A GP who is a member of the secretive Exclusive Brethren church has been reprimanded after prescribing an anti-androgen to a man who sought a “cure” for homosexuality.
Dr Mark Craddock, a 75-year-old Sydney GP and radiologist, saw the 18-year-old patient in his home during a 10-minute consultation in 2008, when he prescribed five repeats of the anti-androgen therapy cyproterone acetate.
The patient, a former member of the sect, was on an extended working holiday in Australia at the time and had been staying with other church members.
He later told the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission: “I came out as gay ... and was informed by a leader [of the Exclusive Brethren] that ‘there’s a medication you can go on for these things’. He recommended that I speak with Dr Craddock.”
This month, the Professional Standards Committee of the NSW Medical Board found Dr Craddock had failed to obtain a medical history from the patient or physically examine him, and did not refer him to a counsellor.
He prescribed the drug when it was not indicated, without discussing potential side effects or arranging a follow-up appointment.
The committee heard that Dr Craddock had not obtained an adequate sexual history, only asking the patient to give a percentage estimate of his homosexual, as opposed to heterosexual, feelings and asking if he had engaged in homosexual activity.
Dr Craddock told the hearing that having now completed CPD courses on men’s sexual health he should have asked in more detail about how many sexual partners the patient had had.
However, he said the patient had been “uncomfortable”, and “in a hurry to get away”.
Dr Craddock also failed to discuss the issue of HIV in the consultation, telling the committee he assumed the patient would have raised the concern if he had been exposed.
Dr Craddock claimed his problem was that he always tried to please everyone. He said he was the only medical practitioner in NSW who was a member of the Exclusive Brethren, and that many members of the church came from interstate and rural areas to see him.
He had previously been reprimanded for prescribing an antidepressant to a patient he knew through the church, without seeing or examining her.
The committee found Dr Craddock guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct and severely reprimanded him.
It imposed conditions on his registration, allowing him to practise and prescribe medicines only in the field of radiology, not general practice.
In the lead-up to the hearings, Dr Craddock had asked that references to his religion be removed from the HCCC’s evidence, saying they were likely to prejudice the committee’s decision.
However, the HCCC successfully argued that Dr Craddock’s religion remained important background, even though it was not alleged that he had treated the patient on the basis of his religious beliefs.