Health department officials in Victoria say they are routinely reporting between 10 and 30 doctors a month to AHPRA.

Not all of them end up dragged before a tribunal system to account for their sins but the notifications are being made for ignoring warnings to check patients’ prescription history before prescribing high-risk drugs like opioids or benzos.

The Victorian Department of Health revealed its activities during a recent coroner’s inquest into the death of a 16-year-old whose body was found at his grandmother’s house where he was living.

A search of the bedroom found an empty vial of Targin, an empty blister packet of codeine and an uncapped needle with no syringe attached.