Healthcare

As a preeminent law firm in the healthcare sector, Meridian has a deep understanding of the business of health and its regulations. Our dedicated health law team has diverse and substantial experience across insurance, commercial, corporate advisory, workplace relations and safety, commercial litigation and dispute resolution.

Providing support to pharmacy owners working at the forefront of industry and regulatory change, Meridian is recognised as a leading Australian pharmacy law practice.

We draw on our extensive industry experience to deliver quality legal advice to allied health services on a wide range of issues from corporate and commercial transactions, workplace relations advice and litigation, regulatory advice, compliance, medico-legal, and litigation advice concerning professional indemnity and public liability claims.

Medical practitioners benefit from our experienced team and strong track record in support and defence of Divisions of General Practice, general practitioners, nurses, hospitals, hospital service providers and pathology companies. We are also experienced in acting for medical defence organisations, other medical organisations and health professionals.

Meridian Lawyers has offices located in Sydney, Melbourne, Newcastle, Brisbane and Perth. Contact us today to find out how our health lawyers can assist you.

Insights

Selling your dental practice: legal tips for maximising your outcomes

Selling your medical practice: Legal tips for making it a pain-free process

Dispensing with inappropriate behaviour – a guide for pharmacists

Cyber Security Awareness Month – Are you cyber aware?

Case note | NSW Supreme Court reaffirms expert witnesses are immune from suit

Pharmacy Location Rules – understanding the process for PBS approval in large medical centres

Buying and selling a pharmacy | Why it makes good business sense to partner with a lawyer

Can a patient under 18 provide informed consent?

ACT Court of Appeal overturns onerous duty finding confirming that there is no general duty on a GP to follow-up or escalate referrals

Deal or No Deal: from handshakes, heads of agreement to contracts – what’s legally binding, and what’s not?

Convicted health professionals may face registration suspension

Payroll tax concerns for medical and allied health practices

Are the Australian Privacy Reforms on your radar?

Industry Update: Increase in monetary jurisdictional limits of the District Court of NSW

Pharmacy Sale and Purchase Update

Collaborative arrangements between medical practitioners and eligible nurse practitioners and eligible midwives

Victoria Health Services: Are you prepared for the Statutory Duty of Candour?

New regulations are now in force for all health practitioners and organisations in NSW

Online Reviews & Defamation

The Privacy Landscape in Australia following the introduction of the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme in 2018

The importance of health practitioners’ compliance with public health policies and directions

Complex Compounding – How does a pharmacist prove competency?

A cautionary note to all health practitioners: don’t be caught out by section 130 of the National Law!

NCAT overturned Medical Council’s decision to suspend medical student’s licence

Pharmacists: are you ready for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout?

ACCC alleges SmileDirectClub misled consumers regarding health insurance reimbursements for clear teeth aligners

High court affirms parents can consent to puberty blockers on behalf of their children

Real time prescription monitoring: assisting practitioners to make better informed prescribing decisions

The collective bargaining class exemption for small businesses is now in effect

Pitfalls of promoting health services on social media

Extended powers of HCC include investigating complaints incidental to the provision of health services

Gender Dysphoria and Children: Lessons from R v Tavistock

Health Complaints Act 2016 (Vic) – does it really apply to me? Important implications for registered health professionals employed by bodies corporate in Victoria

The dos and don’ts of COVID-19 vaccine promotion

The value of a pharmacy partnership or shareholder agreement

Privacy and External Dispute Resolution schemes: Limitations for healthcare credit providers

New and expanded AHPRA Advertising Guidelines: a welcome aid to compliance

How small businesses can utilise the ACCC’s new collective bargaining class exemption

A case scenario on patient privacy – can I discuss a deceased patient’s care with their family members?

A case scenario on death certificates – who can sign them and when?

Federal Court of Australia confirms Professional Services Review (PSR) has the power to order part repayments

Coroners Court Directions Hearings now required within 28 days for mandatory inquest deaths

No half doses in pharmacy ownership

VCAT upholds use of immediate action power to suspend doctor over social media use

UK High Court applies established duty of care principles to legalise professional guidance which permits disclosure of confidential information to a proximate third party without consent

Pharmacy relocation – tips for navigating the critical steps

Key insights from July 2020 OAIC Notifiable Data Breaches Report

Three years on from the chaperone review, AHPRA celebrates changes to the regulatory landscape of sexual boundaries notifications

Accidentally sending an email to the wrong email address can cost you

Professional Services Review (PSR) launches telehealth review

Listen to the experts: Chatoor v Health Care Complaints Commission of NSW [2020] NSWCA 111

What do I do if there is an accidental breach of my patient’s privacy? Advice for health practitioners and organisations

Taking action against health practitioners in the “public interest” – two years on, how is the new immediate action power being applied in practice?

Private Health Insurer audits – a reminder to exercise caution and to ask for help

Coroner’s findings emphasise the potential risks of relying on telehealth without in-patient review

A warning to health practitioners: is your professional indemnity insurance in place?

Western Australia: What are the Mandatory Reporting Requirements for Registered Health Practitioners?

Using the new MBS telehealth item numbers to care for patients from home? Here are some of the risks and limitations for medical practitioners

A reminder on section 130 of the National Law: notify the National Boards of ‘certain events’, or face a possible finding of unprofessional conduct

Recent Applications in personal injuries claims impacted by COVID-19

WA hospital negligent for not recognising sepsis in infant burns patient resulting in irreversible brain damage

Supreme Court of Victoria opts to hear would-be jury trial by judge alone in an effort to keep the wheels of justice turning

Professional Services in New South Wales – approval is required

Bushfire Emergency Declaration

A wrongful birth case study: Nouri v Australian Capital Territory [2020] ACTCA 1

Health practitioner seeks help from the Federal Court to uncover identity of negative Google reviewer

Dentist seeks help from the Federal Court to uncover identity of negative Google reviewer

Help! I’m being Audited

AHPRA releases revised Guidelines for Mandatory Notifications about registered health practitioners

Regulation of unregistered health practitioners in WA – is the current system adequate?

Audio and Video Records – are they legal?

Soutorine and The Medical Board of Australia [2020] WASAT 5

A case study in causation

Social Media: What’s OK – What’s Not

Owing prescriptions – are you courting danger?

Payroll tax clampdown on healthcare clinic operators

Electronic Prescriptions

General practitioner successfully appeals negligence finding

Coroner recommends new standard for in patient observations

VCAT confirms that disciplinary consequences may befall practitioners who treat their own family

A reminder about the potential strength of ‘usual practice’ evidence

Nurse slammed for profiting under patient’s will and pressuring peers

Handling sensitive health information about patients and customers – do you understand your obligations?

You have received a notification – what now?

What happens to healthcare complaints in Western Australia?

Striking the balance: Do the recent amendments to mandatory reporting obligations go far enough?

Ask for help, and ask early – advice for surviving an AHPRA notification

A gift bejewelled with risk

Pharmacy Workplace Relations – Hot Topics

Directors’ Duties

Be Data Smart

Applications for new PBS Approvals or relocations of existing PBS approvals

Professional medical organisations collaborate to help bring clarity on medical costs for patients

Steroids and hormone therapies – Off label use or misuse/abuse?

How medical practitioners can manage negative online reviews

Victorian Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation comes into force in June

SafeScript provides prescribers and pharmacists with real time access to the prescription history of their patients for high risk medicines.

Medicare Shared Debt Recovery Scheme to significantly affect recovery of incorrect Medicare billings from next month

Police in Victoria and Western Australia, to share information with AHPRA

Professional Performance under the Spotlight | Inquiry into the actions of the regulator and local health district

New powers used by Health Complaints Commissioner to stop unregistered service providers making false claims

Restrictions on the use and disclosure of confidential communications between a victim of sexual assault and treating health practitioners

Is the ‘irrational’ exception feasible?

Federal Court confirms strict interpretation of the 80/20 rule under the Health Insurance Act 1973

How can you tell if you have been given a forged prescription and what to do if you have

Shared Debt Recovery Scheme to hold both medical practitioners and employing and contracting organisations responsible for incorrect Medicare billing

My Health Record: Important Information for Healthcare Providers

Statutory privilege does not prevent disclosure of records in VCAT proceedings

What are pharmacists’ obligations when supplying pseudoephedrine?

No professional misconduct finding for General Practitioner’s ‘grave error of judgment’

Professional Opinions – how much weight do they carry?

Professional Misconduct – fact or fiction?

Getting it right – meeting your legal and professional obligations in advertising

Board removes links to past disciplinary decisions – but not all of them

Medication Misadventure – Methotrexate: A reminder to pharmacists to exercise independent judgment about the safety of a prescribed medicine.

Putting the past behind you? Not any more, as Medical Board starts displaying links to old disciplinary decisions on the National Register

Missing faxed scan result triggers the Coroners Court to call for robust standards regarding the communication of radiology results

Sparks v Hobson; Gray v Hobson [2018] NSWCA 29: Is this a prelude to the expansion of the peer professional opinion defence in NSW?

‘SafeScript’ Roll-out: An update for practitioners on important regulatory changes from 1 July 2018

Recent trends in buying and selling pharmacies

Pharmacy Franchise Law – tips for franchisees

Misuse, interference or loss of personal information by pharmacists – new mandatory notifications for data breaches

Expanding or contracting your pharmacy? Don’t forget Pharmacy Location Rule 121

NSW Health Services Organisations face key changes to Root Cause Analysis procedures

Supreme Court of Victoria confirms availability of statutory privilege over clinical records in VCAT

National registration of paramedics – mandatory notifications: what paramedics need to know about their mandatory reporting obligations

Overhaul gets the go ahead for mandatory reporting laws regarding treating healthcare professionals

Reflections on a recent experience with ‘hot tubbing’ in the Coroners Court

Outrage as junior UK doctor is convicted of manslaughter and struck off

Accepting gifts from patients – before you partake of that bottle of wine, stop and consider a few factors

Victoria to roll out real-time prescription monitoring system in 2018

Medical Board seeks community input on revised sexual boundaries guidelines

National registration of paramedics 2018

Changes to Medicare Benefits Schedule Items for Spinal X-Ray Services – Why, how and what now?

Proving residual working capacity: a defendant’s burden to bear

Case study: pitfalls of crossing the boundaries

Sweeping reforms in Victoria proposed to lift hospital safety

Medical Board reforms for older medical practitioners and those the subject of multiple complaints

Video: Negligence and Consent in the Medical Profession

Landmark advertising fine warns that the tiger has teeth

National Boards armed with new public interest power to take immediate action against health practitioners

National registration of paramedics – registration standards

Massive Privacy Breach: A lesson in using third party web service providers

“Check, Correct, Change” guidance published by AHPRA a welcome resource for practitioners seeking clarity in advertising regulation

Pharmacy insights – Spring 2017

Disclosure of confidential genetic information to relatives

A reminder for pharmacists: exercise caution when dispensing Schedule 3 Poisons

‘Phillips arrangements’: It may be time to review your service company arrangements

Beware of altered, forged or fraudulent prescriptions: a reminder for pharmacists

Brand loyalty in professional indemnity insurance: risks of shifting insurance cover

Dental insights: Is your radiology equipment registered and your radiology licence up-to-date?

A reminder to ensure the dental justification for treatment plan is clearly recorded

Pharmacy sale and purchase trends during 2016: assignment of leases

Real-time prescription monitoring: what does it mean for health practitioners?

Choosing the right business structure

Succession planning for your partnership

Advertising: A timely reminder

When has an obligation to obtain informed consent been discharged?

Holding nurses to account: AHPRA notifications, investigations, processes and outcomes

‘But how can I notify my insurer? All the details are private’

Pharmacy location rules: Who are ‘persons aggrieved’ by new approvals?

Nurofen Specific Pain claims: Federal Court finds misleading conduct

Online pharmacy retailer pays $32,400 for misleading product pricing

Aim for a pain-free goodbye

The changing state of play: The natural evolution of the professional regulation of pharmacy

Storage and prescribing of medication in the dental surgery

Fast-tracked orthodontic treatments give rise to informed consent and scope of practice issues

Meridian Lawyers assists with NAPSA’s constitution overhaul

Schedule 8 medications: A disturbing trend in storage and record keeping

AHPRA extends its reach to social media

A reminder of what is notifiable conduct, and the consequences of failing to notify

Recent Court of Appeal decision confirms breadth of advocate’s immunity

New office aims to improve johnson v triple c process in Queensland

The dentist as an independent expert witness

Buying and selling dental practices

Credit reporting regime under the Privacy Act has a new bite

Pharmacy alert: maintaining script certifications

Consider these fundamentals before purchasing a professional practice

Pitfalls of group buying advertising for health practitioners

Is this the end of your lease?

Medico-legal issues for radiographers

AHPRA audits: tips for registered health professionals

Joint statement on dental audits: ADA, Guild Insurance and Meridian Lawyers

Privacy, legal liability and the pharmacist

Health professionals: Are you complying with your obligations?

e-health: A new frontier for health practitioners