Doctor accused of excessive pap smears, kissing patients banned indefinitely

A Brisbane doctor accused of performing unnecessary pap smears, breast checks and pelvic examinations, and of kissing a patient on the lips, has had his registration cancelled indefinitely.

Last year, the Office of the Health Ombudsman filed disciplinary action against 74-year-old Dr Stellios (Stan) Theodoros, a former general practitioner and co-owner of Wellers Hill Medical Centre in Tarragindi, in relation to 25 allegations of professional misconduct involving seven patients.

The allegations concerned the frequency and clinical need for intimate examinations – including pap smears, vaginal swabs, pelvic examinations, breast checks and skin checks – and inappropriate behaviour, such as undressing patients, from 2002 to 2015.

In one case, medical notes show Theodoros performed seven pap smears on a patient, referred to as “DF”, between 2013 and 2015. The same number of pelvic examinations and vaginal swabs were also performed.

Clinical records revealed another two pap smears were done in 2014 and 2015 – amounting to four per year – though no pathology report or record on the pap smear register was found.

Dr Anne Ulcoq, who gave expert advice on the appropriateness of Theodoros’ treatment to OHO, said “there would never be a circumstance when it would be clinically appropriate to perform pap smears at this frequency”, and she rejected the doctor’s explanation that the swabs were necessary to test for sexually transmitted infections.

In evidence provided to the ombudsman, DF said Theodoros pulled open the curtain and started talking to her “while she was fully naked” after a pap smear in 2003, and continued this behaviour on other occasions.

DF also submitted that each time she had an appointment, the doctor “would greet her by hugging her and attempting to kiss her on the lips”. She said he frequently messaged her mobile phone asking her to come in for pap smears and checks. He signed texts with “XX”.

Patients “CJ” and “JB” received similar texts and were encouraged to bypass reception to make appointments. On one occasion in 2015, Theodoros texted JB four times in one day to make an appointment for a swab and breast check.

Several patients spoke of being hugged and kissed by the doctor, including one woman who said he began to “closed-mouth kiss” her on the lips.

In another case, a patient known as “KW” had five pap smears recorded between 2006 and 2012, though many more, including six in 2012 and five in 2013, were found.

Ulcoq said the frequency of the tests was contrary to national guidelines and pathology reports, and they were “unjustified and inappropriate”.

Theodoros also performed 34 vaginal swabs, 22 pelvic examinations, 20 skin and mole checks, and 20 breast examinations on the same woman over eight years.

In her evidence, KW detailed further instances of inappropriate conduct, telling the ombudsman “on more than one occasion, he suddenly leaned in and put his hand on her breast”, and that he removed her bra while she was trying to cover herself up.

In December 2015, a fellow practitioner made a mandatory notification to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency in relation to allegations against Theodoros. Action was taken by the Medical Board of Australia and conditions were placed on his registration the following year.

Theodoros retired from practice in December 2021 and surrendered his registration in 2023.

In his response to the allegations, he said “he treated every patient with respect and dignity and adopted a conservative/cautious approach to managing each patient’s health”.

The ombudsman found Theodoros engaged in conduct that was “objectively, at the very high end of the range of misconduct” and disqualified him from reapplying for registration indefinitely.

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