The tribunal has imposed several conditions on the registration of Dr Rajen Ragaven, including undertaking a course held by the University of Sydney titled “Opioid Treatment Accreditation Course”.
The practitioner has been ordered to provide evidence in writing to the Council of his successful completion of the course.
Dr Ragavan, who specialises in rehabilitation medicine, admitted unsatisfactory professional conduct in respect of several of the complaints, according to the tribunal orders.
Eleven complaints were filed against Dr Ragavan, who hails from Tamilnadu in India. He practices as a rehabilitation medicine consultant in Taree, New South Wales. He received his degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Madras, in India in 1989, before working in the UK and France before moving to Australia in 2005.
After arriving in Australia, the practitioner was supervised for one year at the Mayo Private Hospital at Taree. At the end of that year (2006) he achieved Fellowship of the Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
He worked at several hospitals in the Taree area under different conditions of registration in New South Wales.
According to one of the complaints filed against Dr Ragavan, he failed to comply with s 28(3) of the PATG Act, on more than one occasion.
“On the occasions between 7 May 2013 and 8 January 2014 as set out in Sch H, the practitioner failed to comply with s 28(3) of the PATG Act, by prescribing buprenorphine, oxycodone and oxycodone plus naloxone, each being Type C drugs of addiction within the meaning of that Act, for Patient H: (1) When the practitioner knew or should have known that Patient H was a drug dependent person; and (2) Without the proper authority of the Secretary of the Ministry of Health,” the order reads.
The Health Care Complaints Commission filed a case against Dr Ragavan. However, when approached by SBS Hindi, the Commission did not share the details of when and how the practitioner’s misconduct came to its knowledge.
The Tribunal observes that “there is no evidence before the Tribunal that any patient has actually suffered harm by reason of the practices adopted by the practitioner which have brought him to the attention of the HCCC. That is not to say however that if the shortcomings, referred to below, had not existed, treatment of a different and probably of a more useful kind could have been provided to patients.”
The details investigations were referred to Professor Hugh Dickson for expert opinion. Professor Dickson provided his report, in which he considered the ten patients before arriving at his opinion. Subsequently, he provided a supplementary report dated 12 December 2016.
In respect of Dr Ragavan’s prescription of opioids, Professor Dickson states: “Dr Ragavan’s standard of medical practice is significantly below the accepted standard reasonably expected of a practitioner of his level of training and experience. His departure from the standard attracts my criticism but not my strong criticism.”
although unsatisfactory professional conduct was found, the tribunal found his conduct did not amount to professional misconduct warranting a suspension. The Medical Council of NSW investigated the complaints and was not satisfied that it was appropriate to suspend or impose conditions upon the Dr Ragavan’s registration.
However, the tribunal considered that the practitioner was guilty of “unsatisfactory professional conduct in respect of each complaint”.
According to the order, Dr Ragavan "has reflected significantly upon his practice management of patients" and "has ceased to prescribe Sch 8 drugs."
SBS Hindi approached Dr Ragavan for a comment and waiting for his response.
