Insights Sectors: Medical Practitioners

With increasing frequency in recent times, Meridian Lawyers is acting for registered health practitioners who have been the subject of investigation and/or disciplinary action for failure to comply with their obligation to notify their National Board of a ‘relevant event’. This article also serves to remind health practitioners and students[1] of their obligations to notify, […]

Aim for a pain free goodbye Meridian Lawyers acts for doctors in the sale and purchase of their medical practices. Here is a brief overview of the legal process, together with tips on how to make the process as pain free as possible.   Step 1 – Gather information about your practice  The doctor selling […]

Real Time Prescription Monitoring (RTPM) is a national digital health system which was established by the Commonwealth Government. Each state and territory will implement their own local version of the RTPM system by their respective state and territory health instrumentalities. There will be core features and functionality to enable national consistency. The need for such […]

Recently, we published an article outlining the dos and don’ts of COVID-19 vaccine promotion. Our Insight summarises how vaccine providers and other parties can lawfully provide information about and promote COVID-19 vaccines. The promotion of vaccines and health services generally, across a variety of communication mediums, is regulated by advertising laws. Social media in particular, […]

In 2016, the Victorian government introduced the Health Complaints Act 2016 (Vic) (the Act) which launched a new framework for managing and resolving complaints regarding all Victorian health service providers. As part of these reforms, the office of the Health Complaints Commissioner (the HCC) was established, replacing the former office of the Health Services Commissioner. […]

Meridian Lawyers has published several Health Insights in the past about the importance of understanding and adhering to the advertising obligations set out under section 133 of the National Law. However, claims concerning advertising continue to be a recurring theme in our Health Law practice, indicating some persisting confusion about the boundaries of what is […]

Meridian Lawyers often receives calls from doctors and other health practitioners requesting one-off advice relating to their day-to-day practice. Recently, we have received a number of requests for advice about patient privacy and more specifically about the circumstances in which a health practitioner might be permitted to discuss a deceased patient with their family. The […]

Meridian Lawyers often receives calls from doctors and other health practitioners requesting one-off advice relating to their day-to-day practice. One common and enduring theme of these requests for advice is death certificates – who can prepare them, and when? For example, if a patient dies in an aged care home, can a locum doctor certify […]

Professional Services Review (PSR) is a Commonwealth Agency whose objective is to protect the integrity of the Commonwealth Medicare benefits, dental benefits and pharmaceutical benefits programs and, in doing so, protect patients and the community from the risks associated with ‘inappropriate practice’, and protect the Commonwealth from having to meet the cost of medical and […]

Meridian Lawyers recently published an article examining the power to take immediate action against health practitioners under section 156 of the National Law (if you missed it, that article can be read here). It considered a recent VCAT decision[1], wherein a doctor was suspended under section 156(1)(e), being the power to take immediate action in […]

ABC v NHS — Background The UK High Court[1] applied established duty of care principles to legalise professional guidance which permits disclosure of confidential information to a proximate third party without consent, in circumstances where the medical professional has properly undertaken the requisite balancing exercise of risks and interests affecting the patient, third party and […]