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Robyn S's avatar

It's not even really that he's Christian. It's that he didn't share the 'right' views with VCAT: he wasn't a fan of the LGBTQ-ABC alphabet soup thing. He doesn't agree with trans. Or abortion. And believing in God was probably just another nail in the coffin for Dr Kok, unfortunately. The VCAT found him to be derogatory and disrespectful to the LGBTQI community, among other things:

https://www.hrla.org.au/online_satire_can_now_cost_you_your_medical_career

Well, gee whiz, what about the LGBTQ-ABC community posting things that are derogatory and disrespectful to Dr Jereth Kok's views?!?! It's a two-way street and the VCAT can't even see that. LOTS of people get offended by males pretending to be females (I do!), but where are OUR court cases saying we're offended and so they have to leave THEIR jobs?! Sorry, strike that. Make it that they have to leave their jobs NOW, and then we'll wait 6 years to have a court case just to make sure they can't earn anything from their hard-earned study. Just like what happened with Dr Kok. Fair's fair, right?

See, this is one of the reasons I did not renew my AHPRA registration last year after 19 years as a Registered Chiropractor. With all the comments I have publicly made (on Substack) over the past 5 years, I'm sure I'd be hauled over the coals, too, for merely expressing what I would consider reasonable and even scientific views.

Funny thing is, Medical Practitioners under the current Code of Conduct are allowed to have their own opinions ("While there are professional values that underpin good Medical practice, all doctors have a right to have and express their personal views and values") so it's really weird that they're going after Dr Kok like this. Other than to make him a scapegoat, I suppose.

https://www.medicalboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Policies.aspx

But, the above statement in inverted commas is also directly followed by this: "However, the boundary between a doctor’s personal and public profile can be blurred. As a doctor, you need to consider the effect of your public comments and your actions outside work, including online, related to Medical and clinical issues, and how they reflect on your role as a doctor and on the reputation of the profession."

But what Dr Kok has shared/written shouldn't make him liable for "professional misconduct" - because the Code of Conduct is not the Law. The Law is the 'National Health Practitioner Regulation Law' - and I don't believe it says anywhere in there about commenting on trans people etc!

The previous medical code of conduct also does not say anywhere that you can't express your views, just to basically be careful when expressing them to your patient. From what I understand, this VCAT case is all about online/social media posts, NOT Dr Kok's personal/in-person patient discussions (which were not under scrutiny). In other words, he's absolutely fine in his clinical work as a Doctor, it's just his social media posts that were deemed 'offensive'.

This ruling by VCAT (what is WRONG with Victoria...?!?!) is an utter violation of Dr Kok's freedom of speech - and I'm sure they're trying to set a nasty precedent with it. I hope Dr Kok appeals! Although, after all this, he has been forced to miss so very many years of medical practice that he'd have to play 'catch-up' to get his Recency of Practice up to scratch, let alone many other things. And AHPRA/the Medical Board would be watching him like a hawk should he be allowed to re-register.

It's hardly 'freedom' of practice, is it??

I guess when all health practitioners are robots, no-one will get any help.

Might be time to move states/countries, or burn VCAT to the ground! You can't have your country's health professionals unable to speak their minds, unable to offer advice; unable to offer care outside of the box. You can't help anyone if your hands are tied like that!

But that's exactly what's going to keep happening if this VCAT ruling is set as a precedent. And that is WRONG on so many levels.

Diane's avatar

Absolutely disgusting. The medical industry is little more than a death cult mascerading as healthcare, evidenced by the fact that doctor advice is the third leading cause of death in the developed world. Unfortunately, good doctors are realising they are members of an evil cartel, and are finding it increasingly difficult to help patients at all in this sick system, as one doctor recently confessed.

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