{"id":372709,"date":"2026-04-10T09:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T09:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/372709\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T09:13:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T09:13:09","slug":"auckland-dentist-censured-after-self-prescribing-fentanyl-to-feed-his-growing-habit-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/372709\/","title":{"rendered":"Auckland dentist censured after self-prescribing fentanyl to feed his growing habit"},"content":{"rendered":"

His habit and tolerance rapidly increased<\/a> but he claimed he only took the drug after work, stopping before midnight so as not to affect his behaviour the next day.<\/p>\n

He denied putting his patients at risk by being under the influence of or withdrawing from the drug during their treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201c[I] reject putting the patients at risk … [I was] not working under the material influence of fentanyl,\u201d he told the tribunal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A \u2018foolish\u2019 decision<\/p>\n

In June 2022, because of a \u201cnumber of stresses\u201d in his life, the dentist<\/a> made the \u201cfoolish\u201d decision to try fentanyl.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo take the edge off,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found that fentanyl gave me the feeling of euphoria, relaxation and a chilled feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agreed facts said he used his \u201cpractitioner\u2019s supply orders\u201d to source fentanyl from six pharmacies<\/a> in Auckland on about 40 occasions over the following year.<\/p>\n

He also \u201cborrowed\u201d from stock at one of his workplaces and ordered fentanyl from a pharmaceutical wholesaler.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe man told the tribunal he was a “high-functioning” addict. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

The dentist worked at multiple clinics across Auckland, performing complex oral surgery procedures<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He would use his own equipment meant for the intravenous sedation of his patients, such as a cannula, to give himself increasingly higher doses of the drug.<\/p>\n

His habit quickly went from lower doses to higher ones<\/a> of 5000mcg per use.<\/p>\n

On June 8, 2023, he was refused a supply from a Countdown pharmacy, as staff there had become suspicious of his multiple orders.<\/p>\n

In the days after he stopped using fentanyl, engaged Community Alcohol<\/a> and Drugs Services and came clean to his then partner and co-workers.<\/p>\n

He also experienced severe withdrawal symptoms, including muscle aches and fever.<\/p>\n

Alerted by the Countdown<\/a> pharmacy staff, the Dental Council sent the man a letter, suspending him from practising until he had seen a psychiatrist.<\/p>\n

He consulted a psychiatrist<\/a> and the suspension was lifted on July 31, 2023.<\/p>\n

After this, he undertook \u201cstringent\u201d drug testing ordered by the council, up to February this year, with no \u201cadverse\u201d results, the dentist said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure this matter is behind me now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Severe substance abuse disorder<\/p>\n

The Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) of the Dental Council called one witness to the tribunal, psychiatrist<\/a> and addiction specialist Dr Samuel McBride.<\/p>\n

McBride calculated from the agreed facts that the dentist had ordered 5780ml of fentanyl for himself from pharmacists in his year of use.<\/p>\n

Because of the increasing doses and the climbing number of pharmacy visits, he believed the dentist was suffering from a severe substance abuse disorder at the time.<\/p>\n

This meant the dentist\u2019s intoxication, withdrawal and addiction to the drug would have had serious physical, emotional and cognitive effects that would have affected his work.<\/p>\n

Possible effects<\/a> included a loss of concentration, slowed movements or, at worst, losing consciousness \u201cduring procedures\u201d, McBride said.<\/p>\n

Withdrawal from the dentist\u2019s heavy use of the opioid could cause tremors, agitation and sweating, he said.<\/p>\n

A tremor, in particular, could impair the \u201cfine motor skills\u201d and concentration required to perform dental procedures.<\/p>\n

Despite this, when the dentist gave his evidence, he said he never, up until he quit \u201ccold turkey\u201d, experienced withdrawal symptoms, apart from a few mild instances of \u201crestless legs\u201d.<\/p>\n

Nobody noticed a change<\/p>\n

The dentist\u2019s lawyer, Harry Waalkens, KC, put it to McBride that none of the dentist\u2019s co-workers or partner noticed a change or decline in his behaviour.<\/p>\n

McBride said the dentist not experiencing such withdrawals made him suspect the man was taking fentanyl more often than just after work.<\/p>\n

Waalkens also pointed out none of the dentist\u2019s patients had complained, nor was there evidence he had caused any harm to them during his addiction period.<\/p>\n

McBride used an analogy, saying that regardless of whether a drink-driver has driven 10 times drunk without causing an accident, it\u2019s still dangerous.<\/p>\n

The particular of the charge the dentist was defending was whether he put his patients \u201cat risk\u201d of harm, not caused harm directly, McBride reminded Waalkens.<\/p>\n

\u2018Caught up in a haze\u2019<\/p>\n

After the dentist\u2019s fentanyl use was discovered, he told a doctor he was \u201ccaught up in a haze\u201d of his addiction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The man told the tribunal that he meant he was caught up in his addiction and not thinking about the consequences.<\/p>\n

During his cross-examination, PCC lawyer Hayden Wilson zeroed in on the phrase, saying not thinking about the consequences was the same as putting patients at risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t think about whether it was good for your patients either, did you?\u201d Wilson asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn hindsight, no,\u201d the dentist replied.<\/p>\n

But the man would still not agree that he put his patients at risk.<\/p>\n

The verdict<\/p>\n

The panel, chaired by lawyer Truc Tran, established the particulars of the charge the dentist had admitted to.<\/p>\n

They also found he had put patients at risk by consuming fentanyl after hours.<\/p>\n

There was no evidence the dentist used the drug during clinical hours, Tran said.<\/p>\n

This amounted to malpractice, negligence and was likely to discredit the profession.<\/p>\n

It was also serious enough to warrant a penalty, Tran said.<\/p>\n

The penalty<\/p>\n

The dentist was censured, ordered to pay a $6000 fine and 35% of the PCC and tribunal\u2019s costs.<\/p>\n

The panel wanted to support the man\u2019s further rehabilitation with two years of \u201chealth monitoring\u201d.<\/p>\n

Conditions of the monitoring included not being allowed to prescribe controlled drugs, perform IV sedation, or self-prescribe.<\/p>\n

For two years, he must tell any future employers or business partners of the tribunal\u2019s decision and orders.<\/p>\n

For reasons that can\u2019t be disclosed, the panel granted the dentist permanent name suppression.<\/p>\n

Ella Scott-Fleming has been a journalist for three years and previously worked at the Otago Daily Times, Gore Ensign and Metro Magazine. She has an interest in court and general reporting. She\u2019s currently based in Auckland covering justice related stories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"His habit and tolerance rapidly increased but he claimed he only took the drug after work, stopping before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,51,27079,33606,3401,60508,83863,226,34393,293,194642,117858,111,43,139,69,194641,427,1961,61,6306,1455],"class_list":{"0":"post-372709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-after","9":"tag-auckland","10":"tag-censured","11":"tag-dentist","12":"tag-drug","13":"tag-feed","14":"tag-fentanyl","15":"tag-growing","16":"tag-habit","17":"tag-his","18":"tag-intravenous","19":"tag-mentions","20":"tag-new-zealand","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-newzealand","23":"tag-nz","24":"tag-selfprescribing","25":"tag-story","26":"tag-this","27":"tag-to","28":"tag-use","29":"tag-warning"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}