KEY POINTS:
A man who pretended to be a doctor, forging prescriptions and dishing out drugs, has been sentenced to one year's home detention.
Shane Jason Cleary, 36, a sickness beneficiary of Glenfield, appeared in North Shore District Court for sentencing after admitting 17 charges relating to an "anti-ageing and rejuvenation" clinic which provided hormone and sexual dysfunction therapy, libido enhancement and fat-loss treatment.
For six months, Cleary, who is not a registered medical practitioner or pharmacist, saw patients, discussed medical histories and requested and analysed blood test results. He also prescribed drugs including growth hormones, antibiotics and steroids, a police summary of facts said.
Prescriptions included the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra and an anti-anxiety pill not authorised for use in New Zealand.
Police became aware of Cleary's clinic in Takapuna, which went under the names Living Proof and Transitions Clinic, when a North Shore pharmacist became suspicious of a forged prescription and alerted authorities in May 2006.
The summary of facts showed Cleary had employed three doctors who, as registered medical practitioners, were legally allowed to import and distribute drugs. None of those doctors are under investigation.
When the last doctor left the clinic in November 2005, Cleary took on their duties.
The summary stated that Cleary "knowingly and dishonestly" presented five forged prescriptions to North Shore pharmacies to obtain the prescription sedative Temazepam and the Class C anti-anxiety drug Xanax.
Cleary also sent 21 blood test forms using forged doctors' signatures but told police he did not physically examine patients.
When police executed a search warrant on Cleary's home, they found large amounts of drugs in a shed.
Cleary was sentenced to 12 months' home detention and had between $60,000 and $70,000 worth of controlled drugs seized when he appeared before Judge Barbara Morris in the North Shore District Court.
The Ministry of Health said it hoped the case highlighted how people acting fraudulently would be caught.
