November 15, 2014
Philip Nitschke tribunal: Medical Board granted power to raid homes
Amy Corderoy, Sydney Morning Herald
The Medical Board of Australia has been granted the power to raid homes as part of its investigation into euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke.
Janine Wilson, whose sister Wendy Benton died almost three years ago, said it was like being “burgled while you were watching” when officials turned up at her house two weeks ago to look for evidence and interview her against her will about her sister’s relationship with Dr Nitschke.
This week, Dr Nitschke went before a medical tribunal in Darwin to fight a decision to immediately suspend him from practicing medicine because of the risk he posed to the community.
The decision concerned an interaction Dr Nitschke had with an otherwise healthy man, Nigel Brayley, who used the euthanasia drug Nembutal to end his life while he was under suspicion of murder.
The board is now investigating Dr Nitschke over 12 serious charges, including allegations of professional misconduct and unprofessional conduct. Fairfax Media understands some of those charges relate to Ms Benton, who died after taking Nembutal.
Ms Benton had motor neuron disease, which progressively kills the nerves that allow you to move, speak, breathe and swallow. She had been living next door to Ms Wilson when she died aged 62, and had been involved with a failed attempt by Dr Nitschke to allow Nembutal into Australia under the federal drug regulator’s “special access scheme” for unapproved drugs.
Ms Wilson said the board’s investigators told her she needed to let them in and later revealed they had been taping the conversation without her knowledge, and would be searching her house.
They were looking for her sister’s laptop, and a copy of The Peaceful Pill Handbook, which is produced by Dr Nitschke’s group Exit International.
“It was appalling,” she said. “I was having to open my lingerie drawer in front of him … I just felt like it was a stitch-up.”
Ms Wilson said her sister’s death had been hard enough, along with the coronial and police investigation, and she could not believe her privacy was still being invaded.
“It’s just incredible so much energy appears to be going in to something I can’t see any value in,” she said.
“My sister thought the world of Philip. She didn’t want to die, but by the end she couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t lie down flat.”
Dr Nitschke said it was only when the hearing began in Darwin that he realised he was facing a much longer investigation.
“It looks like they have been digging up bodies for years,” he said. “Sooner or later they wear you down, because they have unlimited resources.”
A spokeswoman said the Medical Board could not comment on cases under investigation, but that it had a broad range of powers under national law.
“This includes the use of search warrants, which must be approved by law enforcement agencies or courts before they are executed,” she said. “We use our information-gathering powers sparingly, judiciously and within legal requirements”.