Border surgeon Dr Roland von Marburg was forced to defend his credentials after an investigation published in weekend media highlighted patient complaints against him.
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Dr von Marburg said there was no substance to the complaints, calling them “false allegations and scandalous lies”.
The ear, nose and throat specialist has been the subject of complaints by patients over his treatment and his anti-abortion stance.
A Medical Council of NSW ban on Dr von Marburg – based on four complaints – was overturned in August to allow him to continue practising with restrictions.
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal agreed with his legal team that he had done no wrong.
The Border Mail reported at the time that Dr von Marburg described the tribunal’s decision to overturn the ban as “a great victory for justice”.
“But it’s also been a victory for patient care in this area,” he said.
Fellow surgeons submitted statements to the tribunal detailing concerns over the the surgeries.
He no longer performs surgery at Albury-Wodonga’s public or private hospitals.
The father of a former patient told The Border Mail this week that his daughter’s ears had never been right since Dr von Marburg performed surgery on her.
Albury woman Julie Betteridge said she was relieved she listened to her “gut-instinct” before her elderly mother was booked in for surgery.
The women saw Dr von Marburg to discuss a hearing problem caused by a block in the 89-year-old’s sinuses.
He recommended surgery on a deviated septum to fix the woman’s hearing and straighten her crooked nose.
They first tried a $30 bottle of over-the-counter medication designed to medicate cyclamen pollen allergies.
“You just spray it up your nose for two weeks and it actually works,” Mrs Betteridge said.
“I’m just glad I didn’t go through with the surgery.”
The women did not know about complaints made by other patients against Dr von Marburg at the time.
Mrs Betteridge said her mother would have struggled if something went wrong with her hearing.
“She had serious dementia so it would have been a bit of a nightmare,” she said.
“I just felt it would have been too much for her to go through.”
The doctor was also found guilty of professional misconduct in 2012 by the NSW Medical Tribunal for self-medicating with pethidine in 2001 and 2008.
He started legal action in 2014 against a Facebook page, which was subsequently dropped, over comments he was “a butcher” and “cocaine user”.
