A doctor under investigation by the Medical Council has said a complaint levelled against him by a colleague was probably motivated by personal dislike.
Dr Adam Jacobus Smith (65), a consultant dermatologist, is facing more than a hundred allegations of poor professional performance and professional misconduct.
The inquiry is one of the longest in the history of the council.
The charges before a fitness to practise inquiry relate to 12 patients whom he treated at the Whitfield Clinic, Waterford.
Dr Smith said yesterday a complaint tabled by another doctor, Colin Buckley, in relation to a patient he felt was misdiagnosed and inadequately treated, was personal.
“I think that bears out the contention that Dr Buckley seems to have had some dislike of myself for some reason. I don’t understand why.”
At a previous hearing it was suggested that aggressive treatment, including the use of powerful drugs, was a common theme in his treatment of patients.
Dr Smith told the inquiry that he had been using the drugs in question since 2008 and that he considered them safe.
