A Gisborne District Council candidate who has been struck off the medical register twice says his story is "one of redemption and survival".
Māori ward candidate Raawiri Gilgen, professionally known as Dr David Gilgen, was first deregistered in 1989 for over-prescribing benzodiazepines, a type of depressant drug.
In 2005, the Medical Council suspended Gilgen’s medical licence after suspecting below-standard services, particularly with regard to his prescribing practices.
Then, in December of 2007, the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal struck him off again. He was charged with professional misconduct after he was found to have forged a colleague’s signature to supply anabolic steroids to sporting patients in 2006.
Gilgen was also found to have ordered steroids online while his medical licence was suspended.
Both events took place in 2006 while he was a general practitioner at the Waahi Health Centre in Huntly.
Gilgen told Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) he travelled to Australia after the 2007 hearing "to visit family and spend Christmas away from the ordeal of the previous [two] years".
"I was fairly traumatised and intellectually burnt out – 47 years old with [a] lost livelihood. Three teenage children ... I faced financial and professional ruin."
He intended to work in Australia and return to New Zealand after six months and reapply to the medical register to get back to work as a general practitioner.
"As it happened, in February 2008, I couldn’t locate my NZ passport. I applied for a replacement. This application was denied."
Gilgen said it was the case until July 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He eventually returned in September 2020 and was subject to Covid-19 quarantine.
Speaking with Local Democracy Reporting, he said he had been falsely accused.
He believes his past professional conduct has bearing on his suitability for the council, but on the positive side.
"I am happy for voters to be aware of my professional history. They were in 2004 when I successfully ran for membership on the Waikato [District Health Board]. My past has never been secret," he said.
When Gilgen was struck off the medical register for a second time, the Health Practitioners Disciplinary decision document said mitigating factors were that Gilgen undoubtedly had "significant skills" and it appeared he was "highly regarded by his patients and the Māori community".
"He has contributed significantly, it seems, to Māori health and to his local District Health Board. The Tribunal considers that he has a lot of potential, but not as a medical practitioner at this time," the report read.
Gilgen, who lives in Tokomaru Bay, said he had yet to make a definitive decision on returning to his medical practice, but had "numerous offers to work".
"I have retired twice now and have enjoyed the lifestyle this has afforded... postgraduate studies. Music performance and composition. Kapa haka and Te Ataarangi Te Reo Māori learning."
He is currently completing a Master of Applied Indigenous Knowledge at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
If elected to the council, there are three points he wants to bring to the table – kia karakiatia (pray), kia muru ngā hara (forgive), and kia ngāwari (be kind).
"I think we’ve got to keep those things at the forefront of what we do in council.
"Gisborne/Tairāwhiti region needs to move as a community from a grievance mindset to one of gratitude. Kia kotahi tātou.
"That’s my message regardless of the results on October 11, 2025."
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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