Doctor who altered certificate to cover up disciplinary charges loses bid for permanent name suppression

Dr Teimur Youssefi had his Provisional Registration with MCNZ extended before beginning employment at Whanganui Hospital, but he hid disciplinary charges on a certificate to do so. Photo / File

A man who doctored a certificate to cover up historical disciplinary charges laid against him has been denied permanent name suppression by the court.

Dr Teimur Youssefi applied to the Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ) for registration in June 2015 and was granted Provisional Registration.

This was set to expire in August 2015, at which point Youssefi was due to be employed at Whanganui Hospital, so he applied to extend the registration.

The MCNZ required a certificate of good standing from every place Youssefi had practised, however, the certificate he received from Malta did not reflect this.

Youssefi faced two disciplinary charges in Malta: one he was acquitted of and on the other he was convicted for examining a woman without a nurse being present.

The doctor altered this certificate so that it showed no disciplinary charges had been laid.

Youssefi was later charged with and pleaded guilty to using a document to obtain a pecuniary advantage and using a document knowing it was forged in the district court.

The court convicted and discharged Youssefi on both charges, but on appeal, discharged him without conviction on the charge of using a document to obtain a pecuniary advantage.

In the High Court, Justice Thomas said that the gravity of the offending was a "serious ethical breach in deliberately deceiving a regulatory body tasked with ensuring ... the safety of patients".

Youssefi submitted that no patients were at risk, he had been supervised at all times and the offending did not undermine the integrity of the vetting process given he has been re-registered.

Youssefi was re-registered in December 2018 after applying to six different employers who required registration and initially being declined by MCNZ that October.

The MCNZ gave reasons for re-registering Youssefi such as that he acknowledged his wrongdoing and had tutored medical students during his absence from medical practice.

Youssefi applied for a visa to travel to the United States of America in January 2019, but was declined due to his conviction.

As of February 2019, he had not been re-employed in the medical profession and was working on-call, cleaning and painting Interisland ferries.

Youssefi was born in Afghanistan and is of Hazara ethnicity. Due to discrimination against this ethnic minority, his family fled to Pakistan, then Iran and Australia as refugees.

He completed a medical degree in Poland, passed the Australian Medical Council examination, then worked in Malta and attended medical training in London.

Youssefi later returned to Australia before moving to New Zealand.

Youssefi is listed as a practicing doctor on the MCNZ website, certificate expiring on November 30, 2020.