Insights Categories: Disciplinary

Facts Mikhail Soutorine is a medical practitioner (the practitioner).  In November 2019, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) on behalf of the Medical Board of Australia (the Board) wrote to the practitioner and advised him that the Board had decided to take immediate action under section 156 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law […]

In 2019 we have seen an increased focus by AHPRA and the National Boards on ensuring the observance of professional boundaries between registered health service providers and their patients.  In our experience, investigations into professional boundary transgressions are most commonly triggered when a romantic relationship between the practitioner and the patient turns sour. However, these […]

Meridian Lawyers recently published a Health Insights article discussing the risks involved when health care professionals receive and retain gifts from their patients. Since then, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) has issued a decision which serves to not only underscore that counsel, but also to highlight the severe reprimands which may follow findings […]

The Health and Disability Services Complaints Office (HaDSCO) handles complaints about health, disability and mental health services in Western Australia. Consumers of health services in Western Australia can make complaints about individuals or organisations that provide health, disability or mental health services [1]. ‘Health services’ encompasses complaints about health services provided by: Medical practices, medical […]

The Victorian Health Complaints Commissioner (the Commissioner) can now issue general health warnings and ban unregistered service providers from treating patients, even before a complaint investigation is completed, if the Commissioner believes a health provider poses a serious danger to the public.  A breach of the new General Code of Conduct[1] (the Code) for providers […]

The Victorian of Court Appeal has settled the uncertainty regarding the protections provided by statutory privilege over medical records in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). The Victorian Court of Appeal has reversed a previous decision and confirmed that patients’ medical records are not protected by statutory privilege in a disciplinary hearing of the […]

A Perth Cardiologist has recently been found to have engaged in professional misconduct by the Western Australian Administrative Tribunal. [1] The Medical Board of Australia (the Board) made out five of six allegations against Dr Woollard. Key Takeaways The case provides a reminder of the meaning of unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct under the […]

The case scenario: A complaint was made to the Pharmacy Board of Australia (‘Board’) that a pharmacist provided an excessive quantity of Restavit, a Schedule 3 poison, and for a duration for which there was no established therapeutic need. The pharmacist explained to the Board that he had supplied the drug as he believed it was […]

In this case, the Dental Board of Australia conducted an investigation after a patient notified the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), alleging over-diagnosis by a dental practitioner. The key facts: A patient presented in 2015 for extraction of a heavily filled tooth which was now fractured and un-restorable. The tooth was extracted simply and without […]

Late last year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued three infringement notices to an online pharmacy retailer totalling $32,400 for representing to consumers that there were savings on recommended retail prices. Facts The retailer represented that, by purchasing a range of white label products online through the retailer’s website, consumers would save a […]

On 4 February 2015 the ACT Civil & Administrative Tribunal found a medical practitioner had breached section 141 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (ACT) by failing to notify the Medical Board of Australia of Notifiable Conduct of another practitioner. The following facts were agreed: Dr A, a medical practitioner, owned a clinic and […]