{"id":562085,"date":"2026-03-24T23:08:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T23:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/562085\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T23:08:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T23:08:36","slug":"gps-victoria-releases-dossier-of-pharmacy-blunders-amid-prescription-legal-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/562085\/","title":{"rendered":"GPs Victoria releases dossier of pharmacy blunders amid prescription legal battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Henrietta<\/p>\n

March 20, 2026 \u2014 6:00am<\/p>\n

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GPs have intensified their opposition to the Victorian government\u2019s expansion of pharmacist prescribing powers, releasing a dossier of 64 alleged medical blunders involving pharmacists misdiagnosing patients.<\/p>\n

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) presented the examples \u2013 which include patients being prescribed antibiotics to treat suspected urinary tract infections that turned out to be herpes and cancer \u2013 to the state\u2019s healthcare watchdog Safer Care Victoria on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe turf war between GPs and pharmacists is heating up after the Victorian government announced plans to allow pharmacists to prescribe oral contraceptives to patients without a doctor\u2019s scriptGetty Images<\/p>\n

It included cases of one patient receiving antifungal ointment to treat skin cancer, and another patient being repeatedly given ventolin to treat suspected asthma when he had cancer that had metastasised.<\/p>\n

RACGP Victoria chair Dr Anita Munoz expressed concerns that pharmacists, despite their expertise in medication, lacked the clinical experience to differentiate between similar-looking conditions in the pressure of a retail environment.<\/p>\n

\"DrDr Anita Munoz, a Melbourne GP and the Victorian chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to prescribe medicine safely, the starting point is having a correct diagnosis … these protocols appear to be giving assurances that you will be starting with the right diagnosis, and that is inherently untrue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Munoz has repeatedly lashed out at the state government\u2019s recent move to allow adults to access oral contraceptives from pharmacists without having a script from a GP, calling the decision \u201cbad medicine\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is turning the most, the most significant asset that we have, which is our health, into a retail commodity.\u201d<\/p>\n

But a Pharmacy Guild of Australia spokeswoman said doctors groups had made similar claims in the past without evidence, arguing pharmacists followed rigorous clinical protocols and were required to undertake additional training before safely prescribing medications.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe RACGP\u2019s pathetic attempt to create some type of bygone era turf war is not in the best interests of patients,\u201d she said. \u201cAllegations are not facts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Premier<\/a><\/p>\n

She said when patients ask for symptomatic relief for health issues, pharmacists listen and provide initial treatment. She said they were advised to speak to their GP if symptoms persisted.<\/p>\n

Data from the Australian Health Practitioner and Regulation Authority (AHPRA) also showed that just 1 per cent of pharmacists were the subject of a notification last financial year, compared with 3.5 per cent of doctors, with clinical care concerns making up 39 per cent of complaints about doctors, compared with only 4 per cent of complaints about pharmacists, the spokeswoman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny concerns with the care received by patients \u2013 whether that\u2019s from a specialist, GP or pharmacist \u2013 should be raised directly with the clinic or AHPRA for investigation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The examples of misdiagnosis provided to the RACGP were submitted from GPs around Australia, with around one-quarter based in Victoria.<\/p>\n

Other alleged cases include:<\/p>\n

patients treated for a suspected migraine when they had pre-eclampsia and\/or a brain tumour;patient given topical steroids for perioral dermatitis, which worsened the condition;shingles managed with steroid cream.\"VictorianVictorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas.Simon Schluter<\/p>\n

Last week, Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas liked a scathing social media post by Munoz that criticised Premier Jacinta Allan for making \u201ccaptain\u2019s calls\u201d to allow pharmacists to initiate oral contraceptives in patients. Thomas unliked the post when contacted by this masthead and said the policy had her full support.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

A rift has also emerged between state and federal Labor over Victoria\u2019s plan to allow pharmacists to initiate oral contraceptives, with federal Victorian senator Michelle Ananda-Rajah warning the move could fuel a rise in unplanned pregnancies.<\/p>\n

She said the pill was only 92 per cent effective at preventing pregnancies, compared with intrauterine devices (IUDs), which reduce the risk of pregnancy by more than 99 per cent.<\/p>\n

The former infectious disease and general medicine doctor said Australia had one of the world\u2019s highest rates of unplanned pregnancies, with 40 per cent of pregnancies unintended. It also has a low uptake of IUDs and contraceptive implants.<\/p>\n

Ananda-Rajah said that by bypassing a GP, women missed a critical \u201copportunistic consultation\u201d where they could be educated on superior forms of contraception.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure what problem they\u2019re trying to fix here,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m concerned it\u2019s going to create a whole bunch of other problems. Having an unplanned pregnancy is not a trivial thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, in an email to a Victorian GP, federal Bruce MP Julian Hill said he was surprised the state government had made the announcement against the advice of the relevant medical colleges.<\/p>\n

\"VictorianVictorian Senator Michelle Ananda-Rajah.James Brickwood<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing to a pharmacy for a first prescription for a contraceptive pill seems a terribly risky thing to do,\u201d said Hill, whose daughter developed deep vein thrombosis linked to an off-label prescription of a contraceptive pill.<\/p>\n

A Victorian government spokeswoman said oral contraceptives had been safely supplied by pharmacists around Australia and the world for some time, and the changes would improve access to the medication.<\/p>\n

\u201cCare at the chemist works and it\u2019s women who are reaping the benefits, with more than 51,000 women\u2019s health-related consultations to date,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She welcomed the federal government\u2019s announcement last week that it would commence a trial outside the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to allow concession card holders to access pharmacy-prescribed contraceptives and antibiotics for urinary tract infections at the concession rate of $7.70.<\/p>\n

The Victorian opposition\u2019s health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said while she saw merit in pharmacists safely prescribing medications, the community needed to be aware of the true number of misdiagnoses.<\/p>\n

\u201cVictorians deserve to understand the validity of what the government is doing and the risks to patients,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"HenriettaHenrietta Cook<\/a> is a senior reporter covering health for The Age. Henrietta joined The Age in 2012 and has previously covered state politics, education and consumer affairs.Connect via X<\/a>, Facebook<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 20, 2026 \u2014 6:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[64,63,137,500],"class_list":["post-562085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}