Auckland doctor Glenn Twentyman has admitted giving drugs popular with bodybuilders and sports cheats to patients without proper medical reasons, and in some cases he failed to monitor properly for complications and doctored medical records after the fact.
The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal is now considering whether his actions amount to professional misconduct.
Dr Twentyman has not been shy of the cameras in the past, but today was a different story when he blocked media filming him inside the hearing this morning.
He admitted the particulars of 20 charges dating from 2004 to 2012, where he dispensed or prescribed products in a way that departed from the usual practice of a general practitioner.
The charges include giving human growth hormone to patients who had no reason to be taking it.
The hearing heard Dr Twentyman failed to obtain sufficient clinical information to ensure there was a clinical basis for the use and/or ongoing use of human growth hormone products.
None of the five patients Dr Twentyman gave the drug to had growth hormone deficiency – the only medical condition it's approved to treat.
Instead the tribunal heard that Dr Twentyman, who worked at High St Men's Clinic in Auckland, dished it out for chronic knee injuries, to assist with back pain and even to a patient who was suffering "poor gains at the gym", despite doing eight hours' training a week.
He even prescribed for its "anti-aging properties", knowing it is not approved for that.
Dr Twentyman, whose clients include former sportsmen, gave testosterone to a number of people, but none of their medical records contained any clinical proof they needed it. In a number of cases he also failed to monitor patients for serious complications.
In the summary of facts, it says Dr Twentyman obtained large quantities of the anabolic steroid nandrolone, which is often used by sportspeople to improve recovery times or in cases of terminal illnesses where there is muscle wasting.
But Dr Twentyman used it to treat patients with erectile dysfunction, even though it has never been a standard therapy for that.
Dr Twentyman bulk-ordered pseudoephedrine and ephedrine to almost 35,000 tablets over a four-year period. He says it was for the treatment of sexual dysfunction, but he's admitted giving it to a patient for weight loss when he knew it wasn't approved for that use.
3 News
source: newshub archive
