Poor Professional Performance Claim Made Against GP

A Dublin GP is facing allegations of clinical malpractice after it was claimed that he over-prescribed benzodiazepines for patients with anxiety and insomnia.

Dr Mohammed Ahmed Khan faces fives poor professional performance claims in respect of his practice in Wicklow Street, Dublin, where it is alleged that he prescribed up to four times the recommended dose of the psychoactive drug over extended periods of time.

Dr Khan is also accused of failing to comply with Department of Health guidelines on the prescribing of drugs, and of placing undue reliance on prescribing brands such as Valium – often when an alternative drug may have been more appropriate for the patient, or in their best interests.

The Medical Council are also investigating claims that Dr Khan failed to arrange referrals for patients that clearly would benefit from treatment by a specialist substance misuse practitioner or drug treatment centre, and that he failed to make adequate enquiries into whether any of the patients to whom he was prescribing benzodiazepines was already being treated by another doctor.