Frank died after being misdiagnosed. It exposed the issues for victims of medical malpractice

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The family of Frank Dimos were devastated when the active and fit grandfather died within hours of being sent home by a GP and told to take painkillers for a viral infection.

But their decade-long fight for justice against the doctor who misdiagnosed him has raised significant concerns about Victorian doctors retiring without adequate indemnity insurance and the lack of legal recourse for victims of medical malpractice.

Maria Roiniotis’ step father Fotios ‘Frank’ Dimos died within hours of a flawed diagnosis by the late Dr Con Perkoulidis, who was uninsured, bankrupt and allegedly incompetent.

Brunswick doctor Constantinos Perkoulidis died in February last year with no assets and an extensive history of Medicare fraud.

Perkoulidis had been Dimos’ family doctor for more than three decades when the latter attended the Brunswick Hill Medical Centre in November 2015.

The 67-year-old was gravely ill and unable to respond to basic questions from Perkoulidis, who diagnosed a viral infection and suggested he take Nurofen.

Within hours of the consultation, Dimos died at home from an aortic dissection, which could have been repaired by emergency surgery.

In June 2022, Dimos’ wife and children launched a civil action in the Supreme Court of Victoria against Perkoulidis with a statement of claim accusing the doctor of “failing to advise the deceased that his presenting signs and symptoms potentially involved a life-threatening diagnosis.”

He also failed to arrange for an emergency ambulance transfer to Royal Melbourne Hospital, according to the court documents.

But Perkoulidis repeatedly avoided service of court documents and failed to notify his medical insurer of the Dimos’ court claim.

Frank Dimos died after being sent home and told to take painkillers.

A default judgment was awarded in favour of Dimos’ family in August 2022, but they discovered that Perkoulidis had not paid indemnity insurance premiums after ceasing to practice in 2018.

He had also been declared bankrupt in 2018, after failing to pay a debt to the Australian Tax Office and $171,000 he owed to other creditors.

After Perkoulidis’ death, the family continued to pursue their claim, receiving further bad news last month when the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing said they were ineligible for a government run-off cover scheme that allows reimbursement for medical negligence claims against doctors who have ceased practising.

Maria Roiniotis, the step-daughter of Dimos, said her family was shattered by the outcome.

“We have written to everyone, including the minister, and they say they can’t help. There is no other scheme. There’s nothing else we can do, and this doctor has gotten away with it,” she said.

“How can these people practice? And there appears to be no government authority to make sure that doctors have appropriate insurance and that their patients are protected.”

Arnold Thomas and Becker principal lawyer Emily Hart, acting for Dimos’ family, said Perkoulidis had a ‘claims made’ insurance policy, which meant coverage only applied when he notified his insurer of a claim.

“Unfortunately, he did not notify his insurer of the claim made against him relating to Mr Dimos’ treatment, and as a result the insurer denies that Dr Perkoulidis had a valid indemnity policy covering this claim,” she said.

Hart said the national health industry regulator requires doctors to take out appropriate run-off insurance, which covers claims for incidents or errors that occurred while they were still working but are reported after they have ceased practice. However, Perkoulidis had no such policy in place.

Perkoulidis was a former director and co-owner of anti-ageing business, Integramed Health Services, which was controlled by Shane “Dr Ageless” Charter – a convicted drug dealer who was a key figure in the Essendon doping scandal.

He was removed as a director and shareholder of Charter’s business in August 2017, just two days after a professional services review committee delivered a withering assessment of Perkoulidis’ conduct as a medical practitioner.

The government review of Perkoulidis’ conduct over a 12-month period found he had fabricated medical records, while “for many services there was simply no documentation that had been created in connection with the billing of a Medicare service.”

The review doubted that many of the procedures were ever conducted and ordered him to repay $392,154.60.

It was not the first occasion that Perkoulidis has been caught rorting the Medicare Benefit Scheme. In 2005, he was ordered to repay $88,718.67 after again keeping “extremely poor records”.

“Perkoulidis said that approximately 40 per cent of the patients to whom he rendered home visits asked that he not record any information about the visit. Coincidentally, the majority of these patients were related to him. The committee found that 29 out of 30 home visits examined were unacceptable,” the professional services review found.

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