A Queensland doctor has been suspended after a court heard he had a threesome with patients and then paid $19,000 to keep it quiet.
Dr Ali Eghtesadi Araghi has appeared before the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) for his conduct between 2014 and 2018 when he ran the Sunshine Coast Family Clinic and the Australian Wellness and Cosmetics Institute in Buddina.
Dr Araghi has been registered as a medical practitioner in Australia since 2006 and has worked as a GP with an interest in cosmetic procedures.
‘The applicant (Queensland Health Ombudsman) alleges and the respondent (Dr Araghi) admits that he engaged in professional misconduct by failing to maintain professional boundaries with three of his patients,’ a recently released QCAT decision states.
‘He also failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries by engaging in sexualized behavior toward several of his employees.’
In addition to the three cases, the tribunal heard five allegations that Dr Araghi acted in an “inappropriate, sometimes sexualised” and “unprofessional” manner towards staff members.
“This conduct included acts of sexualized and/or inappropriate touching of female employees on their backsides (and) making inappropriate comments toward them,” former District Court Judge John Robertson said.
In one incident, he touched a female employee’s breast without her consent and then asked her to expose her breast in an unoccupied consultation room in front of another employee.
Dr Ali Eghtesadi Araghi appeared before the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) for his conduct between 2014 and 2018
Judge Robertson said it “can be inferred” that his questionable conduct towards staff members only ceased when notifications were made to the regulator.
“In my view, his conduct towards these women, many of whom were highly trained health care professionals, constitutes professional misconduct in itself,” he said.
According to the QCAT decision, the first of the three patients Dr Araghi behaved inappropriately towards was a woman he entered into a relationship with in 2014 before treating her as a patient and then employing her as part of his staff.
“He now accepts that he behaved in an unprofessional manner towards her,” the decision states.
‘(He) failed to maintain professional boundaries by touching her on the buttocks, kissing her in front of patients and staff, having sexual relations in the clinic, and at times abusing her in a degrading and controlling manner in front of staff and patients.’
The second patient was a woman whom he had treated since 2012 before having a sexual relationship between May 2016 and approximately August 2017.
“He seemed to understand from the beginning that it was not appropriate to have a sexual relationship with her; however, he proceeded anyway because she agreed,” the decision states.
He had sexual relations with both women “in a single incident” and then “complicated his grossly unethical conduct by telling clinic staff about what is described in the material as the threesome.”
The second woman then demanded $50,000 in “what could be described as an extortion threat” or she would report him to the Medical Board.
Dr Araghi reported the matter to police but, in an “inappropriate and unethical” manner, paid the woman $19,000 and made her sign “what would now be called a confidentiality agreement”.
The third patient was a 26-year-old woman who visited his clinic for the first time in 2013.
“The respondent used her mobile phone number obtained from her medical records to (as described by Patient 3 in her affidavit) relentlessly pursue her into a romantic relationship that did not materialise,” the QCAT decision states.
QCAT heard in one incident that he touched a female employee’s breast without her consent and then asked her to expose her breast in an unoccupied consultation room in front of another employee.
Since notifying the regulator in 2018, Dr Araghi has been subject to a one-year ban on contact with female patients, followed by a condition that a practice monitor be in the room when he consults with female patients between 2020 and 2023.
Judge Robertson said: “The Tribunal is satisfied, to the relevant standard, that the respondent’s admitted and proven conduct over many years involving patients and members of his staff constitutes professional misconduct.”
‘The defendant has cooperated reasonably in these proceedings… numerous witnesses have not had to endure cross-examination and a three-day hearing will not be necessary.’
‘Given the age of the conduct, some six years ago, the need for specific deterrence is not substantial… The need for the sanction to have a general deterrent effect is significant.’
Dr Araghi’s registration was suspended for 10 months.