Pharmacists in Texas are licensed by the Texas State Board of Pharmacy, as are pharmacies and pharmacy technicians. As the organization in charge of maintaining the professional standards in the state’s pharmacy industry, the Board is also charged with processing formal complaints and with disciplining its license-holders when they are found to have violated standards, rules, or the law. The sorts of complaints the Board of Pharmacy receives are legion, received from members of the public and from others in the industry, as well as physicians—but some reasons for discipline are more common than others, whether they are deserved or not.
One major source of discipline, and possibly (if unfairly) the one most often linked to pharmacists in the minds of the public, is chemical dependency or substance abuse. Pharmacists have unparalleled access to a host of different substances, and from time to time this gets the better of a licensee. This professional hazard, if given in to, also puts a licensee in violation of various rules and drug-related statutes.
If a pharmacist is shown to have engaged in unprofessional conduct by acting in a way that does not meet the standards of the profession, such as committing crimes, engaging in corrupt behavior, or other activity that is dishonest or betrays “moral turpitude,” the Board will likely discipline the pharmacist.
Moreover, any indication that a pharmacist has engaged in dishonest or misrepresentational behavior, or that they have committed fraud (defined in the Board rules as “an intentional perversion of truth for the purpose of inducing another in reliance upon it to part with some valuable thing belonging to him, or to surrender a legal right, or to issue a license; a false representation of a matter of fact, whether by words or by conduct, by false or misleading allegations, or by concealment of that which should have been disclosed, which deceives or is intended to deceive another”), is a quick path to censure.
The sorts of disciplinary actions the Board may take against a licensee include reprimand, certain fines, suspension of their license, and even revoking their license.
Any pharmacist learning they are the subject of a complaint against their license should contact us immediately. Our law firm helps professionals keep their licenses when those licenses are under attack. Our experienced professional license defense attorneys have successfully helped clients resolve a wide range of complicated legal matters involving professional license defense. We know how to navigate the complaint process, gather evidence, question witnesses, and prepare robust defenses against allegations of misconduct.
BERTOLINO LLP represents licensed professionals across the entire State of Texas. To best serve our clients, we have offices in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. Our honest, experienced attorneys will fight aggressively on behalf of your professional license and reputation.
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