File photo A Sydney-based Exclusive Brethren doctor has been banned from medicine after prescribing chemical castration for a young gay New Zealander. In 2008, Exclusive Brethren member and GP Mark Christopher James Craddock wrote 18-year-old Craig Hoyle a prescription for the anti-androgen therapy cyproterone acetate (Cyprostat) during a brief home consultation. Hoyle, who now lives in Auckland, was living in Sydney at the time. He has since left the church. The drug that Craddock prescribed, with five repeats, lowers libido by reducing the amount of testosterone. It is used to treat prostate cancer and severe male sexual disorders and sexual deviation. It is also used to treat hirsutism in women and is used as a testosterone blocker by male to female transgender people. Hoyle complained to the Australian Health Care Complaints Commission, saying when he came out, a church leader told him, "There’s medication you can go on''. ''He recommended that I speak to Dr Craddock on the matter with a view to my being placed on medication to help me with my 'problem','' he says in his complaint. Craddock admitted professional standards committee of the Medical Council of NSW in June, that he did not obtain a medical history, conduct a physical examination, take an adequate sexual history or arrange a follow-up appointment. He did not refer the patient to a counsellor or a psychologist, despite the drug manufacturer's recommendation, and did not order a liver test or discuss the side effects, which include impotence. Craddock conceded it was potentially dangerous for a patient to have that much medication unsupervised. He said, in hindsight, he should not have prescribed it at all. The committee found him guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct and he has been banned from practicing medicine. You can read the full decision here
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 5th September 2012 - 12:14pm