SYDNEY pharmacist Katherine Gong has been given a custodial sentence after pleading guilty to prohibition on wholesale supply of certain substances (PD 22 Nov).
Gong, who owns the Harmony Pharmacy and Wellness Clinic in the northern suburb of Mosman, supplied more than 2,400 Gardasil 9 HPV vaccinations to a male associate, who exported the items under a false declaration to Hong Kong where there are currently shortages of the product.
The court heard the retail value of the drugs was $500,000 in Australia and over $600,000 in Hong Kong, with Gong claiming she was trying to help Chinese women by supplying the items.
However AAP also reports she made a profit of about $30,000, with the magistrate saying Gong "acted for financial gain and without regard for public safety".
The pharmacist has been sentenced to eight months in prison, with an appeal scheduled to be heard in Jan 2019.
Her lawyer said Gong was selling her business following the charges, with the offender's registration as a pharmacist also suspended since she was charged last month.
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