Medical practitioner's registration cancelled for inappropriately prescribing medications

04 Jan 2018

The Medical Board of Australia (the Board) referred Dr Ian Keith Singh Wood, a medical practitioner with general registration, to the State Administrative Tribunal in Western Australia (the tribunal) for prescribing contrary to the Poisons Regulations 1965 (WA) (the Regulations) and for prescribing Schedule 8 medicines and benzodiazepines to patients without clinical indication. 

Dr Wood admitted that in 2013 and 2014 he had:

• prescribed Schedule 8 medicines to 30 patients who were registered drug addicts without authorisation, in breach of the Regulations. The Regulations require authorisation from the CEO of the Department of Health (CEO) to prescribe or supply a drug of addiction to a person who is on the Register of Notified Drug Addicts (Register)
• prescribed Schedule 8 medicines to five patients (who were not on the Register) for a period in excess of 60 days without the required authorisation from the CEO, in breach of the Regulations
• prescribed combinations of benzodiazepines that were not clinically indicated to 14 patients
• prescribed quantities of benzodiazepines that were not clinically indicated to 13 patients
• failed to create an adequate treatment plan for 15 patients or seek specialist review for 17 patients on the Register before prescribing them benzodiazepines, and
• inappropriately prescribed oxycontin (a Schedule 8 medicine) to seven patients on the Register and codeine phosphate linctus (a Schedule 8 medicine) to two patients including one on the Register.

In November 2014, the Board imposed conditions on his registration, which included prohibiting him from prescribing Schedule 8 medicines.

In February 2015, the Board received information that Dr Wood had inappropriately prescribed Schedule 4 medicines. Dr Wood provided an undertaking to the Board to not prescribe Schedule 8 or certain Schedule 4 drugs (including codeine, codeine containing preparations or any benzodiazepines). Dr Wood breached this undertaking in 2015 by prescribing Schedule 4 medications to patients.

The Board also referred Dr Wood to the tribunal for providing false and misleading information during an investigation into his prescribing. In May 2015, Dr Wood prescribed clomiphene and tamoxifen to a patient, without the necessary authorisation. During the investigation, Dr Wood advised AHPRA that he had given the patient one prescription for clomiphene and tamoxifen, with no repeats. While that had been his intention and he had explained to the patient there would be no repeats of clomiphene, he had actually generated a prescription with five repeats. In doing so, Dr Wood failed to check that the prescription was accurate. While he did not knowingly provide false and misleading information, his response was inaccurate and had the potential to mislead the Board. He also did not take due care to check his records and ensure that it was completely accurate.

Dr Wood and the Board settled the matter at mediation where Dr Wood admitted the facts and that he had behaved in a way that constitutes professional misconduct.

Dr Wood’s registration has been cancelled, he has been disqualified from applying for registration for three years and he has been reprimanded. He also agreed to pay $30,000 towards the Board’s costs of the proceedings .

The orders are published on the tribunal website.