By PAUL YANDALL
A Te Kuiti doctor who has been fined for professional misconduct and ordered to practise under supervision has resigned from his practice.
The Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, in a decision released yesterday, fined Dr Ngaamo Thomson $5000 and ordered him to practise under supervision for three years.
He was also censured and ordered to pay more than $23,000 towards the tribunal's costs of hearing his case.
But Dr Thomson told the Herald that he had resigned from his position at the Te Pou Ora Health clinic last week because he had "had enough of it all." He expected to leave the practice in two weeks.
"These sorts of things just pile up and pile up on you until you cannot take it," he said. "I've had enough of it all."
The tribunal found Dr Thomson guilty of professional misconduct last August after the death of Te Kuiti woman Meretina Kura, who suffered a brain haemorrhage four years ago.
It was the second finding of professional misconduct against him in six years.
In 1994, the tribunal found him guilty of failing to adequately respond to a patient in a hypoglycaemic coma.
In the latest case, charges were laid after Mrs Kura's family complained to the Health and Disability Commissioner.
Mrs Kura collapsed at her home on September 3, 1996. An ambulance was called and Dr Thomson also attended the emergency.
After performing an examination, he sent the ambulance away and treated Mrs Kura with a drink made from koromiko leaves. He put her to bed and told her family that she had the flu.
Another doctor was later called and the then-unconscious Mrs Kura was admitted to Te Kuiti Hospital. She was later moved to Waikato Hospital but never regained consciousness and died on September 16.
Dr Thomson said yesterday that he had done his best to ensure that Mrs Kura was cared for appropriately, and there was little he could have done anyway if he had known she had had a brain haemorrhage.
Patsy Roach, a Te Kuiti health worker and a sister-and-law of Mrs Kura, said she was happy with the tribunal's decision and said Dr Thomson's resignation was timely.
"It's been a long time coming, but I'm glad it's over.
"We just want to put this matter to rest."
Jean Nankivell, chief executive of Te Rohe Potae Trust, which runs the Te Pou Ora Health clinic, said a new doctor would take over Dr Thomson's job in January.
Doctor quits practice over misconduct case
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