An ex-Army commando turned GP has been struck off the medical register for an affair with a younger woman which included sexual encounters at his surgery he bulkbilled on Medicare.
Many of the taxpayer-funded encounters had no medical purpose and Dr Alex Golowenko later revealed that they had given him an ‘exciting, and adrenaline based risk-seeking’ thrill.
This was while he was prescribing the ‘vulnerable’ younger woman ‘excessive amounts’ of multiple different drugs.
Golowenko, a horse-riding vegetarian, was a GP in the NSW Southern Highlands and Wollondilly regions southwest of Sydney.
He graduated with honours in medicine following two tours of duty in Afghanistan.
He specialised in Botox and cosmetic procedures and promoted health therapy via his ‘Glow_doc’ Instagram page, which spruiked ‘Plant rich wellness… cosmetic injections for your goals. Healthy and happy inside and out. Live life’.
Golowenko, then aged between 48 and 49, was working at Bowral’s Eastbrooke Medical Centre in September 2021 when a patient then aged between 30 and 31-years-old attended the group practice clinic complaining of a grazed buttock.
The doctor-patient relationship between himself and the woman, who also presented with mental health issues, began to stray from the professional when he gave her his personal mobile number.
Dr Alex Golowenko has been struck off as a medical practitioner for having an affair with a female patient he bulk billed Medicare for sex, drug and beauty sessions
Many of the taxpayer-funded encounters had no medical purpose and Golowenko (above) later revealed that they had given him an ‘exciting, and adrenaline based risk-seeking’ thrill
The taxpayer funded sex sessions took place in his surgery (above), car and a motel with a younger, vulnerable woman who he prescribed ‘excessive amounts’ of multiple drugs
Thereafter, ‘a flirtatious texting relationship between them soon commenced and continued’ according to the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC).
‘Hundreds of text and other messages passed between’ the woman and the father-of-three,’ according to the HCCC judgment in its misconduct investigation.
‘The flirting continued in their appointments and this soon turned to kissing, hugging and touching.
‘After a few further appointments, a full sexual relationship commenced and continued at the times of booked appointments in the respondent’s consulting room at his clinic.
‘Those appointments were bulkbilled to Medicare even though no medical services were provided on those occasions.
‘He also… prescribed various medications, including drugs of addiction. In conjunction, he charged Medicare for ‘consultations’ during which he had sex with the patient.’
Golowenko was prescribing the woman drugs ‘in excessive quantities’. These included tranquiliser benzodiazepines, the insomnia drug nitrazepam, diazepam (Valium), the anxiety drug alprazolam, and an antipsychotic, quetiapine.
Despite the woman’s family history of substance abuse, he also issued her with the anti-depressant fluoxetine, an opioid, tapentadol, codeine, paracetamol and an anti-histamine, promethazine hydrochloride.
Golowenko (above on tour as a commando in Afganistan) blamed the affair on ‘exciting, and adrenaline based risk-seeking’ caused by his military PTSD
The horse-riding vegetarian father-of-three operated as a GP in the Southern Highlands and Wollondilly regions southwest of Sydney after graduating with honours in medicine
He ‘admitted to having sex with a vulnerable patient for about 10 months, at times in his office, a car, a motel and at her home’.
The bulk of the text messages between the two, tendered as evidence to the Commission, revealed that the doctor-patient relationship ceased on 14 December 2021.
‘But the personal and intimate relationship continued, with greater frequency of sexual encounters, until it ceased on 5 June 2022.’
The relationship ended after concerned relatives of the woman found she was ‘increasingly stressed … that her life was spiralling out of control’.
One relative ‘assisted in achieving a termination’ of Golowenko’s relationship with the woman who had ‘a troubled background, identified as Indigenous, .. had depression, insomnia, anxiety … and complex PTSD.’
Golowenko also had PTSD from his time in active Army service from 2003 to 2013 as a commando in a special forces unit of the Australian Defence Force.
The HCCC judgment said ‘he encountered some dangerous and traumatic circumstances which have led to a diagnosis’.
In July 2023, the woman’s relative and two others made formal complaints about Golowenko to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
Alex Golowenko said he had PTSD from seeing active service from 2003 to 2013 as a commando in a special forces unit of the Australian Defence Force, ‘during which he encountered some dangerous and traumatic circumstances’
Now aged 52, Golowenko said post-Army he had sought thrills form the relationship withhe found exciting, but which the younger woman felt ”increasingly stressed … that her life was spiralling out of control’
The following month, AHPRA decline to invoked its emergency power of suspension of Golowenko, but imposed ‘stringent conditions’ on his practice.
An HCCC investigation began and the doctor admitted his transgressions. He acknowledged his registration should be suspended but requested a shorter ‘non-review period’ of the two to three years sought by the HCCC.
The Commission, in turn, acknowledged that Golowenko’s admission ‘of the sexual relationship … demonstrated insight and contrition, recognising that the relationship was unethical and unprofessional’.
Golowenko, now aged 52, was not initially suspended, but a review of the case by a panel of doctors found that ‘Dr Golowenko’s actions constitute flagrant and deplorable violations.’
Golowenko’s excuses included ‘severe PTSD and burnout’ resulting in ‘hypervigilance and hyperarousal’ which led to ‘a PTSD risk-taking, adrenalin-seeking component’.
‘Honestly, I was in love with (the patient). I felt there was a future together,’ he told investigators.
‘I did recognise there was a power imbalance (but) I felt a very strong connection to her.
‘This was exciting, and adrenaline based which now I know was just fuelling the PTSD demon which was giving me an outlet for something that had been going on for, since my service in Afghanistan in 2008, 2009.’
The HCCC has now cancelled Golowenko’s registration for a period of six months until at least mid-April when it will be reviewed.