The Health Care Complaints Commission has prosecuted a complaint against pharmacist Sabina Grewal before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. It was alleged that between Nov 2014 and Mar 2021 while registered as a pharmacist, Grewal failed to disclose to the National Board relevant changes to her criminal history in her application for renewal of her registration. She also lodged fraudulent PBS claims for prescriptions and was later convicted of an offence of dishonestly obtaining a gain from another person. Further, Grewal failed to notify the regulatory body, Ahpra, within seven days of being charged with the dishonesty offence. The Tribunal reported that she contravened a condition on her registration to abstain completely from the consumption of alcohol. It was also alleged that Grewal was impaired. In its decision of 31 Aug, the Tribunal found these elements of the complaint proven. Grewal’s conviction has rendered her unfit in the public interest to practise and found her guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct. The Tribunal has reprimanded Grewal and cancelled her registration with a non-review period of three years. The Tribunal also imposed an order prohibiting her from providing a health service for the same period. It was also reported that Grewal has been asked to pay the legal costs of the Commission as agreed. The full decision can be found in NSW Caselaw, HERE. JG
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