A doctor in Newcastle has been suspended after taking advantage of eight vulnerable female patients to pursue sexual relationships.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Nauman Zafar Khan’s registration as a GP was suspended in October last year, but he recently tried to appeal the decision.
Though he is married, he reached out to the patients on separate occasions using texts, by turning up at their houses and professing his love, and one woman even reported feeling uncomfortable in consultations with him.
“The consultations with [Mr Khan] and his contact with me has made me feel violated and my personal life invaded,” she told the Health Care Complaints Commission. “The way he was being persistent and forceful, asking me why I wouldn’t see him, frightened me.”
He even visited the house of one of his patients, a 44-year-old woman who had suffered sexual assault in the past, and arrived with his shirt ‘half undone’.
She said he told her at the door: “You know I like you … I need a sexual companion apart from my wife.”
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal denied his appeal against the suspension, with the judge saying his behaviour was ‘appalling and disgusting’.
A psychiatrist has also said it would be high risk if the decision were overturned, as he would likely repeat the behaviour.
“[Dr Samuels found] there was a clear pattern of predatory behaviour with selective targeting of several extremely vulnerable, young women.”
Acting Judge Marks denied his appeal and said: “He has acted with wanton disregard for the wellbeing of these persons, who … he knew to be vulnerable.”
