{"id":316357,"date":"2026-02-25T11:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/316357\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T11:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:08:07","slug":"doctor-inappropriately-prescribed-drugs-for-depression-medical-council-inquiry-told-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/316357\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor inappropriately prescribed drugs for depression, Medical Council inquiry told \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A doctor inappropriately prescribed medication to treat depression, anxiety and seizure disorders, it was claimed at a Medical Council<\/a> fitness-to-practise inquiry. <\/p>\n

The inquiry heard Dr Albina Maksimiuk inappropriately prescribed medication to a number of adult patients while practising as a GP at North Clinic on North Circular Road, Dublin 7 and the Polish Dental Clinic, also North Circular Road. <\/p>\n

Five allegations relate to the inappropriate prescribing of benzodiazepines, pregabalin and Z-drugs. <\/p>\n

Benzodiazepines are a group of prescription drugs used to treat anxiety and depression. <\/p>\n

Pregabalin is an anticonvulsant used to treat epilepsy, neuropathic pain and generalised anxiety disorder in adults.<\/p>\n

Z-drugs such as zolpidem and zopiclone are non-benzodiazepine drugs used in the treatment of insomnia. <\/p>\n

Neasa Bird, barrister for Medical Council chief executive Dr Maria O\u2019Kane, told the inquiry these drugs can be abused and have to be very carefully prescribed. <\/p>\n

Ten of the prescriptions are alleged to have been prescribed by Maksimiuk over a number of months in 2019. <\/p>\n

The inquiry heard Maksimiuk, who is Lithuanian, practised as a paediatrician at the North Clinic, where she also provided her services as a general practitioner to some adult patients. <\/p>\n

The inquiry also heard Maksimiuk on occasion provided locum general practitioner services in other practices, including for adult patients. <\/p>\n

Maksimiuk previously identified she was working as a locum at the Polish Dental Clinic when she issued one of the prescriptions. <\/p>\n

It is alleged Maksimiuk failed to maintain adequate medical records regarding some patients, including failing to document an adequate history of alcohol or drug intake. <\/p>\n

Maksimiuk is alleged to have failed to refer another patient to psychiatry for review and assessment in respect of her anxiety disorder, and failed to maintain an adequate history of the patient\u2019s past and occupational and domestic issues. <\/p>\n

The doctor, who attended with the aid of walking sticks and who was also assisted by a translator, came to Ireland 10 years ago, the inquiry heard. <\/p>\n

Maksimiuk is fluent in Russian and Lithuanian. The inquiry heard she provided her services to Lithuanian- and Russian-speaking patients in Ireland. <\/p>\n

The inquiry arose from a complaint by the council prompted by an email to the regulatory body from Hanover Quay Pharmacy, which attached a prescription dated August 9th, 2019. <\/p>\n

The email outlined that the prescription looked like a very poor photocopy, that it resembled a forgery and that it prescribed a very large quantity of pregabalin. <\/p>\n

In her response to the council\u2019s investigation of this matter, Maksimiuk apologised for the poor quality of the handwritten prescription, that she had no printer at the surgery, and that she was on holiday and was unable to check her inbox. <\/p>\n

Conditions had already been attached to Maksimiuk\u2019s practice on foot of a High Court order, the inquiry heard. Those conditions remain in place. <\/p>\n

She gave an undertaking at the High Court to limit her practice of medicine to her role as a paediatrician on the specialist register and in the context of her existing paediatrics practice in Dublin, and furthermore to not prescribe benzodiazepines, pregabalin or Z-drugs for any patient, regardless of age.<\/p>\n

The Medical Council hearing continues. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A doctor inappropriately prescribed medication to treat depression, anxiety and seizure disorders, it was claimed at a Medical…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[103,61,60,37636,371],"class_list":["post-316357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-medical-council","tag-medication"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}