Open slather for penalised doctors after Abbott gaffe invalidates panel Dozens of doctors penalised for allegedly rorting Medicare may seek compensation following a Federal Court ruling that the appointments of certain members of the disciplinary panel they faced were invalid. Doctors suspended between 2005 and 2010 on the advice of the general practitioner members of the Professional Services Review are affected. Judge Anna Katzmann ruled that these GP members had not been validly appointed because the then health minister Tony Abbott had not consulted the Australian Medical Association before appointing them. The decision related to Il-Song Lee who was found to have claimed and received benefits inappropriately under the Medical Benefits Scheme. Dr Lee had removed skin lesions that it found were only eight millimetres deep. The minimum depth to claim a Medicare benefit is 10 millimetres. Dr Lee was disqualified from claiming certain services for six months and ordered to repay $38,000. He claims the lesions were 10 millimetres deep but that they typically shrink after removal. He responded to the penalty by challenging the validity of the appointment of its chairman Robyn Napier and all decisions it made. Judge Katzmann said there were good reasons the AMA should be consulted before appointments to the committee were made. "Unbeknown to the minister ... a person ... might have recently lost his or her specialist accreditation or have been suspended from practice," Judge Katzmann said. A doctor may have become infirm or erratic. There is no suggestion that Dr Napier was unsuitable for her position. Last year the federal government enacted legislation that retrospectively validated the appointments to the committee, but Dr Lee plans to challenge the validity of that legislation. If successful, his action would open the floodgates to claims by doctors dealt with by the committee - about 50 a year.