Tribunal reprimands Western Australian surgeon for engaging in professional misconduct

17 Dec 2018

A Western Australian surgeon has been found to have engaged in professional misconduct as a result of his management of eight patients.

On 17 February 2017, the Medical Board of Australia (the Board) referred Dr Imad Jaboury to the State Administrative Tribunal of Western Australia (the tribunal) alleging he had engaged in professional misconduct. The allegations related to the practitioner’s clinical care and decision-making in relation to eight patients between March 2007 and April 2014 when he was working in a regional hospital in Western Australia.

The Board and Dr Jaboury agreed on a series of facts. These can be found on the tribunal’s website (see Annexure A – agreed facts) and include concerns about his performance of laparoscopic cholecystectomies, failing to recognise complications of surgical procedures, inadequate post-operative care, operating when patients should have been treated conservatively or when a surgical procedure was unnecessary and not operating when it was clinically indicated.

Based on the practitioner’s admissions, the tribunal found that Dr Jaboury behaved in a way that constituted professional misconduct.

The tribunal ordered that Dr Jaboury be reprimanded and be subject to conditions on his registration requiring him to be supervised by another registered medical practitioner when undertaking any practice. Supervision must be provided by a medical practitioner who is a surgeon with at least five years’ experience and a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

Dr Jaboury was also ordered to pay $42,500 in costs and was fined $5,000.

The decision is published on the tribunal’s website.