ABC reports on DVA-funded medicinal cannabis prescribing to veterans through for-profit providers
ABC News reported that a veteran was prescribed very high THC doses through DVA-funded for-profit providers, and that DVA has since tightened its rules.
ABC News reported on 5 October 2026 that an Army veteran, Steve Johnstone, was prescribed 1,220mg of THC a day through the for-profit providers VeteranCann and Total Veteran Healthcare (TVH), with the supply funded by the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA). According to the ABC, he received large shipments for close to two years, had contact mainly through nurse check-ins rather than with the doctors prescribing for him, and was admitted to hospital in April 2026.
The ABC reported that DVA spending on medicinal cannabis has tripled to $125 million over three years. It said the department tightened its rules this year, requiring face-to-face consultations with a specialist or GP, limiting funding to three products at a time and ending funding for THC gummies. A DVA spokesperson told the ABC that telehealth had never been an option for the program involved.
Melbourne GP and associate professor Vicki Kotsirilos told the ABC the amounts prescribed were "unacceptably high doses of THC".
VeteranCann told the ABC that TVH was responsible for the patient's care through its platform, and that its clinical model now operates under DVA's updated requirements. TVH rejected any suggestion of fraud and said it was working to correct claims that did not meet DVA requirements. The report accompanies a Four Corners investigation, "Defenceless", scheduled for broadcast on ABC TV on 5 October.
Entity note (Rule 9): The legal pages of the VeteranCann website name VeteranCann Clinic Pty Ltd; ASIC lists a company of that name as registered (ACN 674 386 620). The legal pages of the Total Veteran Healthcare website name Bowen Hills Medical Operations Pty Ltd (ACN 646 705 802), trading as The Banyans Medical Centre and Specialist Clinics, and describe Total Veteran Healthcare as a Banyans program; ASIC lists that company as registered. Neither name appears on the ODC's published Manufacturers or Importers lists (checked 5 October 2026); those lists are consent-based, so non-listing means unconfirmed, not unlicensed.
Source: ABC News — Doctors this veteran never spoke to prescribed him 'unheard of' amounts of cannabis (published 5 October 2026)