Milad Zamani (Zamani), 37, was charged and accused of prescription fraud across Sydney. Zamani appeared in court in June 2020 after reports of fraudulent prescriptions being used at a pharmacy in St Leonards. Kuring Gai Police Area Command and North Shore Police Area Command began a joint investigation in February 2020 which led to the arrest of Zamani.

Zamani was charged with twenty-five counts of using false documents to obtain property, two counts of goods in personal custody suspected of being stolen, utter prescription which includes prohibited drugs, and possessing forged prescription.

Police alleged Zamani altered documents to obtain prescription medication at various pharmacies across Sydney between 2018 and 2020. Zamani was refused bail at court.

The law

The abuse of prescription drugs is considered a serious crime in Australia. Pharmacists in particular supervise the dispensing of medication and have an ethical responsibility to protect society from the misuse of prescription drugs. Consequently, pharmacists are trained to identify suspicious prescriptions, particularly regarding controlled substances.

Prescription fraud occurs when a person obtains medication through deception. In accordance with the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW) (“the Act”), this can include acts such as:

Forging prescriptions

Section 15 of the Act makes it an offence of knowingly forge or fraudulently alter or utter, a prescription of a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner, midwife practitioner or veterinary practitioner, including a prohibited drug. This offence refers to when a person attempts to alter or create a legitimate prescription from a medical practitioner and can include acts such as:

• Creating a fake prescription from scratch
• Altering a prescription from a medical practitioner (e.g. using white-out or pen to change details of the prescription such as expiry dates or number of prescriptions needed)
• Asking someone else to complete a prescription of another medical practitioner
• Stealing legitimate prescription pads and completing the prescription yourself

Obtaining prescription by false representation

Section 17 of the Act makes it an offence to knowingly obtain, or attempt to obtain, a prohibited drug by false representation from a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner, midwife practitioner, dentist, pharmacist or veterinary practitioner. False representation generally refers to when a person provides false or misleading information to a medical practitioner.

In accordance with the Act, a “prohibited drug” includes any substance other than a prohibited plant. The definition of “substance” is broad under the law, as it includes any plant, fungus or natural organism. However, prohibited drugs excludes cannabis plants cultivated by any means.

Examples of when a person is committing the offence include:

• Lying about medical symptoms or exaggerating an illness or injury to obtain a prescription
• Sending someone else in your place to obtain prescription medication
• Using fake identification to purchase a prescription medication

Obtaining prohibited drugs from medical practitioners

Section 18 of the Act also provides it is illegal for a person, by any representation (e.g. verbal, in writing or conduct), to obtain or attempt to obtain:

• A prohibited drug
• A prescription that includes a prohibited drug

from a medical practitioner, nurse, midwife, dentist, pharmacist or vet without informing them of drugs they have obtained within the last two months. The prosecution would need to prove that a person who committed this offence acted in this way in an attempt to deceive the healthcare/medical practitioner.

The above information is intended as general information and is not intended to be relied on as legal advice. The part of this article is taken from an article published by The Daily Telegraph.

Pannu Lawyers extensively practice in Criminal Law and regularly appear at Courts throughout New South Wales. If your matter is at Blacktown Local Court, we are conveniently located within a walking distance from the Blacktown Local Court. Call our office on (02) 9920 1787 to discuss your matter with one of our experienced criminal lawyers today.