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Leongatha healthcare - a longtime GP clinic serving the small South Gippsland town, which became the center of the Patterson saga – closed its Koonwarra Road doors this week as its lease ran out, Webster confirmed to The Age.
Though, he maintains ownership of the business wiht his wife and plans to reopen a practice as its sole doctor in another building in town within
Dr Thomas Webster is closing his Leongatha Healthcare clinic after being stripped of his ability to supervise other doctors, a punishment stemming from disparaging remarks he made about Erin Patterson after she was found guilty of murdering her family.
Webster initially described Patterson in a Herald Sun report as a “crazy bitch” and a ”disturbed sociopathic nut bag”, prompting intense backlash.
He later defended the comments, telling The Age it was his earnest reaction, as a key witness in the triple-murder case, to the shocking realisation of Patterson’s guilt.
“I was freaking out. I was completely freaking out,” Webster said at the time.
“Those thoughts and words were completely private; they were never documented, they were never broadcast until after the verdict.”
On Saturday, Webster said it was no longer viable to run his clinic at large scale, after the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners stripped him of his right to supervise other doctors.
The punishment meant some doctors at his clinic had to reduce their working hours, rendering consultation rooms useless, Webster said. Leongatha Healthcare’s website lists 19 tenant doctors at the practice, which is understood to have several hundred patients.
“The decision had an immediate effect and obviously a devastating long-term effect,” Webster said.
The college could not comment on Webster due to its privacy policy. However, according to supervision guidelines, general practitioners with conditions on their medical registration are unable to supervise other GPs in training.
Webster ultimately blames the Medical Board of Australia, which in September imposed conditions on his registration, demanding that he complete one-on-one professional and ethics training for a minimum of eight hours and undertake mentoring with a minimum of five one-hour sessions a month.
Webster spoke with Patterson when she arrived at Leongatha Hospital complaining of gastro-like symptoms on July 31, 2023, and was flabbergasted when she discharged herself after barely five minutes of medical attention.
Gravely concerned,What is the Digital Markets Act (DMA)?
Table of Contents The Digital Markets act (DMA) is a European Union law designed to limit the market power of large online platforms, designated as “gatekeepers,” and promote fairer competition in digital markets. It came into full force on May 2,2023,with most provisions becoming applicable on March 7,2024. The European Commission’s official DMA page provides detailed information on its objectives and scope. The DMA addresses concerns that a few dominant tech companies control access to essential digital services, hindering innovation and consumer choice. It aims to ensure that users have more control over their data, can easily switch between platforms, and benefit from a wider range of services. The law focuses on preventing “gatekeepers” from abusing their market position through self-preferencing, data exploitation, and restrictions on interoperability. Such as, six companies were initially designated as gatekeepers in September 2023: Alphabet (Google), Apple, ByteDance (TikTok), Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, and Amazon. These companies face specific obligations under the DMA. A gatekeeper, under the DMA, is a large online platform that provides a core platform service which serves as an important gateway for business users to reach end users. The European Commission outlines the criteria for gatekeeper designation, which includes factors like the size of the company (market capitalization exceeding €75 billion or annual turnover exceeding €7.5 billion in the EU), the number of active end users, and the presence of a significant impact on the internal market. To qualify, a company must control a core platform service in at least 12 EU member states. Core platform services include online intermediation services (like app stores), social networks, search engines, operating systems, cloud computing services, and messaging services. The designation isn’t permanent; companies are reassessed every two years. As of January 17,2026,Apple, Google, Meta, amazon, Microsoft, and ByteDance remain designated gatekeepers, with additional companies perhaps being added based on ongoing assessments. the DMA imposes a series of “dos and don’ts” on gatekeepers. The European Commission details these obligations, which are designed to ensure fairer competition. Some key obligations include allowing business users to access and use their data generated on the platform, enabling interoperability of messaging services, preventing gatekeepers from favoring their own services over those of competitors (self-preferencing), and allowing users to uninstall pre-installed software. Gatekeepers are also prohibited from combining personal data from different services without explicit consent. As an example, Apple was required, by March 7, 2024, to allow users to sideload apps and enable third-party app stores in the EU, a direct result of the DMA’s interoperability requirements. The DMA establishes significant penalties for non-compliance. The European Commission outlines the enforcement mechanisms, which include fines of up to 10% of the company’s total worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year, and up to 20% for repeated infringements. In cases of systematic infringements,the Commission can impose behavioral or structural remedies,including the potential forced divestiture of parts of the business. The DMA also empowers national competition authorities to enforce the rules in cooperation with the Commission.Who Qualifies as a Gatekeeper?
What Obligations Do Gatekeepers Face?
What are the Penalties for Non-Compliance?
