Latest news with #AustralianHealthPractitionerRegulationAgency
Sydney Morning Herald
31-07-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
No red flags in one doctor's 72,000 scripts, cannabis giant insists
Staley said Montu was 'proud of [its] sector-leading approach', claiming a mandatory 20-minute nurse consultation for every patient. Meanwhile, the federal medical regulator has stepped up investigations into doctors prescribing cannabis. More than 20 practitioners are under review for potentially putting profit ahead of patient safety. And discussion of the issue has prompted a prominent drug policy reform group to say broader cannabis reform is urgently needed, to allow 'carefully regulated adult-use cannabis access' that sits outside the medical system. This masthead revealed high-volume prescribing at Montu using leaked company documents that showed 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 revelations prompted alarm among medical experts and health officials about the scale and speed of prescribing in Australia's booming cannabis sector. Loading Federal Health Minister Mark Butler responded by warning of 'unscrupulous and possibly unsafe behaviour' in the industry. Asked on Monday about the 72,000 scripts, Butler said that while medicinal cannabis had provided 'a lot of relief to a lot of people, from kids with epilepsy right up to adults with really hard-to-treat mental health issues', there were 'some business practices that have emerged that are, frankly, unsafe and certainly unscrupulous'. He said he had asked regulators to advise all health ministers 'on how to regulate this industry in a more safe way.' The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency oversees doctors, nurses and other practitioners nationally. It has taken formal action against 57 practitioners over medicinal cannabis prescribing, and a rise in complaints from patients and health professionals led it to identify more than 20 practitioners, most of them red-flagged due to high patient and prescription numbers. An AHPRA spokesperson said these clinicians must justify their prescribing practices or face regulatory action. Montu, owner of the Alternaleaf brand, operates a vertically integrated model; its 120 nurses and doctors conduct telehealth consultations and its pharmacy arm dispenses products, including its in-house brands 'Circle' and 'Sundaze'. Since medical cannabis was legalised in 2016, the company's 'closed loop' model has put it at the forefront of the industry's rapid expansion. Montu's revenue grew from $103,000 in 2020 to $263 million in 2024. Its claims that its clinics are not high turnover are at odds with the experience of 10 of its former clinicians, speaking on background, who told this masthead that consultations were often extremely brief. One leaked document showed consultations were scheduled for 10 minutes, and clinicians said they were often far shorter. 'When you're starting to do five-minute sessions, you're literally not even talking to the patient,' one former prescribing doctor said in Monday's story. 'You're just giving them cannabis.' Concerns about the structure of the medicinal cannabis industry are also being raised by public health bodies. Dr Jake Dizard, director of research at the Penington Institute, said medicinal cannabis had delivered benefits to many but warned that the system was now being pushed well beyond its original intent. Loading 'Too often, unscrupulous doctors and companies are putting profits over patients' interests,' he said. Dizard said demand for cannabis in Australia was 'high and persistent, so leaving the medical system as the only legal access point creates bad incentives to expand client volume at the expense of quality care'. The ability of companies to both prescribe and dispense cannabis created conflicts of interest and transparency problems, he said. 'Medical cannabis shouldn't be an opaque industry where big companies both prescribe and dispense their own products.' Loading Dizard said broader cannabis reform might ultimately be necessary to relieve pressure on the medical system. 'Governments should embrace comprehensive cannabis legalisation and strict regulation to take pressure off the medical cannabis system. Separating out medicinal and non-medicinal cannabis and establishing carefully regulated adult-use cannabis access is an essential part of the solution.'
The Age
31-07-2025
- Health
- The Age
No red flags in one doctor's 72,000 scripts, cannabis giant insists
Staley said Montu was 'proud of [its] sector-leading approach', claiming a mandatory 20-minute nurse consultation for every patient. Meanwhile, the federal medical regulator has stepped up investigations into doctors prescribing cannabis. More than 20 practitioners are under review for potentially putting profit ahead of patient safety. And discussion of the issue has prompted a prominent drug policy reform group to say broader cannabis reform is urgently needed, to allow 'carefully regulated adult-use cannabis access' that sits outside the medical system. This masthead revealed high-volume prescribing at Montu using leaked company documents that showed 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 revelations prompted alarm among medical experts and health officials about the scale and speed of prescribing in Australia's booming cannabis sector. Loading Federal Health Minister Mark Butler responded by warning of 'unscrupulous and possibly unsafe behaviour' in the industry. Asked on Monday about the 72,000 scripts, Butler said that while medicinal cannabis had provided 'a lot of relief to a lot of people, from kids with epilepsy right up to adults with really hard-to-treat mental health issues', there were 'some business practices that have emerged that are, frankly, unsafe and certainly unscrupulous'. He said he had asked regulators to advise all health ministers 'on how to regulate this industry in a more safe way.' The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency oversees doctors, nurses and other practitioners nationally. It has taken formal action against 57 practitioners over medicinal cannabis prescribing, and a rise in complaints from patients and health professionals led it to identify more than 20 practitioners, most of them red-flagged due to high patient and prescription numbers. An AHPRA spokesperson said these clinicians must justify their prescribing practices or face regulatory action. Montu, owner of the Alternaleaf brand, operates a vertically integrated model; its 120 nurses and doctors conduct telehealth consultations and its pharmacy arm dispenses products, including its in-house brands 'Circle' and 'Sundaze'. Since medical cannabis was legalised in 2016, the company's 'closed loop' model has put it at the forefront of the industry's rapid expansion. Montu's revenue grew from $103,000 in 2020 to $263 million in 2024. Its claims that its clinics are not high turnover are at odds with the experience of 10 of its former clinicians, speaking on background, who told this masthead that consultations were often extremely brief. One leaked document showed consultations were scheduled for 10 minutes, and clinicians said they were often far shorter. 'When you're starting to do five-minute sessions, you're literally not even talking to the patient,' one former prescribing doctor said in Monday's story. 'You're just giving them cannabis.' Concerns about the structure of the medicinal cannabis industry are also being raised by public health bodies. Dr Jake Dizard, director of research at the Penington Institute, said medicinal cannabis had delivered benefits to many but warned that the system was now being pushed well beyond its original intent. Loading 'Too often, unscrupulous doctors and companies are putting profits over patients' interests,' he said. Dizard said demand for cannabis in Australia was 'high and persistent, so leaving the medical system as the only legal access point creates bad incentives to expand client volume at the expense of quality care'. The ability of companies to both prescribe and dispense cannabis created conflicts of interest and transparency problems, he said. 'Medical cannabis shouldn't be an opaque industry where big companies both prescribe and dispense their own products.' Loading Dizard said broader cannabis reform might ultimately be necessary to relieve pressure on the medical system. 'Governments should embrace comprehensive cannabis legalisation and strict regulation to take pressure off the medical cannabis system. Separating out medicinal and non-medicinal cannabis and establishing carefully regulated adult-use cannabis access is an essential part of the solution.'
Sydney Morning Herald
22-07-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Junior doctor accused of toilet spying suspended as hobby revealed
The young doctor accused of filming hospital colleagues in a staff toilet has been banned from practising medicine in Australia almost a fortnight after he was charged by police. A spokesperson for the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) confirmed that Ryan Cho's registration was suspended on Monday. 'Confidentiality provisions of the national law under which we operate limit what we can say publicly about an individual practitioner or matter,' the spokesperson said. Cho was arrested by police after staff at the Austin Hospital, in Melbourne's north-eastern suburbs, discovered a mobile phone in a staff bathroom allegedly recording them. Police later charged Cho with stalking and use of an optical surveillance device. The AHPRA spokesperson, when asked why it had taken several days for the junior doctor to be suspended, said the medical board is compelled to consider a practitioner's response before restricting their registration. Loading Public records show Cho graduated from Monash University in 2022 and was first registered as a medical practitioner in January 2023. The Age can also reveal that Cho was a prolific social media enthusiast who used Instagram and several Facebook groups to spruik his hiking adventures – which involved filming treks through remote locations such as the Grampians National Park in western Victoria. The 27-year-old also promoted content from Tasmania's famous Overland Track just days before his July 10 arrest. The doctor has since scrubbed his social media accounts, but snapshots of his online life remain thanks to cached webpages seen by this masthead.
The Age
22-07-2025
- Health
- The Age
Junior doctor accused of toilet spying suspended as hobby revealed
The young doctor accused of filming hospital colleagues in a staff toilet has been banned from practising medicine in Australia almost a fortnight after he was charged by police. A spokesperson for the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) confirmed that Ryan Cho's registration was suspended on Monday. 'Confidentiality provisions of the national law under which we operate limit what we can say publicly about an individual practitioner or matter,' the spokesperson said. Cho was arrested by police after staff at the Austin Hospital, in Melbourne's north-eastern suburbs, discovered a mobile phone in a staff bathroom allegedly recording them. Police later charged Cho with stalking and use of an optical surveillance device. The AHPRA spokesperson, when asked why it had taken several days for the junior doctor to be suspended, said the medical board is compelled to consider a practitioner's response before restricting their registration. Loading Public records show Cho graduated from Monash University in 2022 and was first registered as a medical practitioner in January 2023. The Age can also reveal that Cho was a prolific social media enthusiast who used Instagram and several Facebook groups to spruik his hiking adventures – which involved filming treks through remote locations such as the Grampians National Park in western Victoria. The 27-year-old also promoted content from Tasmania's famous Overland Track just days before his July 10 arrest. The doctor has since scrubbed his social media accounts, but snapshots of his online life remain thanks to cached webpages seen by this masthead.
7NEWS
30-06-2025
- Health
- 7NEWS
Ex-nurses Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, who threatened to kill Israelis in viral video, barred from NDIS work
Two former Sydney nurses charged over allegedly threatening to kill Israeli patients during a recorded video call have been banned from working with NDIS participants. Ahmad Rashad Nadir, 27, and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, 26, made headlines in February after a video of their online chat with Israeli influencer Max Veifer on cam chat app Chatruletka went viral. In the footage, the then-Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital nurses are heard boasting about refusing to treat Israelis and instead killing them. Both were stood down from their roles, and their nursing registrations were suspended. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency confirmed the suspensions on February 13, effectively banning them from working in Australian hospitals. They have now been hit with another ban — this time from the NDIS — prohibiting them from working with or providing services to any NDIS participants for two years, even if it's unpaid. The ban took effect on May 9 and applies nationwide. In the viral video, when asked what she would do if an Israeli citizen presented at the hospital where she worked, Lebdeh responded: 'I won't treat them, I'll kill them.' Nadir claimed Israelis had come to the hospital but implied they had died, running his hand across his neck in a throat-slitting gesture. 'You have no idea how many Israeli dog(s) came to this hospital and I send them to Jahannam (hell),' he said. NSW Health Minister Ryan Park condemned the comments, saying they were 'vile' and 'disgusting' and assured Jewish community members they would always receive first-class healthcare in NSW. 'There is no place, no place in our hospital and health system for this sort of view to ever, ever take place,' Park said. 'There is no place for this sort of perspective in our society.' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the video was 'sickening and shameful' and that antisemitism has no place in Australia or its healthcare system. 'Individuals found to have committed criminal antisemitic acts will face the full force of our laws,' he said. Both former healthcare workers have since been charged. Nadir faces charges of using a carriage service to menace/harass/offend and possessing a prohibited drug, while Lebdeh has been charged with threatening violence to a group, using a carriage service to threaten to kill, and using a carriage service to menace/harass/offend. They remain on bail and are due back in court on July 29.
