AHPRA Drop All Charges Against Gary Fettke

We are very excited, and relieved, to be able to share with you the news that AHPRA (the Australian Health Practitioner’s Regulation Agency) have dropped all charges against Gary after 4 1/2 years of insisting that he had done nothing wrong – no case of patient harm nor patient complaint having been identified.

Not only have the Medical Board cleared Gary’s name of any wrong-doing, they have even apologised in writing!

“I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the errors that were made when dealing with this notification. We recognise that these errors are likely to have compounded any distress that you experienced as a result of being the subject of this investigation. We appreciate your cooperation and engagement through the complaint management process, and the reconsideration of the previous decision.” – AHPRA

The National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner have been reviewing Gary’s ruling and investigation process since AHPRA were put on notice during the Senate Inquiry in 2016. His case was referred to the Board for reconsideration in June 2018 after inconsistencies were uncovered in the investigation process, including the influence of the Dietitians Association of Australia being acknowledged. It was determined by the Board that the Tasmanian Health Service should have met with Gary and discussed their concerns. The vexatious notification by a dietitian at the LGH should never have investigated. The outcome was supplied to us yesterday afternoon. “The Board determined it is not sufficient to simply amend the previous decision. The Board therefore repealed the previous decision in its entirety and proceeded to reconsider the notification afresh. This decision is an exercise of the Board’s power to correct errors in decision making under clause 23 of Schedule 7 of the National Law.”

Further to all this, the wording of the document clearly implies that there is no harm in Gary, nor any other health professional in Australia, recommending Low Carb Healthy Fat principles…

“Moreover, no significant risks to public safety have been identified that require a regulatory response under the National Law. In the case of each of the three issues considered, there is no evidence of any actual harm and nor does the Board discern any particular risk to public health and safety moving forward. For these reasons, the Board has decided to take no further regulatory action.“

Dr Maxine Szramka has highlighted some of the deep systemic issues within the AHPRA National Law and their process noting that CARE (should be) the foundation of health care regulation and she goes even further with her Open Letter to the Medical Board of Australia: human rights violations in the proposed code of good medical practice…

“I exhort the board to consider the impact of restricted freedoms on the health and well-being of doctors and how such stress comes from violation of fundamental human rights as currently proposed by the board in this current revised code of good medical practice.

Let’s have an excellent code of good medical practice, one that supports doctors to be truly free and protected by the board from abuse by others, including the board.”

Gary also spoke about the flawed process of the National Law and AHPRA at the Health Professionals Australia Reform Association Conference in 2017.

Gary has been mentoring many health professionals over the last 2 years who have become victims of vexatious notifications and the AHPRA process. He has talked 2 doctors out of committing suicide…

We are hoping that this decision by the Board will help those who have been unjustly affected by the system and vexatious notifications and stop the practice from occurring in the future.

We are currently receiving formal legal advice as to taking action against the perpetrators involved in the injustice of persecuting Gary. Not only has the entire situation cost us personally but it has potentially caused harm to his patients, and the wider community, by obstructing what was only ever Quality Assurance and improved patient outcomes. We see that certain people and organisations are in positions that are untenable due to their actions/inactions within the Tasmanian Health Service and the Dietitians Association of Australia despite direct correspondence and communication over many years.

Not only has Gary has been a victim of bullying and harassment in the workplace for questioning patient safety and Quality Assurance in regards to sugary drinks and junk food in hospitals and unfairly targeted for ‘Active Defence’ by the Cereal Industry (via the Dietitians Association of Australia), but his recommendations around Low Carbohydrate Healthy Fat principles have been ridiculed and ‘claimed to be dangerous’ by Associations and Regulatory Bodies with ties to the Food and Pharmaceutical Industries!

The continuing misinformation about carbohydrates and Type 2 Diabetes especially, and the repeated #fakenews published about the harms of Low Carb Healthy Fat principles have meant that individuals have been denied access to the latest research and support from health professionals around the world.

Professor Tim Noakes (South Africa), Dr Annika Dahlqvist (Sweden), Caryn Zinn (New Zealand dietitian), Jennifer Elliott (Australian Dietitian – deregistered for advocating Low Carb) and Gary have all been subjected to investigations as a result of Dietetic Associations ‘Protecting, Influencing, and Actively Defending’ the cereal and grain industry and pushing a ‘Plant-Based‘ wholegrain, anti-meat agenda.

It is time to start calling out the Vested Interests and Ideology that continue to shape the dietary and health guidelines. Guidelines that have become strict Rule-Books fiercely protected by Associations with ties to industry. “Science evolves because it is challenged not because it is followed.” Gary Fettke.

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your incredible support over the last couple of years. Gary and I couldn’t have continued this fight without it.

Belinda xx