A Perth neurologist has been found guilty of professional misconduct after he financially exploited an elderly patient with dementia and Parkinson’s disease under his care. Professor Peter Panegyres worked as a neurologist at his private clinic at Subiaco, the Neurosciences Unit of the Western Australian Department of Health and the Mid-West Country Neurology Service. In 2009, he began treating a Paraburdoo man, aged in his 70s, for tremors. As the Paraburdoo man’s condition worsened, the patient was admitted to Joondalup Health Campus for ongoing hospital care in late-2012. In a three-month period between November 2012 and February 2013, over 87 days, Professor Panegyres conducted 78 consultations with the patient, and charged him $25,265 – more than twice the recommended Australian Medical Association guidance fees ($11,135) for the services provided. Each consultation, on average, cost $350, although limited records were kept about the nature of, or the reasons for, the consults. During his time as a patient at Joondalup Health Campus, it was determined the man had become incapable of making reasonable decisions in relation to his medical care and financial affairs, and, because the man had no family members in WA, a public trustee was appointed in January. The public trustee, Stephen Dennis, received the invoice for $25,265 around March 2013, and noticed Professor Panegyres had charged his client for every day of his hospital admission, except a two-week period over Christmas and New Year. “Mr Dennis considered this to be unusual and excessive… he says he considered that (the patient) may have been taken advantage of and therefore he did not authorise the payment,” a State Administrative Tribunal decision stated. Mr Dennis subsequently submitted a complaint to the Health and Disability Services Complaints Office which led to the Medical Board of Australia alleging Professor Panegyres behaved in a way that constituted professional misconduct. The board and Professor Panegyres were unable to agree on the misconduct allegations, and the matter was referred to the State Administrative Tribunal, which found the doctor guilty of professional misconduct on Tuesday.
