Health Care Complaints Commission v Rahman [2021] NSWCATOD 25

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Health Care Complaints Commission v Rahman [2021] NSWCATOD 25 Hearing dates: 15 – 18 February 2021 Date of orders: 11 March 2021 Decision date: 11 March 2021 Jurisdiction: Occupational Division Before: Cowdroy AO QC ADCJ , Principal Member Associate Prof M Hooper, Senior Member J Fogarty, Senior Member J Barker, General Member Decision: (a) The Tribunal finds, with regard to each particular alleged in Complaint One, that the conduct referred to is established. The Tribunal finds that the conduct of the respondent, as particularised in Complaint One, together constitutes unsatisfactory professional conduct under section 139B(1)(a) and (l) of the National Law, as alleged in the Complaint. (b) The Tribunal finds that the conduct of the respondent, as particularised in Complaint Two, together constitutes unsatisfactory professional conduct under section 139B(1)(b) of the National Law. (c) The Tribunal finds that the conduct of the respondent, as particularised in Complaints One and Two, constitutes professional misconduct under section 139E of the National Law, as alleged in Complaint Three. The Tribunal makes the following directions: (1) The proceedings be referred to the callover list for the allocation of dates for the continued hearing of these proceedings to determine any disciplinary sanctions arising from the above findings. Catchwords: HEALTH — professional registration and discipline — complaints — inappropriate prescription of drugs of addiction without authority — inadequate clinical records — prescribing of drugs in excessive quantities for no apparent therapeutic reason — self-prescribing and prescribing for family members — use of private prescriptions Legislation Cited: Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) Health Practitioner Regulation (New South Wales) Regulation 2010 (NSW) (repealed) Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966 (NSW) Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008 (NSW) Cases Cited: Nil Texts Cited: Medical Board of Australia, "Good Medical Practice: A Code of Conduct for Doctors in Australia" (July 2010) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Health Care Complaints Commission (Applicant) Bassel Abdul Rahman (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: P Aitken (Applicant) S Barnes (Respondent)