Latest news with #AHPRA
Sydney Morning Herald
10 hours ago
- 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
10 hours ago
- 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.'
Sky News AU
a day ago
- Health
- Sky News AU
Sydney Midwife who accused Melbourne obstetrician of ‘anti-Semitism' dragged to court for alleged stalking, harassment and doxxing
A long-running saga between an obstetrician and a midwife with different views on the Middle East has landed in court. Melbourne obstetrician Dr Miranda Robinson has applied for a personal safety intervention order in the Melbourne Magistrates Court against Sydney-based Sharon Stoliar, accusing her of stalking and harassment. But the former midwife-turned-maternity advocate has hit back with her own claims of 'racism' and 'anti-Semitism' against Dr Robinson, in an exclusive sit-down interview with Sky News. Dr Robinson made headlines 10 years ago when she delivered four sets of twin girls in one week, during a baby boom at St Vincent's Private Hospital in Melbourne. In the past year, she's restyled herself as something of a medical influencer, posting reels to her public Facebook page about maternity care and revealing her own personal struggles with neurodiversity. But it was a post Dr Robinson made to a Facebook group Australian and New Zealand Doctors for Palestine, which then boasted 1200 members, that began her stoush with Ms Stoliar in January last year. The specialist had posted about Ms Stoliar being a 'POC [person of colour] and married to a Jewish man' who'd 'been brainwashed' due to her support for Israel, adding, 'I'd be very worried if I were one of her patients.' Ms Stoliar was sent a screenshot of the comment and posted it to her own Instagram account, with the caption 'Post 1 of many where healthcare professionals have participated in making libellous statements against me.' She also obtained and reposted screenshots of a private message Dr Robinson had sent another Instagram user, in which the doctor describes Ms Stoliar as being linked to the 'Jewish mafia' and whose Jewish family comes from 'dirty, dirty money'. Ms Stoliar filed complaints about Dr Robinson's posts to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and the Royal Australian New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and also contacted the obstetrician's employers at St Vincent's and Epsworth private hospitals, and Sage Women's Healthcare. The Australian reported last August AHPRA had backflipped on a decision to impose conditions on Dr Robinson, instead finding she had 'indicated that she never intentionally meant to cause harm to [Ms Stoliar] and appreciates that [she] may have found the comments to have been hurtful.' The agency said the doctor had completed 'formal education' on social media use and 'demonstrated her commitment to uphold the professional standards with respect to appropriate conduct on social media.' But Dr Robinson continued to publish offensive posts to social media, in November sharing another post titled 'Z!onism is a mental illness' and commenting she 'loves the Netherlands' on a post about the attacks on Jewish football fans in Amsterdam that month. Bizarrely, Dr Robinson also posted a comment in support of convicted mushroom killer Erin Patterson to LinkedIn, writing, 'I see someone yet again traumatised by a system that doesn't understand her.' Other pro-Israel activists started to reshare Dr Robinson's content online with their own commentary. Ms Stoliar then made a second complaint with AHPRA in March this year about the fresh posts, followed by a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission about the original post on the basis of racial discrimination against both Jews and people of colour, both sighted by Sky News. Spokespeople for both the regulatory body and the commission said they could not comment. In submissions filed with the court, Dr Robinson alleges Ms Stoliar's repeated complaints represented a 'pattern of targeted harassment and cyberstalking… [including] doxxing, catfishing, intimidation, threats and online harassment' and a 'campaign to vilify and target [Dr Robinson] for her political views.' She claimed the initial post about Ms Stoliar was made on a 'private' Facebook group that had been created 'to share concerns about the humanitarian impact of the Gaza genocide'. Dr Robinson claimed her contracts with two of the healthcare providers had been terminated as a result of the 'targeted campaign', and that she has experienced 'ongoing fear for her safety and that of her children', 'professional isolation', and had been 'forced out of private practice and lost her admitting rights at the Epworth Hospital, resulting in the estimated loss of $80,000 per month in professional income.' An Epworth spokeswoman said the hospital 'does not comment on individual matters or proceedings before the court.' The doctor also claimed in the submissions that the 'reputational harm' she had suffered had led to the 'premature termination of a planned podcast series', losing her 'access to a growing audience and potential patient base.' She said since November last year, she had attended 'weekly psychological appointments' for 'ongoing distress' and 'significant anxiety and stress resulting from the Respondent's targeted campaign.' Ms Stoliar denies she was harassing Dr Robinson and questioned many of her claims. 'That's not harassment – that's me as a legal citizen of this country accessing my legal right to escalate concerns that I feel are justified,' she said. 'I wouldn't call it doxxing if something has already been posted online and I'm resharing. I don't have access to her personal information and as far as I'm aware, doxxing is about exposing personal, private information that is not publicly accessible. 'Maybe she's angry that I have chosen not to be silent about it, that I am actually someone who is speaking out about an injustice that I see needs to be dealt with. There needs to be accountability and I don't think she likes that.' Ms Stoliar says she, too, had received threats as a result of Dr Robinson's and other pro-Palestine activists' posts about her, some serious enough to force her to move home. In her second complaint to AHPRA, Ms Stoliar raised specific concerns about the safety of Dr Robinson's patients, writing: 'Dr Robinson's continued expression of hatred online is alarming, particularly in the context of her role in patient care.' 'I do have concerns for patients who are people of colour or patients who are Jewish, that if these are the views that she holds, where is the line between holding those views and acting on them, even subconsciously?' Ms Stoliar told Sky News. She says Dr Robinson's conduct is part of a much broader problem within the Australian healthcare industry of professionals openly sharing anti-Semitic views online. Sydney nurses Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh were stood down from their jobs with NSW Health and charged with various criminal offences after a video of the pair bragging about killing Israeli patients at Bankstown Hospital, in the city's southwest, went viral. Another Melbourne doctor, Mohamed Ghilan, last year resigned from Caulfield Hospital – in an area with a large Jewish population – after colleagues raised concerns over his 'racist and inflammatory' social media posts, which included praising Hamas and its former leader Yahya Sinwar. A dossier sent to Health Minister Mark Butler two years ago, compiled by 235 health professionals, detailed the pro-Hamas sentiment in social media posts by many of their colleagues but appears to never have been acted on. 'We have doctors celebrating what Hamas did on October 7, we have doctors celebrating what happened to Jews on the streets of Amsterdam,' Ms Stoliar said. 'Where is the outrage about that? 'Doctors, nurses, midwives openly sharing horrific views - anti-Semitic, Jew-hating views, quite disgusting comments on big social media [groups]… and there have been no consequences, there have been no repercussions, there have been no disciplinary action. 'They've been able to spew this unrestrained hate, this racism towards Jewish people. 'They're holding these biases within them and if we've progressed to the step where they're publicising it on social media - public platforms - when does that translate into clinical practice or subconscious mistakes when it comes to treating patients? 'This is my concern, not just about Dr Miranda Robinson, but about so many doctors who have high positions in Australia who have voiced comments online. 'We hold doctors to a higher standard in our society, something every doctor needs to come to terms with. That comes with the job, with the title, with the role and when you are celebrating the near-death of hundreds of Jewish people publicly [in the Netherlands], that is concerning, and I think that calls for an investigation into the emotional stability and the psychological stability of the person.' After Sky News began investigating this story, Dr Robinson's legal team made an offer to Ms Stoliar on Tuesday to 'withdraw' her application for the personal safety intervention order, citing 'media… enquiries'. The court confirmed the matter remained listed for Monday. 'I have refused to sign an undertaking based on the notion that I am harassing her by raising justified complaints with AHPRA,' Ms Stoliar said. 'I don't think I should be bullied into silence when there are things that need to be said or spoken and people need to be held accountable.' When Sky News called Dr Robinson to offer her an opportunity for an interview, she hung up. Her lawyer Bernadette Zaydan later sent a response to a series of questions, saying it was 'inappropriate for anyone to comment at this time, as the matter between the parties is before the court'. 'My client reserves all of her legal rights against Sky News, any journalist involved in their personal capacity and Ms Stoliar in relation to this matter,' Ms Zaydan warned.
RNZ News
6 days ago
- RNZ News
Doctor accused of secret toilet recordings had images of 460 victims, Australian police say
By Danny Tran , ABC Ryan Cho, 27, was arrested and charged with five further offences in Melbourne, on Friday. Photo: Supplied/ Victoria Police A trainee surgeon accused of secretly snapping intimate images of unsuspecting colleagues in hospital toilets in Melbourne allegedly ranked the photos and videos, according to Australian court documents. Ryan Cho, 27, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Friday, where he was denied bail after being slugged with several more charges including producing intimate images, using an optical surveillance device and failing to assist police. He was also charged with stalking earlier this month. Dr Cho is contesting the charges against him. Court documents revealed police have accused Dr Cho of capturing about 4500 intimate videos of at least 460 alleged victims at three major hospitals in Melbourne - the Austin, the Royal Melbourne and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre - while they used toilets or showers. "All these files depict the genital or anal regions of the victims in vulnerable positions," police alleged in court documents. "The majority of victims depicted in these videos appear to be female doctors, nurses, paramedics and staff members of medical facilities the accused has worked at since 2021." Dr Cho worked as a trainee surgeon at the Austin Hospital but has since been stood down. His medical registration has also been suspended by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), preventing him from practising as a doctor in Australia. The ABC understands the 27-year-old worked at the Royal Melbourne Hospital between February 2024 and February 2025. Court documents alleged Dr Cho was seen "loitering" around the emergency department on a number of occasions despite his shift not starting for some time or while he was not rostered on. The ABC understands the accused also worked at the Royal Melbourne Hospital for a year. Photo: ABC News / Natalie Whiting The documents alleged that in early July a nurse at the Austin Hospital, who was using a staff toilet, found a mesh bag with a mobile phone that they believed to be recording and reported the incident to management. The nurse alleged that several days later, the same bag was discovered by hospital security and police were called. Police later arrested Dr Cho and seized two mobile phones, a laptop, a hard drive, several white mesh bags and removable hooks. They alleged he refused to give them passwords to the devices. "The mesh bags and removable hooks seized … are of the likeness of the ones used in the commission of his [alleged] offending at the Austin Hospital," police alleged in court documents. Police alleged that cybercrime analysis of one of the mobile phones showed it had recorded three hours of video footage. Analysis of the footage also allegedly showed Dr Cho setting up the phone and more than an hour of vision showing the intimate regions of three women. Court documents further alleged that police analysis of one of the laptop hard drives showed it had 10,374 videos and images that were organised into sub folders separated by hospitals, wards and the names of dozens of alleged victims. The documents also alleged images and videos were separated into a "ranking" - "Tier 1" and "Tier 2". "The accused [allegedly] named at least 460 female victims in total, categorising the intimate videos into folders associated with names and workplaces," the documents alleged. "investigators have received reports from staff and management that they are suffering trauma ... and are fearful of using the hospital facilities," police alleged in court documents. "Staff are no longer feeling safe in their workplace," the documents read. On Friday, police opposed bail and alleged Dr Cho, who graduated from Monash University in 2022, was a flight risk because he had no ties to Victoria. He was denied bail and will return to the Melbourne Magistrates' Court in November. - This story was first published by ABC If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
ABC News
6 days ago
- ABC News
Doctor accused of filming colleagues in Melbourne hospital toilets recorded at least 460 people, police allege
A trainee surgeon accused of secretly snapping intimate images of unsuspecting colleagues in hospital toilets allegedly ranked the photos and videos, according to court documents. Warning: This story contains details some readers may find distressing. Ryan Cho, 27, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Friday where he was denied bail after being slugged with several more charges including producing intimate images, using an optical surveillance device and failing to assist police. He was also charged with stalking earlier this month. Court documents revealed police have accused Dr Cho of capturing about 4,500 intimate videos of at least 460 alleged victims at three major hospitals in Melbourne — the Austin, the Royal Melbourne and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre — while they used toilets or showers. "All these files depict the genital or anal regions of the victims in vulnerable positions," police alleged in court documents. "The majority of victims depicted in these videos appear to be female doctors, nurses, paramedics and staff members of medical facilities the accused has worked at since 2021." Dr Cho is contesting the charges against him. Dr Cho worked as a trainee surgeon at the Austin Hospital but has since been stood down. His medical registration has also been suspended by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), preventing him from practicing as a doctor in Australia. The ABC understands the 27-year-old worked at the Royal Melbourne Hospital between February 2024 and February 2025. Court documents alleged Dr Cho was seen "loitering" around the emergency department on a number of occasions despite his shift not starting for some time or while he was not rostered on. The documents alleged that in early July a nurse at the Austin Hospital, who was using a staff toilet, found a mesh bag with a mobile phone that they believed to be recording and reported the incident to management. The nurse alleged that several days later, the same bag was discovered by hospital security and police were called. Police later arrested Dr Cho and seized two mobile phones, a laptop, a hard drive, several white mesh bags and removable hooks. They alleged he refused to give them passwords to the devices. "The mesh bags and removable hooks seized … are of the likeness of the ones used in the commission of his [alleged] offending at the Austin Hospital," police alleged in court documents. Police alleged that cybercrime analysis of one of the mobile phones showed it had recorded three hours of video footage. Analysis of the footage also allegedly showed Dr Cho setting up the phone and more than an hour of vision showing the intimate regions of three women. Court documents further alleged that police analysis of one of the laptop hard drives showed it had 10,374 videos and images that were organised into sub folders separated by hospitals, wards and the names of dozens of alleged victims. The documents also alleged images and videos were separated into a "ranking" — "Tier 1" and "Tier 2". "The accused [allegedly] named at least 460 female victims in total, categorising the intimate videos into folders associated with names and workplaces," the documents alleged. "investigators have received reports from staff and management that they are suffering trauma ... and are fearful of using the hospital facilities," police alleged in court documents. "Staff are no longer feeling safe in their workplace," the documents read. On Friday, police opposed bail and alleged Dr Cho, who graduated from Monash University in 2022, was a flight risk because he had no ties to Victoria. He was denied bail and will return to the Melbourne Magistrates' Court in November.
