A banned Darwin doctor who had a sexual relationship with a patient and conducted inadequate skin cancer checks has failed in his bid to be allowed to practise again. Wijeneka Liyanage, also known as Dr Aruna Liyanage, has been disqualified for three years by the Medical Board of Australia from applying to practise. He was suspended in 2014 for a “boundary violation” in having a sexual affair with a patient at the Top End Medical Centre who lodged a complaint with the medical watchdog after the relationship ended. He successfully appealed. However, the ban was reinstated when it was found that had since been involved in more unethical behaviour, performing sub-par skin checks on two patients he cleared who were later found by other doctors to need treatment for cancers. He also tried to cover it up from investigators by rewriting his notes to make them more detailed. NT Supreme Court Justice Jenny Blokland rejected Liyanage’s application to appeal, saying there was no basis to his claim that the disqualification from practising was “manifestly excessive”. The fact that he had tried to deceive investigators indicated he did not have “insight into the nature of his conduct”, she said, and a ban was appropriate to protect the community. That there were further instances of misconduct after the sexual affair with the patient made Liyanage’s behaviour more brazen and unethical, Justice Blokland said. “He was almost exclusively motivated by his own interests,” she said. “This throws into doubt whether the applicant will be likely to practice ethically in the future.” The Medical Board had previously found him to have behaved in a way that constituted professional misconduct; and unsatisfactory professional performance with four patients.