Insights Sectors: Health

During 2016 Meridian Lawyers acted for many pharmacists in the successful sale or purchase of their pharmacies. Where a pharmacy occupies premises under a lease, the lessor may not always be pleased to learn that their tried and trusted tenant wishes to sell the business to a new owner. The lessor may try to oppose […]

Since at least 2012 there has been an increasing push in Australia for the implementation of a national real-time prescription monitoring system that alerts doctors and pharmacists to people who are misusing prescription drugs. More than 20 Coronial Inquests in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia alone have recommended a real-time prescription monitoring system […]

Whether you are entering into an existing professional health practice or other business, intending to set up a new structure or restructuring an existing practice or other business there are a range of legal structures that may apply in your circumstances. Different legal risks and liabilities associated with each business structure may apply: Sole Trader […]

At Meridian Lawyers we are frequently asked to advise on succession planning for pharmacists, especially those in partnership (whether in the traditional sense or shareholders via a corporate pharmacy structure). Many partnerships continue over lengthy periods with little emphasis on exit arrangements in their formal partnership or shareholders agreement. In our experience, carefully considered exit […]

Advertising compliance has been on the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency’s radar recently, with Meridian Lawyers assisting a number of health practitioners, including dental practitioners, in relation to notices of concern. Advertising restrictions – the legislation Section 133 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, as in force in each state and territory (the National […]

Medical practitioners have a duty to ensure that their patients understand the general nature and material risks of the treatment they will undergo. The recent NSW Court of Appeal decision in Biggs v George[1] considered the duty of medical practitioners to warn patients of material risks and what is required to discharge that duty. The […]

Nursing is often referred to as a science and an art. A science in the sense that the nursing profession is based on research and an art because nursing is a profession grounded on caring for others and this entails building therapeutic relationships with patients. When things go wrong however, nurses are held to account […]

Every health practitioner knows the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of a patient’s personal information. However, every year a health practitioner is asked by its professional indemnity insurer to provide details of any circumstances that may give rise to a claim against them. Undoubtedly the health practitioner is also told by its Association, or its […]

Meridian Lawyers acts for pharmacists in applications for new approvals to supply pharmaceutical benefits (PBS) under section 90 of the National Health Act 1953 (Cth) (Act). We also advise and represent pharmacists in opposing applications for new approvals, whether by way of judicial review by the Court, or merits reviews by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. […]

In December last year the Federal Court ruled that Reckitt Benckiser (Australia) Pty Ltd (RB) engaged in misleading conduct in contravention of the Australian Consumer Law by representing that its Nurofen Specific Pain products were formulated to treat a specific type of pain, when in reality the products are identical. The Australian Competition and Consumer […]

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 […]