Disgraced psychiatrist loses appeal over deregistration

A former Launceston psychiatrist has failed in his bid to overturn his removal from the medical register.

Ian Anthony Martin was found guilty of professional misconduct last year and struck from the register.

The Medical Complaints Tribunal found that he had had a sexual relationship with the woman between January and March 2004.

During the hearing, the tribunal accepted that a swab taken from the patient contained traces of DNA that later matched a profile taken from him.

He appealed on the basis that the tribunal should not have accepted the DNA evidence, because it amounted to a breach of the Forensic Procedures Act.

He also appealed on the ground that when the patient gave evidence at the tribunal, his lawyer did not ask her whether she had planted the doctor's DNA on herself.

But Supreme Court judge Peter Evans dismissed the appeal.