A FORMER University of Newcastle associate professor who was suspended in Australia and America after surgery on women must tell a court what training he received from two American medical companies before implanting a NSW woman with high risk pelvic mesh in 2010 and 2011.
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Gynaecologist Richard Reid used Boston Scientific and Cook Medical mesh devices during the procedures on a woman, 35, who took legal action after alleging Dr Reid was negligent and the surgery left her with serious injuries.
In the NSW Supreme Court last week the woman alleged Dr Reid was negligent in failing to obtain informed consent for the procedures, for the way he performed the procedures and for using mesh surgery when more conservative management was warranted.
The woman is one of five taking legal action against Dr Reid, after a sixth woman implanted with Cook Medical’s high risk Surgisis pig intestine mesh settled a case against him in January.
Dr Reid is also the subject of NSW Health Care Complaints Commission action in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. He retired from medical practice in January.
Justice Christine Adamson directed Dr Reid to answer pre-hearing questions put to him by the woman about the training, study and experience he had using polypropylene meshes before he implanted the woman with different meshes in 2010 and 2011.
Dr Reid must confirm if he received any training from Boston Scientific or Cook Medical before implanting the woman with the companies’ pelvic mesh devices.
In oral submissions to the court the woman’s barrister said she wanted to make a case that Dr Reid “overused particular products and used them for applications for which they were unsuited, and that this was what had happened in the present case”.
Dr Reid was a University of Newcastle associate professor between 2009 and January, 2012.
He was suspended in America in April, 1998 and fined $10,000 after the Michigan Board of Medicine found he violated his duty to safely and skilfully practise medicine, based on complaints from three American woman.
The NSW Medical Council suspended Dr Reid in 2014 but the decision was overturned by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. He was later placed on conditions.