Huyen Tran: Pharmacist prescribed 50K in codeine, temazepam tablets

A naive pharmacist in Melbourne’s west who prescribed the most codeine to any person in Victoria has been suspended.

A former Yarraville pharmacist has been suspended after selling more than 50,000 codeine and temazepam tablets to a man with forged prescriptions — the highest amount ever prescribed in Victoria.

Huyen Tran, who previously owned and operated the Kingsville Pharmacy, faced VCAT on October 18.

The tribunal heard over a four-year period from March 2015, Ms Tran forked out more than 52,368 tablets of prescribed medication to a single patient without checking if the prescription was valid.

The “incredible oversupply” of the dangerous prescription drugs was identified in 2018 by the Department of Health using the SafeScripts database.

“Equating to 39 tablets a day, the Department identified this was the highest amount of codeine prescribed to anyone in Victoria,” barrister Marion Isobel acting for the Pharmacy Board of Australia said.

“The toxicity which would have occurred if he had consumed this quantity would have resulted in death.”

The tribunal heard the prescriptions were an “obvious forgery” but Ms Tran blindly followed the instructions of the patient and did not report the request to the regulator or attempt to contact the prescribing doctor – in breach of practising guidelines.

Pharmacist Huyen Tran was “duped” into handing out 52,000 codeine and temazepam tablets to a patient who forged scripts over a four-year period.

Ms Isobel stressed there was no allegation Ms Tran had engaged in fraudulent actions herself or profited off the oversupply.

“Registered pharmacists are given the privileged role to make sure dangerous drugs are not poured into the community as they were here,” she said.

“We do know these drugs have made their way into the community in some form.”

She said at the time, Ms Tran did not have the knowledge or skills to properly practice and should have known the oversupply would never have been appropriate.

“If it were not for her co-operation and extraordinary effort to further educate, the board would be seeking cancellation of her licence,” she said.

The tribunal heard Ms Tran had been open and honest when questioned by authorities and had been fined $100,000 after pleading guilty to 10 criminal charges in 2019.

Ms Tran’s barrister Clive Madder said her failings as a pharmacist were a result of her “naivety”, but since then she had completed 90 educational courses to re-skill.

“She has demonstrated she learnt her lesson,” he said. “Since then she’s gone over and above to ensure this sort of thing won‘t happen again.”

He said Ms Tran had been unable to work as a pharmacist after the Pharmacy Board suspended her registration in March 2019 but had continued to work as a shop assistant at a Werribee pharmacy.

“When the suspension is lifted she has been offered a position there under the guidance of a senior pharmacist,” he said.

The tribunal, led by senior member Jonathan Smithers, found that Ms Tran behaviour represented professional misconduct which posed a danger to the community by supplying excessive amounts of Schedule 4 poisons.

“A pharmacist should have been able to pick up the different handwriting and lack of instructions. It should have been obvious it was a forgery,” tribunal member and pharmacist Vicky Gogley said.

During the hearing, senior member Smithers elected to reserve judgment over what penalties Ms Tran would face to be handed down in a written decision on October 25.

Ms Tran’s registration was suspended for a six-month period and she was ordered to undergo mentoring with an experienced pharmacist for a 12-month period upon the conclusion of the suspension.