The cannabis factory: How one doctor wrote 72,000 scripts in two years

The Age

27-07-2025

A single doctor at Australia's largest medicinal cannabis company churned out 72,000 prescriptions to 10,000 patients in just two years, prompting fresh alarm about potentially unsafe prescribing practices in the booming sector.
The concerning scale of prescribing at Montu, documented in leaked reports, has been confirmed by the company after initial denials. The revelations have alarmed cannabis industry insiders pushing for stricter rules for the booming industry, and prompted federal Health Minister Mark Butler to warn of 'unscrupulous and possibly unsafe behaviour' in the sector.
Since Australia approved cannabis for medical use in 2016, a booming telehealth industry has emerged.
At the forefront is the Montu Group, which owns Alternaleaf clinics that employ medical staff — including 120 doctors and nurses paid per appointment — to prescribe via telehealth, and subsidiary Leafio, which dispenses the medication. Montu also has its own range of cannabis products (named 'Circle' and 'Sundaze') that its doctors prescribe, among other brands.
Leaked documents, along with interviews with 10 former Montu clinical staff, reveal concerns about a high-volume prescribing model. The records show how just eight of the company's doctors together issued 245,109 scripts in the two years to June 30 this year, an average of 295 scripts per doctor for a standard five-day working week.
The documents show Alternaleaf's busiest doctor saw 10,500 patients and issued 72,500 scripts in that two-year period. Another practitioner wrote 49,500 scripts for 4300 patients in just over two years, while a third issued nearly 40,000 scripts to 4000 patients.
The leaked data prompted an initial denial from Montu. A spokesman claimed the leaked figures were 'not accurate' and that in the last 12 months its doctors had issued an average of just 205 prescriptions to 80 different patients per week. 'There is no doctor at Montu prescribing anywhere near these levels,' the spokesperson said initially.
Asked by this masthead to re-check its records, Montu reversed its position and confirmed the top prescriber's numbers. The company attributed the performance to 'one outlier doctor, who is the highest prescriber at Alternaleaf and works more hours than any other doctor'.