Disciplinary action taken against doctor for sexual harassment

The Medical Board of Australia has taken disciplinary action against Dr Mark Mackenzie on sexual harassment grounds.

Dr Mark Mackenzie has faced disciplinary action for directly violating the “Good medical practice: a code of conduct for doctors in Australia”.

The code of conduct has set principles that characterise good medical practice and makes explicit the standard of ethical and professional conduct, which all doctors are expected to adhere to as they practice medicine in Australia.

Mackenzie came in direct violation of the code of conduct as he failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries with both his colleagues and patients while working out of medical practice in Perth.

Numerous accounts of sexual harassment

On numerous occasions to differing colleagues, Mackenzie made inappropriate sexual comments and jokes to his female colleagues on a daily basis while working at the medical practice in Perth.

Mackenzie made comments about sexual topics and female bodies. He made comments about female patients, which occasionally included him making a gesture in the manner of an Elvis Presley performance that involved him clutching his groin and making thrusting movements.

He made comments to a registered nurse regarding the type of women he liked, which involved him saying he “liked women with nipples large enough that he could hang an umbrella or coat hanger from them”.

Further comments were made to the same registered nurse about the bodies of female patients, including comments about their breasts and buttocks and whether he found them sexually attractive. This included him making a statement to a practice manager, saying: “I like my coffee like I like my woman, hot and sweet.”

The practice manager warned him to cease making sexual comments, yet he persisted. He regularly made physical contact with his female colleagues, touching them on the shoulders and forearm and wrapping his arm around them.

There was a 27-year age gap between Mackenzie and the registered nurse. Mackenzie made the comment “I love you” to the nurse, and put his arms around her waist. Once again, the practice manager warned him of this behaviour, yet he persisted.

Mackenzie continually made the “I love you” statement to the registered nurse and said he wanted a “friend with benefits”. On one occasion, Mackenzie said words to the effect of “have you found someone to be my friend with benefits?” And, “if you can’t find anyone, I guess you will have to do.”

Furthermore, Mackenzie said to the registered nurse words to the effect that he had drawn a photo of a gingerbread man over a photograph of his penis. One day, Mackenzie made an attempt to show the registered nurse the photograph of his penis over which he had drawn the gingerbread man.

His behaviour affected the patients directly, as he put his arm around the shoulders of female patients, while he was working at the medical practice in Perth.

During a consultation with a patient in relation to her symptoms of mastitis (inflammation of breast tissue), Mackenzie said words to the effect that his wife also has large breasts and that he really likes large breasts.

Mackenzie also made a number of errors on the medical front. He used private scripts and, at times, did not obtain approval/authority for prescriptions, concurrently prescribed medications in circumstances where there was no recorded mental state examination, and prescribed excessive quantities of medications.

The tribunal found that Mark Mackenzie engaged in professional misconduct as defined in the code of conduct. Mackenzie’s registration was cancelled, and he was disqualified from applying for registration for a period of 12 months from the date of the order.

He was also ordered to pay a contribution towards the Medical Board of Australia, fixed in the sum of $15,000.