Qld psychologist suspended after self-prescribing schedule 9 drug

The identity of a Queensland psychiatrist who used the name of his doctor colleague on scripts for highly addictive drugs he used himself will remain a secret.

NEWS Dexamphetamine Picture: Stewart Allen

A Queensland psychiatrist in private practice who improperly used the name of his doctor colleague on scripts for highly addictive drugs which are in demand in the party scene, has kept his identity a secret.

The psychiatrist, who is a joint owner of a consulting practice in southeast Queensland with another registered specialist psychiatrist, has been suspended from the profession for three months for misconduct.

The state’s healthcare watchdog argued a six-month suspension was warranted.

The psychiatrist prescribed himself dexamphetamine 22 times over a nearly two-year period in the name of a doctor colleague, according to a decision by former District Court judge turned tribunal member John Robertson.

By using the name of a medical colleague he avoided the stringent approval process which is subject to a mandatory real-time digital reporting system.

In the ruling handed down on May 6, Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal member Mr Robertson noted that the shrink self-prescribed dexamphetamine which “is a highly regulated schedule 8 drug that must be prescribed by a psychiatrist for an adult diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.”

The drug is well known to be a staple of the nightclubbing scene as it stimulates the release of the happy hormone dopamine, is a stimulant and can also improve your focus.

The psychiatrist self-prescribed it between July 30, 2019, and April 28, 2021, and told investigators he was embarrassed waiting for his medication in the chemist and the pharmacist calling out his name “where his patients were looking at him”.

“He was concerned that his patients would think he was unwell,” Mr Roberston stated.

He agreed it was unprofessional to self-prescribe, it was misjudgment on his part and something he wouldn’t do again, the decision states.

“His conduct in self-prescribing using the identity of another person was fundamentally wrong. “It undoubtedly caused embarrassment and distress to this other person, himself a medical practitioner,” Mr Robertson concluded.

The shrink was diagnosed with a medical condition by another psychiatrist “for which the relevant medication may have been suitable to administer,” the decision states.

“However, he commenced to self-prescribe some months before he attended another psychiatrist who is presently his treating doctor, and he did not tell his treating psychiatrist that he was self-prescribing,” the decision states.

Since 9 November 2022, he has been treated by a clinical psychologist for depression and adjustment disorder through counselling and cognitive behaviour therapy.

His misconduct in self-prescribing highly addictive restricted drugs was revealed by the specialist “risk identification” section of the health department, and they told the state’s health ombudsman in March 2022.

The psychiatrist admitted to the health ombudsman investigators that he self-prescribed controlled drugs, using the identity of another doctor on 22 occasions between July 30, 2019, and April 28, 2021.

The drugs were dispensed by “various pharmacies”.

He admitted his actions amounted to misconduct and acknowledged that it was unprofessional to self-prescribe.