HIGHLY regarded Victorian pharmacist, Peter Allen, has been reprimanded and disqualified from holding registration with the Pharmacy Board of Australia for 12 months, after failing to maintain the register of Schedule 8 (S8) medicines.
A former member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) Harm Minimisation Committee, Allen informed the Board that he had retired from the profession in Mar, after selling his pharmacy, having not practised since late 2016, when he pleaded guilty to a series of breaches of the Health Practitioner Regulation Law.
On 25 Sep 2018, the Board commenced proceedings in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal against Allen, in relation to matters heard by a Magistrates Court, where he was found guilty without conviction of eight counts under the Act, which occurred between Jan 2013 and Apr 2014.
Tribunal papers noted that Allen had admitted to two counts of supplying oxycodone without a prescription, two counts of making false or misleading entries into his records pertaining to S8 products, two counts of failing to notify the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services about discrepancies in his S8 records, and two counts of failing to record transactions involving oxycodone, following an investigation by the Department.
The investigation compared the number of oxycodone tablets supplied to Allen's pharmacy by Sigma, with the number recorded as dispensed and those remaining in the store, which found 866 tablets were unaccounted for.
The Department also found that between 02 Mar and 20 Apr 2015, Allen breached dispensing guidelines, by dispensing scripts without using the pharmacy barcode scanner 45% of the time.
In a statement dated 16 May 2016, Allen said that when he made adjustments in the S8 register it was not for the reason of covering up but rather to rule off the register, adding that he did not report the discrepancies as he felt they were "minor and explainable".
In a later statement, Allen claimed he pleaded guilty as part of a plea bargain but said he never supplied S8 drugs without a prescription.
He said a part-time staff member, who had a number of chronic health issues may have been responsible for taking the unaccounted tablets, however, she has since moved overseas.
However, the Tribunal questioned Allen's conduct in relation to the recording of S8 poisons supplied to the pharmacy by Sigma, noting on a number of occasions he had accurately logged all S8 medicines supplied but had not noted the oxycodone which had been supplied on the same invoice.
The Tribunal reprimanded Allen and disqualified him from registering to practice for 12 months, noting that while he has retired the ban was appropriate as it "adequately reflected the seriousness of the conduct and to sends a message to both Allen and other practitioners".
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 01 Jul 19
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 01 Jul 19
