A Queensland doctor has been suspended after a tribunal heard he had a threesome with patients and then paid $19,000 for it to be kept quiet.

Dr Ali Eghtesadi Araghi fronted the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) over his conduct between 2014 and 2018 when he ran the Sunshine Coast Family Clinic and The Australian Wellness & Cosmetic Institute at Buddina. 

Dr Araghi has been registered as a medical practitioner in Australia since 2006 and worked as a GP with an interest in cosmetic procedures.

'The applicant [Queensland Health Ombudsman] alleges and the respondent [Dr Araghi] admits that he engaged in professional misconduct in that he failed to maintain professional boundaries with three of his patients,' a recently published QCAT decision states.

'He [also] failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries by engaging in sexualised behaviour towards several of his staff.'

The tribunal heard in addition to the threesome, five allegations were made that Dr Araghi acted in an 'inappropriate, sometimes sexualised' and 'unprofessional' manner towards staff members. 

'This conduct included acts of a sexualised and/or inappropriate touching of the female staff members on their bottoms [and] making inappropriate comments to them,' former District Court Judge John Robertson said.

In one of the incidents, he touched a staff member's breast without her consent and then asked her to expose her breast in an unoccupied consulting room in front of another staff member.

Judge Robertson said it 'can be inferred' his questionable conduct towards staff members only ceased when notifications were made to the regulator.

'In my opinion, his conduct towards these women, most of whom were highly trained health practitioners, amounts to professional misconduct in its own right,' he said.

According to the QCAT decision, the first of the three patients Dr Araghi behaved inappropriately towards was a woman with whom he formed a relationship in 2014 before he treated as a patient and then later employed on his staff. 

'He now accepts that he behaved unprofessionally towards her,' the decision states.

'[He] failed to maintain professional boundaries by touching her on the bottom, kissing her in front of patients and staff, having sexual intercourse at the clinic, and on occasions, abusing her in a demeaning and controlling manner in front of staff and patients.'

The second patient was a woman whom he had been treating since 2012 before he had a sexual relationship with between May 2016 and about August 2017. 

'He seemed to appreciate from the outset that it was inappropriate to have a sexual relationship with her; however, he proceeded nonetheless because she agreed to it,' the decision states.

He had sex with the two women 'in one incident' and then 'compounded his seriously unethical conduct by telling staff at the clinic about what is described in the material as the threesome'.

The second woman later demanded $50,000 in 'what could be described as a threat of extortion' or she would report him to the Medical Board.

Dr Araghi reported the matter to police but 'inappropriately and unethically' then paid the woman $19,000 and had her sign 'what would now be referred to as a non-disclosure agreement'.

The third patient was a 26-year-old woman who first visited his clinic in 2013.

'The respondent used her mobile number obtained from her clinical records to (as Patient 3 describes in her affidavit) relentlessly pursue her to engage in a romantic relationship which did not eventuate,' the QCAT decision states.

Since the regulator was notified in 2018, Dr Araghi was subject to  a ban from contact with female patients for a year followed by the condition that a practice monitor be in the room when he consulted with female patients from 2020 to 2023. 

Judge Robertson said: 'The Tribunal is satisfied to the relevant standard that the respondent's admitted and proved conduct over many years involving patients and members of his staff constitutes professional misconduct.'

'The respondent has been reasonably cooperative in these proceedings... numerous witnesses did not have to endure a cross-examination, and a three-day hearing will not be required.'

'Given the age of the conduct, some six years ago, the need for specific deterrence is not substantial... The need for the sanction to effect general deterrence is significant.'

Dr Araghi's registration was suspended for 10 months.