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Last Updated: 1 January 2020
[MDP 93] Registered person etc must declare interest in relevant business93
93
- (a)in the case of an interest that came into existence before this section came into force, within one month after it came into force;
- (b)in any other case, within one month after the interest comes into existence,
notify the Secretariat in writing of the interest and of the manner in which it arose.
(2) A registered person or close relative of a registered person who has an interest in a relevant business must, within one month after a change in the nature or extent of the interest, notify the Secretariat in writing of the change.
(3) Upon receiving notification under subsection (1) or (2), the Secretariat may in writing require the person who gave the notice to provide further information that it reasonably requires for purposes of this Act.
(4) A person who fails to give information as required by subsection (1) or (2) or further information as required under subsection (3) commits an offence.
Maximum penalty: A fine of $20,000.
(5) If a registered person or close relative of a registered person has an interest in a relevant business, the registered person must not—
- (a)refer a patient to, or recommend that a patient use, a health service provided by that business; or
- (b)prescribe or recommend that a patient use, a health product manufactured, sold or supplied by that business,
unless the registered person has informed the patient, in writing, of the interest of the registered person or close relative of the registered person in that business.
(6) A person who fails to inform a patient as required by subsection (4) commits an offence.
Maximum penalty: A fine of $20,000.
(7) Subject to subsection (8), a person has an interest in a relevant business for the purposes of this section if the person is likely to derive a financial benefit, whether directly or indirectly, from the profitable conduct of the business.
(8) For the purposes of subsection (4) —
- (a)a financial benefit is not derived by a registered person if the benefit consists solely of reasonable fees payable to the registered person for treatment provided to patients by the registered person; and
- (b)a person does not have an interest in a relevant business that is carried on by a public company if the interest consists only of a shareholding in the company of less than 5% of the issued share capital of the company.
(9) It is a defence to proceedings for an offence against subsection (4) and to a charge of unprofessional conduct for failure to comply with that subsection for the defendant to prove that he or she did not know and could not reasonably have been expected to know that a close relative had an interest in the relevant business to which the referral, recommendation or prescription that is the subject of the proceedings relates.