Dr. William Mooney, a celebrity nose surgeon, has been thrown off for one year after a tribunal concluded that his incompetence caused the deaths of two patients, which were disclosed in a Herald investigation.
Mooney was also found to have misled to authorities about his contact with a third patient and produced a bogus medical certificate to cover up his refusal to submit to a required cocaine drug test.
Dr. William Mooney, a surgeon, has been disqualified after discoveries in the Herald.
In a ruling handed down on Thursday, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) said, “This is not a case where a practitioner failed to act in accordance with expected standards or departed from ethical standards on a single occasion or in relation to a single course of conduct.”
“Dr. Mooney has committed acts that are egregious deviations from proper standards across a wide range of duties he owes to his patients and the general public,” the NCAT said.
The decision to revoke Mooney’s registration stems from 2018 disclosures regarding the deaths of patients A and B, whose identities have been withheld.
At the time of their surgeries, neither patient was aware that Mooney’s licence had been subject to limitations since February 2017 due to suspicions of cocaine usage.
Patient A, a 24-year-old male, died in March 2018 after a botched procedure to repair his snoring conducted at Strathfield Private Hospital by Mooney, who at the time billed himself as “Australia’s leading ENT [Ear, Nose, and Throat] surgeon specialising in facial plastic surgery.
The patient’s family had waited hours to see Mooney following the procedure, but he never arrived, neither then nor on the two days before the patient’s February 17 release.
Dr. William Mooney’s medical licence has been revoked for one year.
Unbeknownst to the family, Mooney had to stitch up an artery he had nicked during surgery.
According to experts, this process typically takes around one and a half hours. According to a nurse’s documentation, Mooney only required 23 minutes.
Patient B had passed away months before. “While operating on patient B, Dr. Mooney pierced the bone beneath the brain and ruptured an artery, resulting in bleeding in the right frontal lobe.” Patient B subsequently died without regaining consciousness, the court determined.
Patient B’s wife eventually successfully filed a negligence suit against Mooney.
The Herald identified the victims in its 2018 stories; however, th
e NCAT has subsequently concealed their names.
It reaffirmed this decision on Thursday, stating “there is a recognised need for anonymisation of patients to encourage the public to make complaints to the regulator without fear of publicity or loss of privacy, and for the health regulator to be able to confidently inform complainants and patients that they will not be identified in future disciplinary proceedings.
In 2018, in response to the Herald’s discoveries, Mooney angrily denied any wrongdoing and said, “Each was a tragedy. However, contrary to what the Herald claims, neither was the result of a problem during my treatment.” Additionally, he unsuccessfully sued for slander.
Mooney then attempted to utilise the difficulties in his life, such as the dissolution of his marriage four years earlier, the negative media coverage, and the “loss of a defamation case,” as justifications for lying to the authorities about avoiding a drug test.
NCAT was nonetheless pleased in October 2018 Mooney lied on purpose when he submitted medical certifications to explain why he did not submit to obligatory hair drug testing. “He did not merely conceal or downplay information. The tribunal determined that he informed the Medical Council he was ill while in reality he was doing his customary duties.
“Dr. Mooney’s conduct in violating conditions on his registration and then willfully lying to the Medical Council and the HCCC about those breaches and other matters is completely inconsistent with his duty as a medical practitioner to be honest, ethical, and trustworthy,” the NCAT said.
The tribunal said, “We disqualify him from being registered in the medical profession for one year.” Mooney is required to pay court fees.
