Dr Sasha Kanthan is a senior Emergency Room doctor who in 2016 had the opportunity of being placed at a persuasive Sydney peptide clinic at the height of the phenomenon. To his credit it took him all of eight days to work out what was going on and to eventually walk out.
The irony is that we never get to simply walk out on the defining moments in our lives – especially when we feel we are doing the right thing. The way we tackle this challenge is to simply choose to take responsibility for the station gifted to us in life. Indeed, could society be simply imposing an obligation upon the individual to report back to everyone what they might have learned from these kinds of experiences?
In a stunning turn of events Dr Sasha Kanthan mounted his own legal defence and was ultimately successful in having the Medical Tribunal impose the following unreported sanctions against the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission:
- Rejection of the label ‘misconduct’.
- Rejection of the application of a penalty.
- Rejection of any restrictions on his practice in Emergency Medicine.
On the question of ‘ethics’ the Medical Tribunal appeared to recognise and respect a legitimate difference between the internal perspective of an individual versus the external perspective of a society when balancing the issue of fault versus responsibility – a spectacular achievement that does not go unnoticed. The final outcome was a silent yet resounding victory on behalf of every Australian in every walk of life who might feel that they don’t have, or even deserve, a public voice.
Dr Sasha Kanthan respects the decision of the Medical Tribunal and the integrity shown by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission in reaching their shared decision. In doing so he hopes that others with a responsibility for both fair and accurate journalism within the Australian media may find the courage to follow his lead and do the same.
Indeed, during the years 2016-2020 Dr Sasha Kanthan reflected deeply upon what he had experienced and wrote a document to reconcile all sides of the debate on the off-label use of peptides and other hormones to treat ‘illness’. This document now stands as his personal values statement. It is the only thing he has permission to speak for in public life.
In his upcoming presentation to the Existentialist Society of Melbourne on the 10th of April 2021 he will be encouraging conversation by asking everyone how their answers to the following three questions might change through the years:
- What is a definition?
- What is an illness?
- Who gets to decide?
Physical copies of his book in auto-stapled loose-leaf format along with a letter of certification will be available for purchase via Facebook from the 20th of April 2021:
- Auto-stapled loose-leaf US$69
- Auto-stapled loose-leaf with your preferred name US$299
- Auto-stapled loose-leaf with your preferred name + 300 word article – US$2,999
Alternatively, if you feel you would like to contribute anonymously to our shared cause then please send funds to the following taxable Bitcoin address:
A formal receipt will be available however contributions are not tax deductible.
Enjoy! 😉
[Edited 7th of April 2021 to strengthen the philosophical challenge by combining all three questions into a single question for members and guests of the Existentialist Society of Melbourne]