GP reprimanded for over-the-phone morphine
The rural doctor was on-call overnight and failed to attend to assess the elderly patient
A GP on a night shift at a country hospital acted with “recklessness” when he ordered a high dose of morphine over the telephone for an elderly woman who later died, a Medical Professional Standards Committee has found.
The patient, a 79-year-old woman, had just started chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer but died after becoming unresponsive the day following her admittance to Corowa Hospital in southern NSW.
