A 10-year disqualification from applying for re-registration as a medical practitioner was upheld where the practitioner engaged in widespread inappropriate prescribing over seven years involving approximately 740 patients, was dishonest in dealings with the Medical Board, and showed no remorse or insight. The personal circumstances of the practitioner, including financial hardship and inability to pursue their profession, are secondary considerations that cannot override the fundamental objective of public protection. The principles governing disciplinary sanctions for legal practitioners, including the distinction between suspension and cancellation based on fitness to practise, apply by analogy to medical practitioners with appropriate qualification for institutional and functional differences between the professions.
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