health amid allegations he was issuing fake COVID-19 vaccine records.

He reportedly claimed to have issued about 2000 vaccine exemptions before his clinic was shut down.

Last year he went to the Supreme Court to have the ban removed, arguing it had destroyed his career, but the case was dismissed.

Dr Hobart took the matter to the Court of Appeal, telling his social media followers the day of the hearing: “I thought it went well today.”

The Medical Board of Australia suspended Dr Hobart’s practising licence in 2021. Picture: Supplied

But the court did not rule in his favour and last week refused him leave to appeal the ban.

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency investigated claims Dr Hobart was issuing fake Covid-19 vaccine records.

No criminal charges or findings have been made against him.

However the Medical Board of Australia has now referred the matter to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to determine if he acted with professional misconduct.

In handing down its decision, the Court of Appeal acknowledged Dr Hobart was troubled with the handling of the case against him.

“It emerged clearly in the course of the hearing that Dr Hobart’s greatest concern is what he considers to be the unconscionable delay which has occurred while he and other doctors in a similar position have been suspended by exercise of the immediate action power,” the court heard.

Earlier this year, Dr Hobart attempted to get the High Court of Australia to review his emergency suspension.

But the request was shot down, with the court describing the appeal as “premature”.

Dr Hobart unsuccessfully ran as a Democratic Labour Party candidate in the seat of St Albans last year.