Raju Kan Patel, registration number 2062020, was handed a four-month suspension by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) after he “caused or allowed” Oramorph and oxycodone hydrochloride to be substituted for “water or another liquid including water”.
At hearings between March 2 and September 17, the GPhC’s fitness-to-practise committee heard that Patel “supplied or caused or allowed” the liquid to be given to a patient “when she was expecting to receive Oramorph”.
The committee also heard that Patel had behaved in a manner he “knew or ought to have known would cause alarm and distress” when he turned up at the house of the patient involved and asked for the medication container back.
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According to the hearing document, Patel also failed to keep up-to-date responsible pharmacist logs and admitted to having the controlled drug register for physeptone 1 mg/1ml sugar free at his home “without good reason”.
The committee acknowledged that Patel had “accepted his failures”, expressed remorse and made no attempt to “minimise his actions”.
But it stressed the duration of his misconduct, highlighting that it occurred “over a lengthy or extended period of time”.
Different “smell and consistency”
The committee heard that the misconduct took place between January 1, 2018 and August 25, 2018, while Patel was the part-owner, superintendent and “often” the responsible pharmacist of Harper’s Pharmacy in Brighton.
The GPhC told the committee that a patient - referred to as patient A in the document - obtained Oramorph from Harper’s Pharmacy “to manage pain caused by a prolapsed disc”.
It said that in January 2018, patient A’s carer collected a “sealed” Oramorph bottle from the pharmacy.
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Upon opening and pouring it, both patient A and her carer noted that the “smell and consistency” appeared different to usual - and after tasting it, patient A “believed it was water”.
According to the regulator, Patel delivered a new bottle and asked for the original one back. Patient A told Patel she had disposed of it, but she had in fact “retained it because of her concerns”.
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The GPhC also noted that in August 2018, patient A had a second bottle of Oramorph delivered to her home which she again believed to be water. Her carer that day informed her employer, who raised a concern with Harper’s Pharmacy.
The regulator added that around August 20, Patel behaved in a way that he “knew or ought to have known would cause alarm and distress” to patient A, by visiting her home and asking for the container that she believed to contain water.
It added that between January and August 2018, Patel had consumed oxycodone and amphetamine “without a valid prescription”. Patel also admitted to consuming morphine without a prescription during this time.
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The committee also heard that Patel “was more likely than not the responsible pharmacist on at least one of the days between January and August 2018”, making him responsible for failing to update the necessary logs.
And Patel admitted to having the controlled drug register for oral physeptone at his home “without good reason”.
Eight years of safe practise
The committee acknowledged that it had been eight years since the incidents occurred, during which time Patel had “practised safely and effectively”.
It also noted the insight shown by Patel and the “full responsibility” he had taken for his actions.
And it said there were “a number of very favorable testimonials” the regulator had received attesting to his “professional practise in the periods both before and after the time in which the misconduct occurred”.
“Distress” caused
But the committee stressed Patel’s “greater responsibility” to ensure the pharmacy was managed “properly and professionally” as both the superintendent and responsible pharmacist.
It also highlighted the “distress” caused to patient A, who was prescribed “pain management medication for a chronic condition” and had not received the appropriate medicine “when she needed it”.
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The regulator decided that a warning would not be sufficient, and that there were no conditions to impose that would be “relevant or proportionate” enough to meet the public interest.
It concluded that a four-month suspension order would mark “the seriousness of the misconduct”, adding that that any longer would be disproportionate “as he has been practising safely for about eight years”.
Read the determination in full here.
