Doctor groped paramedic after overdose on party drug... but keeps job

A DOCTOR accused of groping a female paramedic after an overdose of party drug GHB has kept his job.

Lauri Kriisa, pictured, was too intoxicated to know what he was doing, a disciplinary panel concluded.

The 40-year-old dragged the woman on to a bed and grabbed her buttocks, chest and groin after she was called to treat him, the tribunal heard.

The consultant anaesthetist had also taken Viagra and drunk alcohol during sex with a man he met the night before on a dating app, the panel was told.

With glazed eyes, Dr Kriisa attempted to kiss the paramedic, the tribunal heard, before licking her neck. The 999 call had been made three hours before he was due to begin a shift at University Hospital of North Tees, in August 2018.

At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester last week, his fitness to practise medicine was found to be impaired.

But Dr Kriisa escaped with a one-month suspension after he was cleared of sexually motivated misconduct.

The Estonian-born doctor, from Stockton-on-Tees, suggested he was so under the influence of GHB that he had no idea he was forcing himself on a woman. He said he could not remember the events.

GHB is popular among the gay community but known as a date rape drug because it can cause unconsciousness.

The paramedic, named only as Ms A, said in a statement: ‘I’m not sure he was aware of what he was doing, I think he thought we were there for a sex party.’

She added: ‘He wasn’t speaking but gesturing with his mouth with strange noises.’ She said she felt dirty and ‘just wanted to go home and scrub myself’.

Dr Kriisa’s lawyer Philip Stott said: ‘These events fall outside the sphere of Dr Kriisa’s professional life and clinical practice.’ He added the doctor had apologised.