Abstract
A Western Australian psychiatrist who lost a Supreme Court appeal against a six-month suspension imposed by the Western Australian Medical Board for improper professional conduct has had his membership as a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) suspended.
The action was taken by the RANZCP against Dr Zelco Mustac, of Warwick Road, Duncraig under Article 13(d) of the Memorandum and Articles of Association.
A suspended Fellow loses entitlement to the rights and privileges of membership under Article 13(e) and is not entitled under Article 13(f) to use the letters FRANZCP.
The Western Australian Medical Board had suspended Dr Mustac from practice for six months from 1 December last year.
The board's determination followed complaints by two former patients who had been referred to Dr Mustac by lawyers seeking reports for use in injury compensation cases.
Dr Mustac's medico-legal reports were found to be misleading in that he claimed to have used a specific malingering test known as the Test of Memory Malingering (“TOMM”), a commercial product developed in Canada, when he had only used part of it.
In the Supreme Court, Justice Ralph Simmonds said he agreed with the board's view that Dr Mustac had used the TOMM as his major diagnostic tool to determine overall veracity contrary to the specific purpose for which it was developed.
The board had found that in doing so he was guilty of improper professional conduct.
Dr Mustac had concluded from the patients’ low scores that each had intended to deceive him - a conclusion that was not open to him having regard to the proper use of the test.
The board ordered Dr Mustac to pay the costs of its five-day hearing.
His suspension now dates from 3 August 2004.