Doctor struck off list for over-prescribing sleeping pills

The Medical Council has sanctioned two doctors for inappropriate prescribing of prescription drugs.

Dr Mohammad Ahmed Khan has been struck off after the council's fitness-to-practise committee found he over-prescribed sleeping pills to a patient who was addicted to them. He was found guilty of professional misconduct at a hearing earlier this year on 11 allegations out of 15 made against him.

In 2012, Dr Khan, a GP practising on Dublin’s Wicklow Street, had conditions attached to his registration after being found guilty of poor professional performance for over-prescribing benzodiazepines for patients with anxiety and insomnia.

Separately, Dr David Murphy, from Curraheen, Cork, has been censured, fined €3,000 and had conditions attached to his registration after being found guilty of poor professional performance.

He prescribed benzodiazepines to more than one-quarter of the patients in his practice when the national rate was 4 per cent, an inquiry heard last March. Dr Murphy (66) told a local pharmacist he feared for his safety if he had refused to prescribe the sedatives at his clinic in Cork, the inquiry heard.

A neighbour of the clinic complained that patients were openly selling prescriptions nearby, the inquiry was told.