Doctor banned for prescribing medication to patient, then buying it back

A South Australian GP has been banned from practising for a year after a tribunal found he had engaged in egregious conduct, including prescribing addictive pain medication to a vulnerable patient and buying it back off them for his own use.

Richard Taverner, 43, also prescribed drugs in the names of his relatives for his own personal use over several months in 2018 and 2019 and failed to accurately record his consultations with the patient.

The Medical Board of Australia referred a complaint about Dr Taverner to the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which found his conduct "fell significantly below" what was expected of a GP.

"The conduct was egregious because it entailed the exploitation of a patient over a lengthy period of time," the tribunal said in its decision.

According to the tribunal decision, Dr Taverner took on a difficult-to-manage patient who was dependent on prescription medication in mid-2018 and disclosed to the patient that he personally had "abused various drugs of addiction".

"During a consultation, the [doctor] disclosed to the patient that the respondent also had a history of drug abuse," the decision said.

The GP prescribed medication to the patient, then bought it back off them, the tribunal found.

The tribunal noted that in about mid-2019 Dr Taverner entered an arrangement with the patient where he would prescribe oxycodone — an addictive and tightly controlled opioid medication — which the patient would have dispensed at a pharmacy.

"The patient would then give the oxycodone to the [doctor]," the tribunal decision said.

"The [doctor] would provide the patient with cash to pay for the prescription, and the patient would retain any change for his own use."

The tribunal found that "arrangement" amounted to "professional misconduct".

"It was dangerous to the patient, and to himself. It endured over a lengthy period of time," the tribunal said.

The tribunal also found that Dr Taverner "failed to maintain accurate or adequate clinical records" by deleting prescriptions from the patient's clinical records.

On other occasions, he "falsified a presentation of a severe migraine requiring the prescription" and inaccurately recorded consultations with the patient, including failing to record his assessment of the patient's mental health.

"These failures occurred due to the respondent intending to prevent anyone from discovering his arrangement with the patient, and because he knew prescribing oxycodone to the patient was wrong," the tribunal said.

The tribunal noted that Dr Taverner "took full responsibility for his failures", had insight into his vulnerability and had told the tribunal he was "ashamed" he had not provided the patient with proper care.

"The tribunal finds that [Dr Taverner] does not now pose a risk to the public because of the supports he has in place to reduce the risk of relapse," the tribunal said.

The tribunal reprimanded Dr Taverner, cancelled his registration and disqualified him from applying to re-register for a year.

A longer ban would have been imposed had Dr Taverner "not so successfully rehabilitated from his addiction". It also noted he had successfully worked part-time as a general practitioner for almost four years since the conduct occurred.