A pharmacist based on the NSW North Coast has been formally reprimanded and ordered to pay 60% of court costs of the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) after a 2014 investigation into reports of large quantities of high strength opioids being ordered in the region.
The probe subsequently narrrowed in on Tuncurry Pharmacy in Tuncurry which was found to have a high rate of dispensing fentanyl and oxycodone to patients with a past or present Opioid Treatment Program history.
The pharmacist-in-charge, Stephen Elliott, subsequently had conditions imposed by the Pharmacy Council of NSW in 2015, and the HCCC launched its own investigation and referred a complaint against Elliott to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
In a decision handed down last week, the Tribunal found the pharmacist's conduct was not motivated by bad intentions, but was "seriously incompetent over a significant period of time".
However it was agreed that an order for suspension or cancellation of his registration was not appropriate, and given the passage of time and Elliott's "conscientious efforts to address the shortcomings in his practice," other proposed conditions on his registration were not considered necessary.
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