(1) If the Minister
believes on reasonable grounds that a person has a history of consuming
poisons or medicines in a quantity or manner that presents a risk to the
person's health or has obtained or attempted to obtain a poison, medicine or
medical device by false pretences or other unlawful means or for an unlawful
purpose, the Minister may, for the purpose of preventing or restricting the
supply of such a substance or device to that person, publish information
relating to that person to all or any of the following classes of persons:
(a)
persons concerned in the management of hospitals or nursing homes who are
responsible for the supply of such substances or devices to patients attending
the hospitals or nursing homes; and
(b)
registered health practitioners; and
(c)
veterinary surgeons; and
(f) any
other prescribed class of persons, being persons who deal in or supply such
substances or devices in the ordinary course of their business or profession.
(1a) The Minister may
publish information to a class of persons referred to in
subsection (1)—
(a) by
publishing the information to a professional association prescribed by
regulation whose members belong to that class of persons; or
(b) in
any other manner the Minister thinks fit.
(2) Information
published under this section is privileged unless it is proved that it was
done with malice.
(3) A person to whom
information was published under this section must not communicate that
information to any other person except so far as it may be necessary to do so
in order to achieve the purpose of the publication.