The Star: December 28, 2023

The Star Thursday December 28 2023
4
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
‘CEO’ made fake profiles, false claims
• From page 1
Before he began work there,
he created the pseudonym ‘Paul
Tavern’ to use in online reviews
and Trade Me listings. But in
May 2017, he used the false name
to post a negative review of the
clinic on Google.
“The waiting time was astronomically
long to the point of
being dangerous,” he posted. “I
think they have had three managers
over the last year. There
must be something intrinsically
wrong in this organisation or the
higher management.”
He made another disparaging
post in December 2017.
In May 2019, he was sacked by
another clinic, which was also
not identified in the decision.
Tovararonte took to a community
Facebook page under the
same pseudonym claiming he
took his sick child to the clinic
but was turned away as they were
about to close. The claim was
false.
In July 2019 he wrote to the
Health and Disability Commissioner
under his pseudonym,
stating the clinic put financial
gain before patients’ best interests
and had dismissed patient concerns
about those policies.
The following month he made
several online posts about the
clinic, including responding to
another user’s allegation in which
he wrote the clinic was “well
UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT: Dr Pleayo Tovaranonte has
been censured by the Health Practitioners Disciplinary
Tribunal.
known for this kind of disgusting
behaviour”.
In response to an online
recommendation of a doctor,
Tovaranonte wrote “he charges
your arm and your leg. Plus he
is close to retirement and he has
not been up to date with modern
medicine”.
The decision said Tovaranonte
had founded a website to provide
career advice to doctors. In 2020
he revamped the website and
labelled himself as “co-founder
and CEO” and included profiles
PHOTO: LINKEDIN
of two other people he also listed
as co-founders.
The two other “co-founders”
were fictitious, and photographs
of them were ripped from a stock
image site.
Tovaranonte’s profile on the
website and his LinkedIn profile
also listed two law degrees from
two UK universities.
The claim was false –
Tovaranonte had never obtained
the qualifications, the decision
stated.
In his latest case before the tribunal,
Tovaranonte was charged
with professional misconduct.
While he did not dispute the
facts, his lawyer submitted that
even if he was misguided in his
actions, they were consistent with
a genuine motivation.
Ultimately, the tribunal found
his comments made against the
first practice, where he labelled
its alleged failures “dangerous”,
were derogatory.
“The tribunal considers that it
is unethical to make a statement
using the pseudonym, and then
drawing on material others have
told him, and then to falsely cast
this statement as being his own
personal experience.”
His comment referencing
“disgusting behaviour” about the
second clinic was “highly unprofessional
criticism”, the tribunal
ruled. It reached a similar conclusion
regarding the comments
he made about a specific doctor.
Regarding the complaint to
the Health and Disability Commissioner,
the tribunal found
Tovaranonte misused the process
by providing misleading and
inaccurate information involving
a vulnerable patient.
His lawyer submitted the
complaint was a “protected
disclosure” under a piece
of law designed to protect
whistleblowers. The tribunal
disagreed.
Tovaranonte told the tribunal
This report was produced by
Open Justice – Te Pātītī, an
NZME initiative funded by
NZ on Air
he accidentally published his
website in an unfinished state.
The tribunal still found it to
be misleading, due to both the
fictitious “co-founders” and the
doctor’s false claims about his
legal qualifications. It reached the
same conclusion for the LinkedIn
profile.
Tovaranonte said detailing
the qualifications was an
“inadvertent error”.
“We are satisfied that Dr
Tovaranonte acted in an
unprofessional and unethical
manner. This is a significant
departure from professional
standards and separately
warrants a finding of professional
misconduct.”
Tovaranonte was censured,
fined $8000 and ordered to pay
$40,000 in costs.
He was also ordered to engage
with a clinical psychologist every
three months for three years
and to undergo professional
mentoring and supervision.
The New Zealand Herald
attempted to contact Tovaranonte
via Doctors on Cashel. While
the clinic confirmed he worked
there, it said it could not pass on
the request.
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