Mrs Caroline Bradley – Pharmacist – Suspended for unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct

11 May 2022

The Health Care Complaints Commission prosecuted a complaint before the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (‘the Tribunal’) against Mrs Caroline Bradley, a pharmacist who worked at three local pharmacies in NSW from 2012-2018.

The allegations included that Mrs Bradley:

• Misappropriated large quantities of addictive drugs and altered invoices and drug registers to hide her actions in two of the pharmacies from 2013-2017.
• Improperly entered the amount of certain drugs of addiction received from suppliers at another pharmacy.
• Misled her colleague to supply her with Endone for someone else in October 2016 without a prescription, when the Endone was for her own use.
• Failed to appropriately keep drugs of addiction safe and made improper or incorrect entries in the drug registers at one pharmacy.
• Misled regulators in relation to her theft of medication and her health.

It was alleged that Mrs Bradley is impaired with an opioid use disorder and other conditions. 

In May 2022, the Tribunal found all of the complaints proven and that the conduct amounted to unsatisfactory professional misconduct and professional misconduct.  The Tribunal suspended Mrs Bradley’s registration as a pharmacist for six months. After this time, Mrs Bradley will have to comply with conditions on her registration (including supervision, restriction of handling and dispensing Schedule 8 drugs, and preventing work as a sole pharmacist) for at least 12 months, to further protect public health and safety.

The full decision can be found here: NSW Caselaw.

Further Information

For further information, contact the Executive Officer of the Health Care Complaints Commission, on 9219 7444 or send an email to media@hccc.nsw.gov.au.

The information in this media release is correct at the time of publication. Orders may change; for example, conditions may no longer apply. For current information regarding the status of a registered health practitioner, including any conditions that currently apply, please check the National Register at www.ahpra.gov.au.