A Canberra doctor has been temporarily banned from practising medicine after forging dozens of pharmaceutical prescriptions for himself.
"The conduct was unlawful, unethical and dishonest, and was likely to affect the good reputation and standing of the medical profession," the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal said in its decision published on Wednesday.
The tribunal disqualified Liam Stone, a former Canberra Hospital employee, from applying for registration as a medical practitioner for three months from June 5.
Dr Stone, who was employed by Canberra Health Services for more than two years, has voluntarily not practised since November 2019 and his registration to do so has expired since that time.
Agreed facts state that between July 2018 and September 2019, the doctor forged 32 prescriptions for personal use.
On each occasion, Dr Stone used a Canberra Hospital prescription pad and forged the signature of a relevant practitioner.
He self-prescribed three different types of "strictly controlled" medications, including oxycodone, an opioid pain relief medicine, and temazepam, used to treat insomnia.
He then purchased the drugs, which risk addiction, from pharmacies in Fyshwick, Woden, Garran, Weston and Hughes.
The scheme came unstuck when a pharmacist identified a suspicious prescription and contacted the Canberra Hospital emergency department, which the man claimed to have obtained it from.
A senior physician informed the pharmacist that Dr Stone had not been prescribed any medication and the fraudulent prescription was cancelled.
Dr Stone initially admitted to forging some of the prescriptions, which investigators were told was done "in an effort to manage his alcohol use".
In a more recent statement, the doctor said that he "forged the scripts in order to avoid revealing to other doctors that he needed medication to deal with his depression, anxiety and negative thoughts".
Further fraudulent oxycodone scripts were later discovered but the tribunal did not deem the doctor's failure to be entirely upfront to be an aggravating factor.
"His mental state was impaired and he was struggling with feelings of shame and guilt," the tribunal said.
"His recovery was underway but by no means complete."
The tribunal found Dr Stone had shown "genuine contrition and remorse" for his conduct and concluded no patients were harmed by his misconduct.
The Australian Federal Police issued the doctor with a caution for "knowingly using a false document with the intent of dishonestly inducing someone else to accept it as genuine" but did not prosecute him.
The Medical Board of Australia proposed the doctor be disqualified from applying for registration for a period of 12-18 months.
Dr Stone argued he should not be disqualified at all after already being excluded from the profession for an extended period of time.
The tribunal ultimately disqualified the doctor from practising as a tool for general deterrence.
"A significant purpose of a determination is to protect the reputation of the profession and to deter others in the profession from engaging in similar conduct," the tribunal said.
The three-month disqualification period factored in the three years and eight months Dr Stone spent away from practising as a result of his misconduct.
A psychiatrist told the tribunal that Dr Stone's medical issues were in "full remission".
