Court strips licence of sex offender doc

A Swedish appeals court has revoked the licence of a Stockholm-area doctor who has previously been convicted of child sex offences and has admitted to substance abuse problems.

• Swedish school reported over 'holy' yoga lessons (25 May 12)
• Police suspect theft after surprise cash 'windfall' (24 May 12)
• Honk-happy man charged for overusing car horn (24 May 12)

In its ruling, the Administrative Court of Appeal (Kammarrätten) found that the doctor's decades-long criminal past, made him unfit to continue practicing medicine, the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper reported.

Previously, a lower court had ruled that the doctor should be allowed to keep his licence, despite his previous conviction for sex crimes, some of the victims of which were children.

While the sex crimes didn't occur in connection with the doctor's professional responsibilities, he had also been convicted for a number of drugs offences which took place in connection with his job.

The doctor claimed that he now had control of his addiction and that the sex crime convictions were from several years ago, but the appeals court rejected his arguments, ordering his licence revoked.

The Local reported in early March about another practising doctor with alcohol problems who was allowed to keep his licence.

While the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) wanted to 61-year-old doctor to have his license revoked over concerns that he "because of his alcohol abuse could not carry out his professional responsibilities in a satisfactory manner".

However, the Medical Responsibility Board (Hälso- och Sjukvårdens Ansvarsnämnd – HSAN) rejected the request, arguing that there was no evidence that the doctor's alcoholism had affected his work as a doctor.

The agency acknowledged the doctor had suffered a relapse in his alcohol problem, writing he was "wrong" when he "thought it would be possible for him to start drinking modest amounts after a long period of abstinence".