Prominent Sydney Surgeon Found Guilty Of Misconduct After Deaths Of Two Patients
A plastic surgeon based in Sydney, Australia has been found guilty of professional misconduct and unsatisfactory conduct following the deaths of two of his patients and an inappropriate relationship with another. Dr. William Mooney’s actions were considered severe enough to require the "suspension or cancellation" of his registration based on the severity of the misconduct. The names of both patients who passed away have been concealed to protect their identities.
Reports indicate that Dr. Mooney worked too quickly during two separate operations, which ultimately resulted in the deaths of both patients. The first patient, who sought Mooney’s help in 2018 for snoring, had his operation started at 3:05 pm on February 15th, 2018. An expert argued that the surgeon’s method was "astonishingly short" and that normally, this sort of operation typically takes about 90 minutes without complications. Dr. Cameron Altmann went on to say that very little attention was paid to the arterial bleeding. This patient would later pass away on March 3rd, 2018, after an artery was hit during the surgery, leading to massive haemorrhaging and multiple organ failure.
Patient B, a 41-year old who had undergone multiple operations, also died from complications during his surgery, which Dr. Mooney left after 25 minutes. The Health Care Complaints Commission has identified that the procedure was incredibly complex and "on a patient who had undergone multiple surgeries, including one six weeks earlier and inflammatory disease." Despite this, the surgeon still left after a short period, leading to unforeseen complications. Patient B died in December of 2017 while in hospital.
Dr. Mooney was also found to be dishonest about a relationship that he had with a former patient, who he exchanged approximately 3425 text messages and 807 phone calls between 2013 and 2016. The surgeon denied that he had prescribed weight loss medication to the individual who had suffered from an eating disorder. Dr. Mooney had not been honest about this inappropriate relationship nor did he agree to hair drug screening, despite avoiding tests due to "illness" and giving himself a "buzzcut," which are just some of the measures that he used to provide false readings.
