A New Zealand radiologist inappropriately prescribed medications for herself and acquaintances, according to findings from the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal.
A Professional Conduct Committee appointed by the Medical Council of New Zealand determined that Dr. Sheida Mehrain self-prescribed and wrote prescriptions for family and friends repeatedly over a period of years despite a previous warning, as reported in an article by the New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa (access requires registration).
Mehrain, a radiologist practicing in Hamilton, wrote prescriptions for herself and acquaintances more than 282 times between 9 September 2014 and 31 January 2023. Some of the prescriptions were for Class C controlled drugs, psychotropic medication, and drugs with potential for abuse or addiction.
The investigation was launched when the Medical Council was contacted in January 2023 by someone with concerns that prescriptions Mehrain had submitted for herself and someone she knew (referred to in the documents as “Mr. E”) included medications used for long-term conditions requiring monitoring or with a risk of addiction and abuse, some of which appeared to be “for the use of others.”
The prescriptions were handwritten on blank sheets of paper, according to the council. Details on the case were publicly released on 30 January.
The findings presented by the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal in a September 2024 hearing showed that 197 prescriptions identified Mehrain as the patient. The prescriptions included one for codeine phosphate, a controlled drug, those with addiction/misuse potential, and others that were not clinically appropriate.
Additionally, Mehrain admitted to prescribing medication to herself for “Mr. E’s” use. “Mr. E,” whom the tribunal noted was a patient at a medical center in Auckland, had not consulted with her practice after 25 August 2020. However, Mehrain had written 87 prescriptions for him between 26 December 2020 and 5 January 2023, some of which she admitted were for her own use. Others, such as liquid antibiotics indicated for pediatric patients, were intended for family members, she admitted to the committee.
Mehrain had received a warning from the Medical Council for self-prescribing in July 2014; in her response to this warning, she said she was unaware she could not prescribe for herself and would refrain from doing so in the future.
In its judgment, the tribunal wrote that Mehrain’s “disregard of a clear and unequivocal warning” was “unprofessional and a breach of her professional obligations,” and that “[w]hen reminded of the 2014 notification, she said she did not prescribe for a long time but then it ‘crept back in.’ In the PCC’s [Professional Conduct Committee’s] submission, prescribing for herself barely a month after receiving a Council warning cannot be characterised in this way.”
The tribunal recorded its official censure and noted that it did not consider her inappropriate prescribing to be minor or incidental. It added that while there had been no indication of subsequent harm from these prescriptions, there “are very real risks associated with the conduct.”
Mehrain was ordered by the tribunal to only prescribe in connection with her radiology practice for three years, with quarterly monitoring of her compliance with this condition by the council. She was also ordered to enroll in a 12-month program on professional practices, boundaries, and ethics, to disclose the tribunal’s decision to her local Medical Council as well as colleagues and employers for three years.
Additionally, she was fined 5,000 New Zealand dollars (€2,542) -- an amount the council deemed appropriate “given the practitioner ignored a previous warning and her prescribing is at the upper end compared with other cases.”
Mehrain was also ordered to pay 19,709.46 New Zealand dollars (€10,024) for investigation and hearing costs.
The case documents may be examined here.
