Adelaide GP Dr Graeme Murphy, who forged prescriptions, has registration cancelled after breaching conditions

A doctor convicted in 2015 of forging prescriptions has been disqualified after breaching conditions he compared to “Nazi Germany”.

A doctor allowed to continue working after he was convicted of using forged prescriptions said conditions placed on his registration made him feel “like a Jew in Nazi Germany”.

Dr Graeme Murphy, found guilty by a magistrate in 2015, breached the conditions by prescribing medications to himself and his brother, referring his wife for testing, prescribing banned drugs and working without an approved supervisor.

South Australia’s Civil and Administrative Tribunal has now cancelled his registration and disqualified him from reapplying for three years.

Dr Murphy, 64, developed an addiction to opioids in about 2002 but overcame the acute phase about 14 years ago, a judgment published online reveals.

He had his registration suspended for six months in 2007 after he was found guilty of unprofessional conduct over his personal use of drugs of dependence.

It was reinstated in 2010 on conditions including he must not take unprescribed medication or possess or supply drugs of dependence, attend for urinalysis and provide medical services to a maximum 40 patients per day.

But, in 2012, the board reported he had breached the conditions multiple times, including by failing to attend for urinalysis and obtaining a tramadol prescription from an unapproved doctor.

Dr Murphy was also charged with two counts of uttering forged prescriptions for tramadol and Stilnox in February 2013.

Dr Graeme Murphy first had his registration suspended for six months in 2007, after he was found guilty of professional misconduct over his personal use of drugs of dependence.

He pleaded not guilty but was found guilty of the offences in 2015 and handed a 14-month suspended sentence.

Since 2010, Dr Murphy worked as a GP at practices in Elizabeth, Plympton Park and Ingle Farm.

In 2015, Dr Murphy was placed on a new set of restrictions that had not taken into account the criminal proceedings.

Those conditions included the previous restrictions, plus additional requirements he maintain patient logs and participate in performance appraisals and consultations with his treating psychiatrist.

He was also ordered not to prescribe medication for family members.

The tribunal heard those conditions were also breached several times, including eight cases between 2017 and 2019 when Dr Murphy prescribed medications to himself.

It was alleged he prescribed drugs of dependence without authority on 11 different occasions.

He admitted to the tribunal he gave “sick patients morphine” on three occasions, and explained he felt overwhelmed by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and “like a Jew in Nazi Germany”.

“So defying them at that point was like defying my ex-wife over packing the dishwasher, in that there was a perverse pleasure in defying the autocrat,” he said.

Dr Murphy also prescribed medication twice for his brother, but said he believed the condition applied only to immediate family, and described the breach as “a bit Monty Python”.

On another occasion, he drew an analogy between AHPRA and a perpetrator of domestic violence, and said he felt “micromanaged” by the agency.

He has not worked since August 2019, except for a brief period in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, in February 2020.

In disqualifying him, the tribunal said it was left with a “considerable level of disquiet” as to Dr Murphy’s suitability to practise medicine.

“In addition to forgetfulness, excessive irritability and disorganisation, Dr Murphy’s use of analogies referring to domestic violence and Nazi-led Germany were inappropriate and revealed an absence of insight, emotional regulation and objectivity that the tribunal considers necessary for the discharge of the functions of a general practitioner,” the judgment said.

“It also revealed despair and anger at the seemingly paradoxical situation in which he finds himself with respect to these conditions.”

Dr Murphy had submitted that disqualifying him for a period of eight months was appropriate.

The three-year disqualification from reapplication took effect in November. The judgment was published online earlier this month.