An Australian doctor has been restricted from general practice after he prescribed chemical castration as a cure for a patient’s sexual orientation, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Mark Christopher James Craddock, 75, wrote the 18-year-old patient a script for the anti-androgen therapy cyproterone acetate (Cyprostat) during a 10-minute consultation in his home in February 2008.
Craddock is a member of the Exclusive Brethren, a Christian sect. The unnamed patient was also a member at the time.
The drug is normally prescribed to treat prostate cancer and severe male sexual disorders such as bestiality and pedophilia. According to the Herald, Craddock admitted to a medical professional standards committee that he did not obtain a medical history, conduct a physical exam, take an adequate sexual history, arrange a follow-up appointment, order a liver test, or discuss the side effects, which include impotence.
Craddock also did not refer the patient to a mental-health professional, despite the drug manufacturer’s recommendation. The committee found Craddock guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct, and limited his future practice of medicine to radiology.
Craddock’s conduct matches the profile of numerous U.S. ex-gay therapists who, over the years that they have been monitored by Truth Wins Out and former ex-gays, have prescribed counterproductive and often harmful courses of treatment with inadequate followup, no aftercare, and no apology or compensation for harm done.
Craddock, at least, was honest enough to admit to the committee that his treatment was potentially dangerous and that in hindsight he should not have prescribed the drug.
