Dr Paul Fox was to return to work this week but a spokeswoman for the Waikato District Health Board yesterday confirmed he was 'on leave'. Photo / Thinkstock
Dr Paul Fox was to return to work this week but a spokeswoman for the Waikato District Health Board yesterday confirmed he was 'on leave'. Photo / Thinkstock
A doctor accused of misconduct over an alleged affair with a patient in the United States is facing an internal investigation over what he told his New Zealand employer of the claims.
Dr Paul Fox was to return to work this week but a spokeswoman for the Waikato District HealthBoard yesterday confirmed he was "on leave". She would not say if he had been asked to stay away or was facing disciplinary action.
Dr Fox has worked for the health board's mental health and addictions service in June 2012 and is fully registered and has full credential to practice as a psychiatrist in New Zealand.
He also told Waikato health bosses he had voluntarily surrendered his medical licence in the States, but what is unclear is if he disclosed the accusations of "possible boundary violations" to them.
"Dr Fox's ongoing employment with Waikato DHB is a matter that is being addressed between the parties involved and is subject to the usual privacy protections afforded to all employees of Waikato DHB," the spokeswoman said.
Dr Fox surrendered his medical licence and agreed not to contest the allegations in front of Connecticut medical authorities while he still maintained "no guilt or wrongdoing".
Dr Fox also attracted attention in the United States when he was linked with gunman Adam Lanza, who killed 26 people in the second-worst school shooting in US history.
Lanza was a patient of Dr Fox's some years before the killing spree but authorities have raised no issue with his treatment of him.
