An Australian doctor who is a member of a controversial Christian sect, and who prescribed a chemical castration drug commonly given to sex offenders to a gay teenager, has been banned from practicing as a General Practitioner.
Dr Mark Craddock, 75, a member of the Exclusive Brethren sect in Australia, wrote a script for the anti-androgen drug cyproterone acetate, sold under the brand name Cyprostat, at his home in 2008 for a visiting 18 year-old New Zealander who had recently confessed his homosexuality to church leaders.
A senior member of the sect directed the boy to see Dr Craddock to be proscribed medication to deal with his 'problem.'
The now 24 year-old, who's name has been suppressed, complained to Australia's Health Care Complaints Commission after his parents threw him out of home when he indicated he had ceased taking the drug and intended to leave the sect in 2009.
A hearing by the Medical Council of the Australian state of New South Wales found that, 'Dr Craddock prescribed Cyprostat to the patient and the prescribing occurred in circumstances where Dr Craddock failed to adequately assess the patient and failed to provide appropriate medical management of the patients therapeutic needs.
'In addition, the drug prescribed was not clinically indicated for the patient. At the relevant time, Dr Craddock and the patient were members of the same church and the consultation had been initiated and arranged by another church member known to Dr Craddock and the patient.'
'Dr Craddock admitted the substantive Particulars of the Complaint and that they amounted to unsatisfactory professional conduct.'
'The outcome of this Inquiry was that Dr Craddock was found guilty of unsatisfactory processional conduct. He was severely reprimanded and practice restrictions were placed on his registration.'
The drug's manufacturer instructs doctors to only prescribe it to people who are seeing a counselor or psychologist but Dr Craddock did not refer him to either, and he did not arrange a follow up visit or tests to see if the boy was suffering any toxic side effects from the drug.
Instead he wrote him a prescription with five repeats and sent him on his way.
The young man says he was sickened when he found out the drug was commonly prescribed to chemically castrate violent sex offenders.
The Exclusive Brethren's rules dictate that they must live separately from non-members, that they should not vote, and they may not use many modern technologies.
However members tithe a percentage of their earnings to the group's leadership and the group's leaders have spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to affect the outcomes of elections in Australia and New Zealand.
Members are also encouraged to marry inside the group and those who leave are routinely ostracized by their families.
