MEDIA reports surfaced in Western Australia yesterday that a prominent Fiona Stanley Hospital pharmacist is facing charges for stealing heavy-duty opioids and using them in his car.
According to The West Australian, Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) investigators uncovered Matthew Foster's alleged use in Feb following a surveillance operation which was initiated after a tip off from the Health Department.
The details of the case were released yesterday by CCC Commissioner John McKechnie in a hearing before the commission's parliamentary oversight committee.
Foster 38, is yet to lodge a plea to three counts of stealing as a servant and possession of the prohibited drug hydromorphone.
He is out on bail and is set to appear again before the Fremantle Magistrate's Court in Nov.
Foster has been suspended from working as a pharmacist and cannot practice as a pharmacist until he regains approval from the Pharmacy Board of Australia.
According to his LinkedIn profile he is a Clinical Research Fellow at Perth's Curtin University.
He worked at Fiona Stanley Hospital from Oct 2014 to Feb 2016 as a senior pharmacist where he "worked with consultant anaesthetists, all surgical teams and perfusionists to establish and roll-out Pharmacy Services".
Foster was also chairman of the Western Australian branch of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia until this year.
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