Speaking under parliamentary privilege on Tuesday, Ms Bates said she understood two of the senior doctors who were on a review of the Dr Jayant Patel saga were of the opinion that Dr Braun was "potentially worse than Patel". Ros Bates tabled the allegations against the surgeon in Queensland Parliament on Tuesday. Credit:Darren England/AAP Former Bundaberg surgeon Dr Patel, dubbed "Dr Death" by the media, was involved in an eight-year legal saga after being linked to the deaths of several patients at Bundaberg Hospital. Ms Bates also alleged Dr Braun was a "flight risk, given his personal and professional links to Russia and that region". "On Friday 1 March, I wrote to the Premier with these concerns and making her aware of the possibility that he may flee the country," she said.

Ms Bates said doctors had been frustrated that their complaints had "seemingly fallen on deaf ears". "In some cases, issues had been brought to the attention of health authorities several years ago," she said. "The response to my speech was fairly swift but it begs the question of why did it have to come to this." Ms Bates said more doctors and patients had come forward since her first speech, and she tabled more anonymous letters in the Parliament. But Dr Braun told Brisbane Times he was "deeply concerned that anonymous and unsubstantiated allegations" against him were tabled under parliamentary privilege.

"I have been denied a fair and reasonable opportunity to respond to these allegations under the established and proper mechanisms for pursuing complaints," he said. Loading "I have also been denied the opportunity to provide wider context around what I believe to be a related issue, which is a co-ordinated campaign of harassment against me which has been ongoing for several years. "I have formally requested support from hospital administrators and other professional bodies in relation to this harassment on numerous occasions from 2016 to 2019." Dr Braun said he respected and understood the need for parliamentary privilege but it was a powerful weapon and could have devastating consequences.

"For me, the tabling of this anonymous information has caused irreparable damage to my professional and personal reputation and caused significant concern to myself and my family," he said. The material tabled by Ms Bates included a letter dated March 11, in which a surgeon said a patient had sought a second opinion with Dr Braun after being told to receive psychological and dietary support to focus on alcohol intake rather than get another bariatric surgery. Dr Braun performed bariatric surgery on the patient, who had a BMI of 28, who presented to the emergency department six months later after being unable to keep fluids down and suffering reflux. The surgeon said they did not believe the surgery or techniques were justifiable and the case should be investigated by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. A patient wrote to Ms Bates to allege Dr Braun performed surgery which the patient had not "approved" but AHPRA found in the surgeon's favour.

"As a result of feeling threatened by him, I had no post-operative care or support since the day I asked why they made the mistake, which in my eyes is also malpractice," the patient alleged. Another patient complained of contracting septicemia after a hernia operation by Dr Braun. "In the presence of [redacted] and other doctors he made an offensive and uncalled-for comment to my wife [in front of me] 'at least he didn't die'," the patient said. Another person complained about Dr Braun's treatment of their wife after a gastric sleeve surgery, which allegedly resulted in the serious deterioration of her health which continued for many months and "almost claimed her life". In a letter, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons president John Batten said he appreciated people who had complained believed the college previously had enough information to take action.