By Zoe Vlahogiannis, Lawyer

Medical Board of Australia v Kozminsky (Review and Regulation) [2024] VCAT 789 (21 August 2024)

The Tribunal found a doctor had engaged in inadequate or inappropriate treatment of a patient, resulting in professional misconduct, for prescribing zolpidem (sleeping tablets) to a patient for an extended period and for failure to maintain detailed and sufficient medical records. The Tribunal ordered the doctors registration be suspended for 3 months and his registration be subject to conditions, including undertaking an educational program and to submit an audit of his practice.

Dental Board of Australia v Miliankos (Review and Regulation) [2024] VCAT 758 (9 August 2024)

A dentist was reprimanded for mis-appropriating his colleagues script pad and prescribing himself, his partner and two of his friends oxycontin, for practicing for three months whilst impaired by a drug dependency, providing treatment for his friends despite his close relationship to them as well as failing to provide appropriate treatment and/or management, including inadequate patient notes. As a result, the Tribunal held the dentist’s behaviour constituted professional misconduct and he was reprimanded, and his registration was cancelled.  However, as his registration was cancelled in 2018 and he had not been a practicing dentist since, no period of disqualification from re-applying for registration was granted (ie he can reapply immediately).

Medical Board of Australia v AXN (Review and Regulation) [2024] VCAT 718 (31 July 2024)

A doctor was found to have engaged in professional misconduct for self-prescribing medication in her husband’s name for over 13 years, for treating her husband and for failing to keep accurate records of that treatment. The Board took immediate action and conditions were imposed on the doctor’s licence and she accepted undertakings that she would not prescribe certain medications. She was further required to attend treatment with a general practitioner and addiction specialist. The Tribunal reprimanded the doctor and ordered her registration be suspended for 8 months.

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia v Coulson (Review and Regulation) [2024] VCAT 640 (15 July 2024)

The Tribunal ordered that a nurse be reprimanded, her registration cancelled, she be disqualified from applying for a nurse registration until December 2024 and she be prohibited from providing health services where the position provides any opportunity for unsupervised access to unlocked or unsecured medications, after it was found she had engaged in professional misconduct. The nurse stole and forged prescriptions for herself and family members without supervision over 4 months. The conduct was also subject of criminal proceedings and the nurse was charged with an attempt to commit an indictable offence, obtaining property by deception and forgery.