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An Auckland doctor has been suspended for six months for importing and prescribing unregistered drugs such as steroids as well as prescribing a sex hormone not approved for human use in New Zealand.
The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal found Dr Christopher Paltridge used the names and addresses of patients, including one who had died, to import drugs for his own business.
He also prescribed drugs to patients without adequate clinical investigation, record keeping or follow up.
Dr Paltridge was suspended for six months, fined $5000 and ordered to pay costs of $35,000 on a raft of charges relating to his work at the New Zealand Men's Clinic between 2011 and 2017.
The hearing into Paltridge's conduct was held in February 2022 but details of the tribunal's decision have only just been made public.
The tribunal found Paltridge imported 28 shipments of performance and image enhancing drugs including steroids and human growth hormones using the details of patients not under his care.
In one case Paltridge added the name of a patient to nine lists for imports between 2012 and 2016 unaware that the person had died in 2012.
Paltridge said the medications were imported for the purpose of stocking his clinic to meet the needs of other patients. In the hearing he accepted that was not reasonable.
One of the substances Paltridge brought in and later prescribed was Trenbolone, a sex hormone (androgen) used to increase muscle mass in cattle and not approved for human use in New Zealand.
Patient E
Paltridge faced four charges relating to his treatment of one man with a severe brain injury resulting from his ongoing anabolic abuse.
The patient had a long history of body dysmorphia, excessive body building and bulimia. His health conditions included low testosterone levels, hypothyroidism, hypogonadism, a heart condition which was a consequence of his body building activities.
Paltridge failed to adequately asses the patient's condition and did not contact the man's primary physician or any other doctor involved in his care to clarify his statements of his medication usage.
The tribunal said, had he done so, it would have been clear the man was drug seeking and his ongoing anabolic abuse was putting him in danger.
The tribunal found Partridge prescribed and supplied steroids to the man even after he was contacted by the patient's own GP, who was alarmed at the man's elevated testosterone levels, and warned of his steroid seeking behaviours.
Partridge also used the man's name to import up to two years supply of testosterone propionate.
Similar charges of supplying drugs to patients without adequate clinical investigation of patient histories, record keeping and follow up were upheld for another six people.
In 2011 he was also found guilty of misconduct and ordered to pay $65,000 in costs after the tribunal found he had prescribed hormone treatment to menopausal women without talking to or examining them.
The tribunal's findings
Paltridge was suspended from practice for six months and forbidden from prescribing any form of testosterone or human growth hormones. He was also forbidden from working in solo practice for three years.
In determining his penalty the tribunal, noted Paltridge's cooperation in admitting the charges. It said Paltridge no longer worked in isolation and therefore his risk to the public was significantly reduced.
The tribunal was reassured Paltridge was on the path to rehabilitation.
He is listed as a general practitioner at Waiake Medical Centre in North Auckland.
Dr Curtis Walker of the Medical Council of New Zealand said the tribunal's decision highlighted the importance of thorough assessment, diligent record keeping and communication between healthcare professionals.
Walker said Paltridge's penalty gave the Medical Council the ability to closely monitor his prescribing to ensure there was no repeat of his behaviour.
"Paltridge imported/prescribed medications for patients he was not treating (and he had no intention of supplying those medications to the named patients).
"The tribunal considered this was a significant breach of his obligations and was dishonest. The public trusts the medical profession to prescribe and/or import medications in an ethical and legal manner."