A Sydney doctor who sexually touched a young female patient and bombarded her with texts has had an application to reinstate his registration rejected by a tribunal. <\/p>\n
Hazem Chahoud, 64, was barred from working as a doctor in 2022 after he made \u201cphysical sexual advances\u201d to a 17-year-old female patient in his consulting room, according to a September decision from the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).<\/p>\n
In the 2022 matter, NCAT found Chahoud breached professional boundaries by hugging and kissing the patient and attempting to do so, touching her back, thighs and knees without any medical purpose, and physically forcing her to stand on weighing scales.<\/p>\n
He also gave the patient his home address and sent her text messages including one that said \u201cworking til 8pm\u201d with love heart emojis.<\/p>\n
In the texts that he initiated, the patient asked, \u201cWhy did you try and kiss me today?\u201d and told him, \u201cPlease stop I told you I feel uncomfortable\u201d.<\/p>\n
Chahoud failed to properly manage the patient\u2019s complaints of bulimia during her five consultations with him at a medical centre in Campbelltown in 2018. <\/p>\n
During an investigation into his conduct by the Medical Council of NSW, he initially denied the patient\u2019s allegations and inappropriately asked his wife to prepare a statement stating that she sent the text messages, NCAT found. <\/p>\n
He conceded he had sent the texts after the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) provided phone records and maps to show that they were sent from the practice rooms where he was working at Campbelltown and not from his home.<\/p>\n
In the March 2022 decision his registration as a medical practitioner was cancelled with an 18 month non-review period and he was ordered to pay the HCCC\u2019s costs.<\/p>\n
Chahoud has since applied to reinstate his registration multiple times \u2014 a 2024 application that he ultimately discontinued, and another in February that was opposed by the HCCC.<\/p>\n
In its September decision, NCAT found that Chahoud had an \u201cestablished history of giving false evidence\u201d.<\/p>\n
In a submission to the HCCC, Chahoud had said that \u201cI now understand that good intentions were never enough\u201d and \u201cI allowed a professional relationship to become personal\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was afraid of the consequences, I chose concealment over honesty, and I involved my wife in that concealment,\u201d he said in the submission. <\/p>\n
\u201cBoth were serious failures of judgment, and both are failures I now understand clearly.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the hearing before NCAT, he \u201cfailed to answer and address questions he was asked\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike the 2022 Tribunal we too have formed the conclusion that the Practitioner cannot be accepted as a reliable witness of truth,\u201d the decision said. <\/p>\n
A psychiatrist who assessed Chahoud as part of his 2024 application said he had made vague threats of suicide, talked about being a \u201cvictim\u201d and described his patient\u2019s complaints as \u201cchildish\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe (the psychiatrist) opined that the Practitioner (Chahoud) appeared to have some personality dysfunction with significant emotional dysregulation, a long history of complaints since his registration in Australia including a history of exploiting patients to get opioid medications for himself,\u201d the decision said.<\/p>\n
In oral evidence at the 2026 hearing, the psychiatrist concluded that \u201cit is likely that the Practitioner has an antisocial or narcissistic personality disorder or at least has antisocial or narcissistic personality traits\u201d.<\/p>\n
NCAT dismissed Chahoud\u2019s latest application and precluded him from making a further application for 12 months. <\/p>\n
The tribunal also ordered him to pay the HCCC\u2019s legal costs.<\/p>\n