Gisborne doctor forges colleague's signature to write prescriptions

Augustine was working as a doctor at Gisborne Hospital at the time of his offending. Photo / NZPA /Ross Setford

A doctor who forged his colleague's signature to write prescriptions for himself and his wife gathered nearly 2000 pills in a seven-month period.

Stephen John Augustine, an orthopaedic surgeon, was working for Hauora Tairawhiti at Gisborne Hospital when he wrote the fraudulent prescriptions.

His case was heard by the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal in Wellington this morning, though Augustine himself was not present as he has gone to Florida to live. He originally came to New Zealand from the US.

Augustine pleaded guilty in the Gisborne District Court in 2016 to 20 counts of making a false document and was discharged without conviction for his crime, but it has taken until now to come before the Tribunal.

According to the summary of facts, he wrote 20 prescriptions for the controlled drug codeine phosphate using another doctor's signature and on other occasions using the other doctor's identifying stamp.

Codeine phosphate is a painkiller. It is not recommended patients remain on the drug for a prolonged period of time, as a morphine-type addiction has been shown to develop in a small proportion of users.

Half of the prescriptions, written between July 2015 and March 2016, were written for Augustine, and half were written for his wife.

He went to seven different pharmacies to have the prescriptions filled, gaining a total of about 1970 pills.

The other doctor, who was also a personal friend of Augustine's, had no idea his signature and stamp were being used on the prescriptions until Augustine confessed it to him in March 2016.

The confession came after Hauora Tairawhiti's chief medical officer discovered what had been happening.

The chief pharmacist at Hauora Tairawhiti told the chief medical officer one of the local pharmacists had raised concerns about the number of prescriptions Augustine was taking out.

Augustine had already resigned from his job with plans to move back to the US, and in his exit interview the chief medical officer asked him about the concerns.

He then admitted what he'd been doing and said he had been taking out the prescriptions for his wife. The reasons he gave for needing the pills for his wife are suppressed.

The other doctor was temporarily prevented from writing prescriptions when the concerns were first raised.

Charges brought against Augustine by the Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) stated he had committed misconduct in the forgery and in writing the prescriptions for his wife.

"It's clear that Dr Augustine has breached relevant professional standards and has acted inappropriately," said PCC lawyer Jo Hughson.

"Not only has Dr Augustine disgraced himself and his family by his fraudulent actions, but he has also disgraced his colleagues and the New Zealand medical profession."

She said the conduct was "grave" and "well below acceptable standards of practice".

The Tribunal heard Augustine's wife did not have a doctor of her own in Gisborne, but there was no evidence Augustine tried to find another doctor to treat her.

The Tribunal censured Augustine, cancelled his registration and ordered him to pay costs of about $19,000.