Getting your pharmacy license was challenging work and building a professional career and reputation took years of careful effort, so protect your license. Here are some of the most common reasons that pharmacists have lost theirs.
- A felony conviction.
Texas law is clear on this one: “The board shall revoke a license or registration upon the imprisonment of the licensee, the registrant, or the owner of a pharmacy following a felony conviction.” This could include any number of crimes ranging from murder, assault, robbery, sexual assault to also forgery, perjury, bribery and harassment. And, yes, depending on the amount of convictions, a Driving While Intoxicated could be considered a felony.
- Incompetence.
It probably seems obvious that a pharmacist is incompetent if he gives patients the wrong dosages or wrong medications. However, pharmacists are also considered incompetent if they fail to provide verbal counseling or fail to assess a patient’s known allergies. It may also apply if it comes to failing to act—when they don’t identify a patient’s clinically significant overutilization of drugs, or when they don’t notice when a physician errantly prescribes a clinically significant high dosage of drugs.
- Letting people do work that’s above their qualifications.
You can lose a license by letting employees (i.e., pharmacy techs, etc.) who aren’t pharmacists perform duties they aren’t licensed to do. That can cost you your license.
- Not safeguarding confidential patient records.
Don’t play around with HIPAA violations. Period.
- Fraud.
Deceptive billing. Defrauding Medicare, Medicaid or other insurance. Cheating customers. Any of these can mean the end of your pharmacy career.
- Failing to satisfy education requirements.
Continuing education credits may not always be fun, but they’re necessary for keeping your license.
- Sloppy tracking of controlled substances.
Many pharmacists have lost their licenses after getting caught with a shortage of controlled substances following accountability audit costs. Sometimes, the shortfall is due to poor record keeping. Other times a pharmacist or other staff member is abusing drugs or selling drugs under the table. Either way, it could mean losing your license.
BERTOLINO, LLP has been defending Texas pharmacists for years. We use a creative, results-driven approach to help you get the best possible outcome in your case. We will speak for you. Our results speak for themselves.
If you are facing allegations of professional misconduct or disciplinary action, contact us today or call (512) 476-5757 and schedule a case evaluation.
BERTOLINO LLP proudly represents licensed professionals across the entire State of Texas. To best serve our clients we have offices in Austin, Houston and San Antonio.
Call or text (512) 476-5757 or complete a Case Evaluation form
