Becoming a licensed pharmacist or pharmacy technician takes time, dedication, and money. After high school and college, you must undergo additional, lengthy, and tedious training to acquire the skills and experience that qualify you for a pharmacist license. You are also trained on the laws that affect your service to ensure you abide by them when handling clients and working with your colleagues. You do all this to ensure you are a reputable pharmacist or technician and to avoid complaints that could cost you your license.
The Board of Pharmacy does not hesitate when licensing qualified pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. You must meet predetermined criteria. Even after acquiring a license, the board will continuously monitor your service and progress and take action in cases of unprofessional conduct, putting your pharmacist license at risk.
We can assist you in defending your license at Kern County License Attorney if you face allegations of professional misconduct. We know the money, time, and effort you have invested to obtain your license. We can fight alongside you to save your license and reputation.
The Crucial Role of a Pharmacist or Pharmacy Technician
For many people, pursuing a career in the pharmaceutical industry is mainly fuelled by a desire to serve people in need rather than to have a lucrative and stable job. These people understand the critical role pharmacists and pharmacy technicians play in the healthcare industry. These are the people who dispense medications. They know the proper medications and the importance of using a physician’s prescription to administer the correct dosages. They also pay attention to the interaction warnings, side effects, and dosage recommendations included in the drugs.
Thus, your importance as a pharmacist goes beyond ensuring people take medications and feel better. You have to check their prescriptions to ascertain their legitimacy and avoid drug abuse and addiction. You also encourage patients to obtain prescriptions to avoid self-medication, which can result in drug abuse and addiction. Pharmacists must also check the dosages to ascertain their safety for patients. You work closely with other healthcare professionals to ensure patients receive the care and medication they need to feel better. You also offer advice and recommendations to help patients make informed decisions.
Pharmacy technicians are the assistants that ensure pharmacists are discharging their duties professionally and promptly. Pharmacists and patients rely on them for quick assistance. They help process prescriptions, package drugs, and interpret any technical term that could be difficult for a patient to understand. When a patient visits a drug store, it is your duty as a pharmacy technician to confirm they are well served. Patients should not leave the premises without understanding how to use the drugs they have obtained.
The nature of your job as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician puts you at risk of complaints from unsatisfied or disgruntled customers. You also risk conflicts with your colleagues and employer. While some minor complaints can be resolved within your work environment, some are grave and could put your entire livelihood at risk. The board receives all kinds of complaints every day from patients, their families, employers, and colleagues. You must defend yourself when such a complaint is filed against you to avoid losing a career that has cost you money, time, and effort to build.
However careful you are when delivering your service, you can still face numerous accusations about an honest mistake you made. Sometimes, patients accuse you falsely, and this destroys your reputation. Sadly, the board handles all the complaints it receives seriously, regardless of whether they are true or unsubstantiated. You have to defend your pharmacist license by fighting the allegation. However, doing this alone reduces your chance of obtaining a favorable outcome. You must engage a skilled attorney to ensure you navigate the legal processes successfully, understand your rights, and plan a solid defense against your allegations.
The Role of the Board of Pharmacy
The Board of Pharmacy is California's main licensing board for qualified pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. The board must ensure that trained pharmacists meet the criteria to deserve a license. The license allows them to serve legally within the state. However, this is not the board’s primary mandate. The board ensures that members of the public receive safe, quality, and professional services from licensed pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. Its primary mandate is to protect the public from harm by unprofessional pharmacists. Thus, the Pharmacy Board will likely take immediate action once it receives a complaint about professional misconduct by a licensed professional.
Once the board receives a complaint from whatever source, it must investigate and take action if evidence supports the allegation. As stipulated on its webpage, the board follows its disciplinary guidelines to appoint administrative judges who investigate the matter and review evidence to make the final ruling. Although the board does not pursue all allegations it receives through its offices or website, you must be prepared to fight if someone files a complaint against you. The best preparation is to hire a skilled license defense attorney for advice and guidance and to help you use the best fighting strategy to save your license.
Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are examples of healthcare professionals who are held in great regard in the health industry. This is because they deal directly with drugs. Some drugs are safe, while others are hazardous. Some drugs have severe side effects that can result in life-changing consequences. Hence, training and equipping physicians and other medical specialists is recommended. They will handle drugs carefully, ensuring patients can safely use various drugs. This is the same high standard the board uses whenever there is a complaint against a licensed pharmacist or pharmacy technician.
You will likely receive hefty discipline if the administrative judges find you guilty of professional misconduct. Your reputation, license, and career are usually at risk. Thus, you must prepare well for the administrative process to defend your license successfully.
The type of discipline the board uses against healthcare professionals found guilty of professional misconduct depends on the individual's actions or inactions. You could be accused of issuing the wrong drugs, dispensing drugs without a valid prescription, or administering injections without a license. Some healthcare professionals commit insurance fraud, while others engage in sexual misconduct with their patients or colleagues. All these are grave issues that can result in discipline by the board. Here are typical ways in which the licensing board takes disciplinary action against those found guilty by the administrative judges:
Citations and Fines
The board can issue you with a citation for professional misconduct. In addition to a citation, you will be expected to pay a specific fine. The fine depends on the underlying charges. A heftier fine is expected for grave allegations. The citation and fine are the lenient forms of discipline the board imposes. However, this does not mean that it will not impact your career or life in any way.
Although you get to keep your license, a citation can destroy your reputation, making it challenging to keep your job or find a new one. If it has taken you a long time to build your reputation, this could be a heavy blow because anyone accessing the board’s website will see the citation and learn about your mistake.
Public Reprimands
The board can publicly reprimand you for your actions or inactions. These letters are also accessible to anyone accessing the board’s website. Although the public reprimand will not impact your job or license, it can cause irreversible damage to your reputation. You can lose your position as a pharmacist and face difficulties finding another one. It could also take years to rebuild your reputation after that.
Interim License Suspension
The board can suspend your license during investigations if you could interfere with them. This is usually a temporary suspension that could end immediately after the investigation. However, it means that you will not be working in your favorite career or job during the suspension, affecting your ability to earn a living.
Your colleagues and employer will likely find out about the suspension. This could affect your job and your relationship with your colleagues and make it difficult to find a job afterward.
License Probation
The board can place your license on probation to allow you to make amends before continuing to render your service in the healthcare industry. Probation comes with stringent conditions that you must abide by to retain your job. For example, the board could order you to undergo drug treatment, rehabilitation, or counseling for an underlying matter that affects your service delivery.
Although you continue working while on probation, the probation conditions could make service delivery difficult. You must abide by them to avoid permanently losing your license. You also work under various restrictions that can make it challenging for you to serve your patients effectively.
Suspension or Revocation
Some violations are severe and could result in license suspension or revocation. The board uses these disciplinary actions if a patient or someone else suffers harm due to your actions or inactions.
License suspension means a temporary loss of your professional license. You can not work or earn a living during the suspension, which could mean a significant financial loss, mainly if the suspension period is extended.
License revocation results in a permanent loss of your professional license. You cannot work as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician again after the revocation. The board can revoke your license if you are unfit to serve in the same capacity. When that happens, you permanently lose a career that has taken time and cost you a substantial amount to build. You are also forced to look for alternative means of earning a living to support your necessities and those of your loved ones.
Navigating the Administrative Processes
Once the board launches an investigation against you after receiving a complaint, you must go through various administrative processes before resolving your case. These processes are complex and challenging to navigate without legal help. However, an experienced license attorney can assist you in understanding what to expect, what is required, and your rights. They can also represent you through all administrative hearings to improve your chances of obtaining a favorable outcome.
A skilled attorney plays a significant role in the administrative processes of your licensing board. Since they understand the laws and your professional code of ethics better, they can assist you in understanding the implications of the allegations against you. An attorney will also work with you to develop a defense strategy that will result in a fair ruling. Your attorney can also negotiate with the board to best resolve your case.
Remember that once the board receives a complaint, it must act to protect the public from negligence and illegal practices. The board’s primary duty is to the public, which means the board can take stringent action against you to protect the public. You need someone with your best interests in mind by your side. Hence, you need to hire an attorney at the beginning of the administrative process.
In addition to advising and defending your rights, your attorney will choose the proper defense to compel the board to dismiss your allegations. They will accept or propose a plea bargain with the board for the most lenient discipline if that is impossible.
Find an Experienced License Attorney Near Me
Working with a competent license defense attorney improves your chances of obtaining a favorable outcome if you face professional misconduct allegations in Kern County. Losing your pharmacist or pharmacy technician license is possible if you do not fight aggressively to defend your career. The board will not be lenient when imposing discipline if there is evidence of misconduct.
We handle cases like yours every day at Kern County License Attorney. We know how desperate you are to defend your license. We also know how far you have come and how hard you have worked to build your career. That is why we will work closely with you to develop the best defense for your license and livelihood. Our competent defense can influence the board to drop the allegations or be lenient with the discipline. Call us at 805-702-8560 to kickstart the legal process.
