Please note: This article was updated to clarify a reference to the drug ecstasy after the GPhC amended its hearing document
Pharmacist Daniel Rhys Rosser, registration number 2059358, has received a three-month suspension after he “sought to conceal” his “substantial history of taking illicit drugs” from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
In a remote hearing between April 28 and May 6, the committee heard that he had “admitted to using illicit drugs” in a meeting with the pharmacy’s HR manager, despite previously “[denying] all of the allegations” when confronted by a GPhC inspector.
According to the hearing documents, Rosser allegedly attended the pharmacy – where he was the director and superintendent as well as the owner – “under the influence of alcohol and/or cocaine” or other illicit drugs, but this was not found proved by the committee.
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Of the six allegations against him, the council only found two proved.
The regulator accepted “the remorse expressed” by Rosser and the fact that he had “admitted his misconduct”, as well as his “excellent references” demonstrating he is a “pharmacist of exceptional quality”.
“Taking illegal drugs during festivals is wholly unacceptable by a pharmacist”
But it stressed that he “acted dishonestly” to “conceal wrongdoing” and “only admitted to being dishonest when he was placed in a position that would have exposed his dishonesty”.
“Naughty” night
While working at a pharmacy in Monmouth, Wales, a colleague alleged that Rosser had “stumbled” into work looking like a “mess” and when asked why this was, he said that he had been “doing cocaine and did not get to bed until 5am”, the document said.
He reportedly told her that “he had been a bit naughty last night” and had been “sniffing things” with a “well-known drug user” in the area, or words to that effect, it said.
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The committee heard that he would allegedly sometimes come to work hungover and “smelling of alcohol” and explain that he was up until “stupid o’clock” drinking, it added.
The colleague who reported these incidents, however, could not “recall who was present at the time” or when they took place, had a “strained” relationship with Rosser and referred him to the GPhC “on the same day” she was dismissed from the pharmacy, the committee heard.
It found that these stories were “not corroborated by other witnesses” and there was no other evidence of Rosser “attending the pharmacy under the influence of alcohol, cocaine or other illicit drugs”.
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The colleague told the council that “due to her experience with people under the influence of illegal drugs, she knew that [he] was under the influence”, the document said, but the committee questioned how she knew this “by his demeanor”.
And it added that the delayed reporting of these incidents – about six months after they occurred – “[diminished] the seriousness of the allegation”.
Rosser denied the incidents and said that “at no point did he consume alcohol or illegal drugs that would impact his ability to work” and taking all of this into account, the committee found the allegations not proved “on a balance of probabilities” .
Cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy...
The council, however, did find that Rosser was “dishonest” about his “substantial history of taking illicit drugs” outside of work and “sought to conceal” this from a GPhC inspector when they visited the pharmacy, the document said.
The inspector visited in February 2023 and “put the allegations” of drug use to Rosser, who “denied [them] all”, explaining that “although he attends parties, he does not use or deal illicit drugs”, it said.
But six months later, in August 2023, he “admitted to using illicit drugs” during a meeting with the pharmacy’s HR manager, it added.
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“Shortly after this...[he] called the council and explained that he had been taking illicit drugs, namely cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy, for five years since university in festival settings”, the document added.
The manager believed that the conversation “arose because of the council’s request for a toxicology report”, while Rosser said he “came clean” with the committee after he “broke down from the stress” of the investigation, the committee heard.
And according to the document, Rosser admitted that he told the GPhC inspector “he did not take illicit drugs” and realised “that this was dishonest and...wrong”.
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“There was a positive use of cocaine and ecstasy” between July and August 2023, it said, but Rosser said that this was “low level use in line with festival use” and accepted that “taking illegal drugs during festivals is wholly unacceptable by a pharmacist”.
Other allegations against him included refusing “to speak to a patient with dementia”, speaking to his colleague in a “belittling and/or demeaning manner”, shouting at her and calling her a “dummy”, which all reportedly “amounted to...bullying”, the committee heard.
But “on a balance of probabilities”, these were all “found not proved”, it said.
“Dishonestly lying”
The regulator accepted that Rosser eventually “admitted to taking drugs”, “complied with toxicology testing that came back with negative results” and “reflected upon how taking illicit drugs negatively impacts the pharmacy profession”.
“I understand why recreational drugs would be frowned upon by the GPhC…I have stopped taking [them] and have limited my alcohol consumption to weekends and holidays when I am not working”, he said in a reflective statement.
But the regulator stressed that he was “in a senior position in the pharmacy as the owner and trained members of staff” yet despite this “continued to use illicit drugs as late as August 2023”.
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The council added that he had “not reflected upon the effect of lying to the council inspector” about his drug use and “how this prevented [them] from potentially taking any remedial safeguarding action”.
“By dishonestly lying about taking illicit drugs to a council inspector, [Rosser] failed to honour the duty of candour,” the committee found, adding that he has “brought the profession of pharmacy into disrepute”.
It stressed that “members of the public would be appalled to learn that a pharmacist had conducted the actions set out in the proven allegations”.
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The GPhC determined that his removal from the register would be “unnecessary and disproportionate” as it would “deprive the public of a pharmacist whose misconduct is remediable”.
It concluded that a “suspension, for a period of three months, is appropriate and proportionate to mark the seriousness of [Rosser’s] actions”.
Read the determination in full here.
