As a licensed pharmacist in Alaska, you know better than anybody how hard you've worked to get to where you are today. You've earned your degree, interned to meet Alaska's practice requirement, passed the national NAPLEX and Alaska's pharmacy jurisprudence exams, completed the application and background check process, and, as a result, now have your pharmacist license. Your career and livelihood depends on your pharmacist license remaining in force, which is why it's so important to take it seriously if a misconduct complaint is filed against you.
The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team understands how important your pharmacist license is to you. Our experienced attorneys are ready to help you defend your license and protect your rights in a disciplinary investigation and proceeding. Call us at 888.535.3686 or schedule a confidential consultation with one of our experienced professional license defense attorneys to learn more about how we can help.
Ways the Alaska Board of Pharmacy Can Discipline Pharmacists
Pharmacist licenses in Alaska are issued by the Alaska Board of Pharmacy (BOP), which is part of the state's Division of Corporations, Business, and Professional Licensing. The BOP also has the power to discipline pharmacists for misconduct. Discipline can take a number of forms, including:
- A fine of up to $5000
- A censure or reprimand from the BOP
- Having limitations imposed on the pharmacist's practice
- A requirement that the pharmacist take remedial training or professional education
- A probation period during which the pharmacist must regularly report to the BOP
- Suspension of the license
- of the Revocation license
In all but emergency situations, sanctions will not be imposed until the pharmacist has been notified of a complaint that has been filed against them and has had a chance to respond to it and defend themselves against the allegations. The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team regularly helps licensed professionals, including pharmacists, respond to misconduct complaints and protect their licenses in disciplinary situations. Our clients understand that their license is the key to their careers and trust us to help defend themselves through the difficult misconduct investigation and resolution process.
What Standards Does Alaska Expect Pharmacists to Uphold?
Pharmacists in Alaska are expected to professionally and competently practice their profession, which is one that is subject to a wide range of federal, state, and local laws, rules, and regulations. Pharmacists are expected to:
- Interpret, evaluate, and dispense prescription drugs “in the patient's best interests”
- Participate where necessary in the selection of drugs and devices for patients; the administration of drugs to patients; and the review of patient drug regimens
- Counsel patients and provide them with proper pharmaceutical care
- Properly compound, dispense and administer drugs and vaccines
- Safely store drugs and devices
- Consult with prescribers regarding a patient or a prescription
- Assume responsibility for prescriptions they fill
Pharmacists are also expected to understand and follow a number of BOP guidelines and practice standards that apply both to pharmacists and to pharmacies. Violations of practice standards or failure to follow guidelines and regulations that apply to a pharmacist's particular practice can result in misconduct allegations that can jeopardize a license.
Grounds for Pharmacist Discipline in Alaska
The BOP will discipline a pharmacist who is found to have violated one or more of a number of specific disciplinary guidelines or laws that apply to pharmacy practice in Alaska. These include:
- Dispensing a drug based on a fraudulent prescription
- Dispensing drugs “in quantities, dosages, or for periods of time” that “grossly exceed” practice standards or legal requirements
- Acquiring or having drugs in violation of the law
- Improper record-keeping
- Any of a number of fraudulent acts made in connection with their pharmacy practice
- Refilling a prescription for longer than one year from when the prescription is ordered
- Violating an order from the BOP
- Providing false information to the BOP
- Failing to use “reasonable knowledge, skills, or judgment” in their pharmacy practice
- Improperly delegating a regulated task to someone who is not authorized to perform it and is not properly supervised
- Improperly disclosing patient confidential information
- Offering or providing “kickbacks” in exchange for patient referrals
- Being convicted of a felony or of another crime that “affects” the pharmacist's “ability to practice competently and safely.”
- Working while under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- Engaging in unprofessional conduct
These are just some of the reasons that the BOP can discipline a licensed pharmacist in Alaska. Because of the many laws, regulations, policies, and procedures that pharmacists are expected to know and follow in Alaska, pharmacists can find themselves under investigation by the BOP for many types of alleged misconduct. This is why it's so important to be working with an experienced professional license defense attorney, when your pharmacist license is on the line. You need someone with the background to help make sure your rights are respected, someone who will vigorously and fairly defend your license. The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team's attorneys have that experience and are ready to help.
Don't Assume the Truth Will Protect You From Pharmacist License Disciplinary Sanctions in Alaska
Nobody likes to learn that they've been accused of misconduct, particularly where the consequences of that allegation can mean losing a professional license. Your first reaction might be to try to contact the BOP to bring the matter to what you hope will be a quick end by telling “your side of the story” and trying to clear things up as quickly as possible. It's a very natural reaction – but one that rarely works. It might even make things more difficult for you. Here's why: When a complaint against a pharmacist is assigned to an investigator, the investigator will generally follow a set procedure designed to make sure that all relevant information about the misconduct allegation is collected and presented to the BOP. This typically means interviewing the person who filed the complaint, the pharmacist named in the complaint, and any other witnesses who might have relevant information. Documents relevant to the matter will also be collected. All of that information must be reviewed by a Chief Investigator and, in many cases, someone connected with the BOP.
An investigator is thus unlikely to bring a quick end to an investigation simply because of a phone call or meeting with the pharmacist named in the complaint. That's not to say that you won't get your chance to tell your side of the story or provide information to the investigator in your own defense. That is also part of the process, but there is a proper time, place, and way to do that. Your attorney from the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team can help with this. We understand how the investigation process works and will work with you to make sure that the information you provide to the investigator is delivered in a clear, accurate, and effective manner, one that will help your case as much as possible.
The Disciplinary Process for Pharmacist Licensing Issues in Alaska
Misconduct complaints against pharmacists in Alaska are investigated by the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing (DCBPL). Investigations are multi-stage processes that can take months to complete. The first step when a misconduct complaint is received is to make sure it covers a matter that the BOP regulates. If it doesn't, the matter may end there. If it does, then the pharmacist may be notified about the complaint and asked to provide records, to submit to an interview, or to provide another response to the investigator.
In addition, the investigator will try to obtain any records that may bear on the matter in the complaint. The person who filed the complaint, the pharmacist named in the complaint, and any other witnesses such as co-workers or other customers may be interviewed. Where patient records are involved, the investigator will most likely need to subpoena them before the pharmacy or prescriber can turn them over. Once the investigator has gathered all of the information, they will review it with the Chief Investigator and with someone from the BOP to determine whether the matter should move forward against the pharmacist, or whether it should be dismissed.
When the decision is to move forward, a second “investigation” takes place. The pharmacist will be notified at this point that they are under “official investigation” by the DCBPL and will have 14 days to provide any additional evidence to the DCBPL in their defense. After this additional evidence is received, the DCPBL and BOP will determine whether to notify the pharmacist of the disciplinary action that the BOP intends to take against the pharmacist based on the complaint and investigation.
At this point, many disciplinary actions result in a consent agreement, where the BOP and pharmacist agree that certain facts occurred and that a certain disciplinary consequence should result. Consent agreements can impose any type of discipline that the BOP has the power to impose, and they are extremely important. They're often the subject of negotiations between the pharmacist and the BOP. The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team has experience with negotiations of this type. We've helped many licensed professionals, including pharmacists, navigate these kinds of situations and secure fair and effective results that have protected their licenses and their livelihoods. While every situation is different, our experienced attorneys understand how important your license is to you and will fiercely negotiate to protect it.
Matters that can't be resolved through a consent agreement will, in almost all cases, proceed to a hearing before Alaska's Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). The OAH has specific procedures in place that direct how hearings will take place. These follow the requirements of Alaska law and cover every step of the hearing process, including:
- Assignment of the administrative law judge
- Information and evidence that must be exchanged in advance of the hearing
- Motions that the parties can bring before the hearing takes place
- Evidence that can be introduced and the standards applied to accepting it
- How and in what form the administrative law judge issues the decision
- How a party can request reconsideration of a decision and order
Once a decision and order is final, it's submitted to the BOP for review. The BOP can choose to adopt the decision and order, or to reject it, amend it, or issue their own decision and order. A pharmacist who disagrees with the BOP's decision and order can appeal it to the state Superior Court.
The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team understands the investigation and administrative hearing process in Alaska. Our attorneys are here to help you defend yourself through every step and can also prepare and file appeals even in cases where we were not involved with the hearing. Working with one of our experienced professional license defense attorneys can make all the difference when it comes to protecting your license and your ability to make a living.
What Happens if You Are Disciplined by the Alaska Board of Pharmacy?
As noted above, the BOP can take a number of disciplinary actions against a pharmacist. In most cases, those actions will become part of your pharmacist record, available to the public through the DBBPL's Disciplinary Actions Reports page as well as in connection with the individual's license page found by using the Search Professional License page.
In addition to becoming part of the public record, the type of discipline imposed by the BOP can significantly affect your ability to work as a pharmacist in Alaska. Of course, this is the case if your license is revoked, but it also applies during any period when the BOP suspends it. If the BOP imposes conditions on your ability to practice, limiting what you are able to do as a pharmacist, it can affect your job and make it difficult for you and your employer to provide a full range of pharmacy services to clients. Having to take certain remedial pharmacy courses as part of meeting the conditions of your discipline can be time-consuming and expensive.
The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team understands the problems that can happen when your license is revoked, suspended, or restricted or if conditions are placed on your ability to practice. Our experienced attorneys will fight to protect your ability to practice as freely as possible and to make a living as a pharmacist in Alaska.
How the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team Can Help
Whether your pharmacist practice is in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, or any of Alaska's many smaller towns, the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team is ready to help you protect your pharmacist license. We are able to help you from the point where you are notified that a misconduct complaint has been filed against you during the investigation through any consent agreement discussions that may take place, during hearings, and with appeals. We understand how misconduct investigations and disciplinary proceedings work and will prepare you for interviews, negotiations, and hearings. Working with one of our attorneys means that much of the day-to-day burden of being under investigation will be taken off of your shoulders, leaving you to focus on your work as a pharmacist and your life outside of work.
Call the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team today at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation to learn more about how we can help you protect your license and your livelihood.
