NSW-BASED pharmacist, Phouc Loc Le, will be barred from holding professional registration for at least 12 months, after being found guilty of facilitating the supply of prescription medications to the owner of a health foods store.
Loc Le came to the attention of the Pharmaceutical Regulatory Unit (PRU) of NSW Health, after police charged the owner of the store, Thanh Ngoc Van Trinh - his cousin - after a raid of the shop uncovered goods suspected of being stolen, and a quantity of Prescription-Only medicines.
The Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) alleged that Loc Le had supplied the Schedule 4 products to his cousin, through a pharmacy's wholesale portal "in circumstances where he was not employed by the pharmacy, did not have express permission from the pharmacy to place orders, and did not contact the pharmacy before placing orders", using information Trinh had provided.
The HCCC claimed that Loc Le ordered large quantities of Seretide and Viagra without requesting or sighting a prescription, knowing they would be, or there was a risk they would be sold on by Trinh.
The HCCC also accused Loc Le of providing false or misleading evidence to the Pharmacy Council of NSW, by claiming not to have been aware of any previous prosecution of Trinh.
The Civil and Administrative Tribunal NSW found that Loc Le's conduct was "of sufficient seriousness to justify the suspension or cancellation of his registration".
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 02 Aug 22
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