Last Updated on: 26th July 2023, 10:11 pm

New York Pharmacist License Defender

Our Spodek Law Group brigade has gone toe-to-toe, advocating for New York pharmacists in disciplinary bouts for more than a remarkable decade. The victories we’ve clinched for hundreds of pharmacists against the New York Board of Pharmacists and the New York State Department of Education Office of Professional Discipline (OPD) speak volumes about our sweat and grit.

But before we dive in, let’s get our beak wet with the legal lowdown on how the New York disciplinary system pulls the strings when pharmacists are caught in a quagmire.

As soon as a licensed pharmacist in the Big Apple becomes a pawn in a disciplinary complaint, they automatically land in the crosshairs of the State Department of Education Office of Professional Discipline (OPD). The OPD wields the power to probe and bring to book, pharmacists and a slew of other licensed professionals for acts the state law chalks up as professional misconduct. The laundry list is quite a jaw-dropper, detailing approximately forty offenses. No surprises here, the usual suspects of professional misconduct amongst New York pharmacists that we’ve busted include:

• Being slapped with a conviction for any crime across jurisdictions
• Rolling the dice with fraudulent practices
• Going overboard with controlled substances
• Stockpiling a host of misbranded or expired meds for sale
• Letting outdated drugs gather dust in the pharmacy’s drug stock
• Swiping medications from the pharmacy
• Yanking out medications from the pharmacy for personal use without permission
• Fumbling to establish a tough supervisory alpha for a pharmacy
• Turning a blind eye to unlicensed and unauthorized persons manning the pharmacy
• Peddling drugs that haven’t been given the nod by the FDA
• Sleeping on informing the Pharmacy Board about a changing of the guard for the supervisor or supervising pharmacist
• Cutting corners by tossing medication in the same fridge bin with food in the pharmacy
• Oversight in maintaining a thermometer in the pharmacy refrigerator
• Dropping the ball in keeping up with a biennial controlled drug inventory
• Bagging prescription-required medication without a thumbs up

Sources of disciplinary cases against pharmacists are a dime a dozen. Most get the ball rolling when a complaint is lodged with the Board of Pharmacy. Plenty get the engines running post routine pharmacy checks and audits. When suspected misconduct begins to raise eyebrows on the board, the Office of Professional Discipline springs into action, and before you know it, the pharmacist on the receiving end gets an official letter stating their professional conduct is under scrutiny and that they are due for a sit-down with the investigator.

One crucial point to wrap your head around is that even though as a licensee, pharmacists must toe the line with an investigator, they aren’t forced to spill their guts or go on a one-on-one with the investigator. In fact, we tend to throw caution to the wind on this one and strongly advise our pharmacist clients to invoke their right to rub elbows with an attorney. They should secure legal counsel before breaking bread with anyone, especially the OPD investigator. The rationale behind this is simple: Anything spilled to the investigator can be used against you and it’s all too easy to slip up and dig your own grave during an interview. Chewing the fat with an attorney well-versed in OPD arson, who’s had pharmacists under his wing, before sitting across the table from the investigator could very well be your saving grace.

The investigation, once done and dusted, prompts an Investigation Committee to weigh in on whether the evidence stockpiled presents a strong enough case for disciplinary charges against the pharmacist. Does the evidence fail to stack up? Case dismissed. But if the evidence makes the cut, the appointed prosecutor will keep your attorney in the loop, setting the wheels in motion for a long-haul process. At the end of the day, either a consent agreement is worked out between the pharmacist and the board or there’s a full-blown disciplinary hearing on the cards. In many ways, this mirrors the procedure in criminal cases where the choice lies with the defendant to either hold their ground in court or cut a plea deal with the government.

In pharmacist disciplinary proceedings, the state delivers a mix of punishments. Top of the charts is license surrender or revocation. Other potential verdicts include license suspension (held in abeyance or actual), probation, censure, reprimand, mandatory mental and drug evaluations, treatment, and fines to cough up.

The course of a disciplinary case is dictated by a slew of factors. Obviously, when your professional license, livelihood, and career hangs in the balance, waving the white flag shouldn’t be an option. That’s why we emphasize the need for consultation with an experienced lawyer as early in the proceedings as possible. Dot your I’s and cross your T’s to ensure the attorney you decide to enlist has had a crack at representing pharmacists before the Pharmacy Board and the Office of Professional Discipline. With a sea of competent attorneys out there, when the rubber hits the road in the speciality field of pharmacist representation in OPD cases, you can’t afford to settle for anything less than someone with top-drawer expertise and a knockout record. Rest easy, you’ve got a mean scrum of such attorneys under our roof.

Over the years representing pharmacists in New York City and New York State, we’ve stacked victory upon victory. At Spodek Law Group, we serve up seasoned experience, a personal touch in our service delivery, and easy-on-the-pocket flat fees for the lion’s share of cases under our banner. Dial us up today for an instant consultation with a seasoned New York pharmacy license defense attorney, prepped and ready to fight tooth and nail for you.