A psychiatrist is urging caution around propranolol prescribing, saying five doctors have disclosed to her plans to suicide using the beta blocker in the past month.

Dr Helen Schultz, who treats a significant number of doctor and medical students, said she was concerned because the doctors intended to avoid their regular GP and obtain the drugs through walk-in, walk-out bulk-billing clinics where they were unknown.

“It’s always part of their plan. They say they will just go to a bulk-billing clinic ‘where no one knows me and get a script’,” she said.

“Propranolol is an old medication, but it’s not often prescribed now, so it should raise alarm bells if a healthy young doctor comes into a bulk-billing clinic and asks for a script.”