A GP who made serious medication errors including accidentally prescribing doxepin to teenagers for acne and malaria prophylaxis, has told a tribunal he has been “totally out of his depth” working as a solo doctor in a regional town.

In one case, a 13-year-old boy attended the doctor’s practice in regional NSW needing malaria prophylaxis for a trip to Vanuatu.

The GP told the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal he had intended to prescribe doxycycline. But he instead prescribed the antidepressant 50mg doxepin.

“Were it not for the clinical intervention from the pharmacist, the child would have commenced on a medicine for major depression that is not recommended in Australia for use in children because it raises the risk of suicidal thoughts or actions,” the tribunal stated in its findings published last month.