A Victorian doctor who issued COVID-19 vaccination exemptions for nearly 200 patients without examining a single one has been banned from practising medicine for at least five years.
Background of the Case
Dr Denes Borsos, a general practitioner based in regional Victoria, handed out 189 jab exemptions and 122 face mask exemptions in just three days during the pandemic, without conducting any proper clinical assessments. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal found that his actions placed patients and the public at risk.
Controversial Statements
Dr Borsos branded the vaccine an 'experimental bioweapon' and cited tennis star Novak Djokovic as evidence of the dangers of speaking out, after Djokovic was deported from Australia over his vaccination stance. He also claimed, without evidence, that cricketer Shane Warne died because he 'drank the Kool-Aid about safe and effective'.
During the tribunal hearing, which he refused to attend, Dr Borsos stated: 'My career and business have already been destroyed beyond the powers of the tribunal to remedy.' He accused the Medical Board of being 'wrong, cruel and arrogant' and of 'stretching the legislation like bubble gum'.
Professional Misconduct
The tribunal found that Dr Borsos referred 196 patients to an unnamed cardiologist without assessing whether they needed it. He also billed 84 consultations to Medicare as mental health appointments, despite each one falling short of the required 20-minute minimum.
Clinical records for more than 200 patients were found to be 'identical, almost identical or very short', and in eight cases, no notes were made at all. The three-member panel concluded that Dr Borsos had 'substituted his own personal views for his professional obligations' and showed no remorse throughout the four-year case.
Defiance and Lack of Remorse
Rather than accepting the findings, Dr Borsos used his written submissions to argue against mainstream vaccine science and compare the Medical Board to 'corporate propaganda'. In a final written submission in April, he told the tribunal he was done fighting, saying: 'Please proceed in my absence since my career and business have already been destroyed beyond the powers of the tribunal to remedy.'
The tribunal was unmoved, stating: 'Dr Borsos placed his own personal beliefs and values above the professional values on which all doctors are expected to base their practice.' His conduct was described as 'not constituted by errors or deficiencies in practice, but instead deliberate decisions to depart from clinical and ethical standards'.
Risk to Public Health
By handing out exemptions without clinical justification during a global pandemic, Dr Borsos 'placed his patients and others at risk', the panel found. Inspectors who visited his Elliminyt clinic in Colac, regional Victoria, in October 2021 discovered that he had failed to display required signage, implement a COVIDSafe plan, or use the government QR code check-in system. He was issued an $1,817 infringement notice.
The Medical Board suspended Dr Borsos in November 2021, and he has been unable to practise for more than four years while the case progressed through the system.
Penalty and Ban
The tribunal imposed a five-year ban on applying for reinstatement, one year less than the Medical Board had sought, taking his long suspension into account. He is now formally reprimanded, stripped of his registration, and barred from providing any health service until at least 2031.
