As a licensed pharmacist working in Arkansas, you know better than anybody how hard you've had to work to earn your license. After spending years to earning your degree, thousands of hours as a pharmacy intern, and more time studying for, taking, and passing the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) as well as Arkansas's Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam, you want to make sure you keep your pharmacist license so that you can continue to benefit from all of your hard work.
That's why it's so important to take it seriously if you learn that a misconduct complaint has been filed against you. The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team is here to help you protect your rights and defend your license in any misconduct investigation. Call us today at 888.535.3686, or schedule a confidential consultation with one of our experienced attorneys to learn more about how we can help.
Ways the Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy Can Discipline Pharmacist
The Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy (BOP) is the agency responsible for both issuing pharmacist licenses in the state and disciplining licensed pharmacists. The BOP can administer a number of different types of discipline to a licensed pharmacist following an investigation of a complaint against the pharmacist. These include:
- Issuing a fine to the pharmacist of up to $1000 per violation
- Requiring the pharmacist to complete specified educational programs or courses
- Ordering the pharmacist to take and pass specific licensing, jurisprudence, or credentialing examinations
- Placing conditions or restrictions on the pharmacist's practice
- Requiring the pharmacist to pay the BOP's “out-of-pocket costs” of the investigation
- Suspending the pharmacist's license
- Revoking the license
In most cases, these sanctions won't happen until after a detailed investigation of the complaint has taken place, though in extreme cases the BOP can issue an immediate suspension. It can be enormously helpful to retain an experienced professional license defense attorney, not only to help you through the investigation stage, but to defend you and your license in the event the BOP elects to move forward with sanctions against you.
What Standards Does Arkansas Expect Pharmacists to Uphold?
In general, the BOP regulations define “professional conduct” as “complying with all the laws and regulations that apply to a given professional activity.” A licensed pharmacist is expected to:
- Attain and maintain an “acceptable level of professional competence”
- Use “skill and precaution” when preparing and distributing both prescription and non-prescription drugs, as well as medical devices
- Prevent “injury or death” to patients the pharmacist serves
- Employ only qualified persons to assist the pharmacist, if the pharmacist is the “owner, operator, or director of a pharmacy”
- Because pharmacists handle heavily-regulated drugs, medical devices, and other products, there are a number of state and federal laws that pharmacists are expected to follow in their day-to-day practice. These include the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, laws relating to insurance and prescription drug benefits, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, laws relating to Controlled Substances and Legend Drugs, and rules relating to the state's Prescription Drugs Monitoring Program.
Grounds for Pharmacist Discipline in Arkansas
The Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy (BOP) is the agency responsible for both issuing pharmacist licenses in the state and disciplining licensed pharmacists. The BOP can discipline a pharmacist for any number of reasons, including:
- Violating any of the state's many laws and regulations that apply to licensed pharmacists and pharmacy operations
- Unprofessional conduct, particularly with respect to requirements imposed on pharmacists by federal, state, and local laws
- Failing to keep their pharmacy “clean, orderly, maintained, and secured”
- Purchasing prescription drugs from unlicensed sources
- Buying or selling prescription drugs in violation of the law
- Disclosing customer confidential information to those who do not have a legal right to that information
- Improperly soliciting business from prescribers by providing prescription blanks with pre-printed pharmacy information on the forms
- Any conduct involving fraud or dishonesty
- Participating in any arrangement that “detrimentally affects” the relationship between a patient and their care provider, and the patient's “freedom of choice of professional services”
- Pleading or being found guilty of certain felonies, of an act “involving gross immorality,” or of violating any pharmacy or drug laws
- Being addicted to “intoxicating liquors or drugs”
- Knowingly adulterating drugs or other products offered for sale
- Being disciplined by another state's board of pharmacy
These are some of the types of “unprofessional or dishonorable conduct by a pharmacist” included in the BOP's regulations and in the Arkansas Pharmacy Practice Act.
Don't Assume the Truth Will Protect You From Pharmacist License Disciplinary Sanctions in Arkansas
If someone files a misconduct complaint against you, particularly in situations where you believe the complaint is completely unjustified, your first reaction may be to try to reach out to the BOP or the investigator assigned to the complaint to try to “straighten things out” in the hopes that the whole thing will blow over. Unfortunately, this approach is rarely successful, and in some cases can backfire.
When a BOP investigator is given the responsibility of looking into a misconduct complaint filed against a pharmacist, the investigator has a job to do and is expected to produce a report of their investigation for the BOP to review. It's unlikely that if you reach out to the investigator and try to explain why there is no basis to the misconduct complaint, the investigator will simply accept what you have to say and end the investigation after your conversation. In some cases, depending on what you say and what the investigator understands, the information you share with the investigator may actually prolong the investigation process.
The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team understands how professional license misconduct investigations work, in Arkansas, and across the country. Our experienced attorneys will work with you to make sure that in any situation where you have information that can help with the misconduct investigation, that information is provided at the right time, in the right way, to the right person. We can help prepare you for when the investigator interviews you – an uncomfortable situation that most people have not encountered before. We can also make sure that during your interview, you only answer questions you understand, and that your answers are clear and are understood by the investigator. And throughout the process, we will be there to protect your rights and help you defend your license.
The Disciplinary Process for Pharmacist Licensing Issues in Arkansas
When a misconduct complaint is received about a licensed pharmacist, the BOP will conduct an investigation. This may include any or all of the following:
- Interview with the person who filed the complaint
- Interview with the pharmacist
- Interviews with the pharmacist's co-workers
- Subpoena for documents from the pharmacist, the pharmacy, or both
The BOP will review the information gathered by the investigator. In cases where the BOP determines that, based on the information in the report, the pharmacist should be disciplined, it will provide the pharmacist with a notice to appear before the BOP. That notice will invite the pharmacist to “show cause” why their license should not be revoked, or the pharmacist should not be subject to some other discipline.
In many cases, disciplinary matters are resolved after some negotiation with an agreed settlement. This can be a very favorable way to resolve an issue, as it avoids the uncertainty and time involved in conducting a hearing. This is where retaining one of the experienced attorneys from the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team can be enormously helpful. We have helped professional license holders across the country, including in Arkansas, successfully negotiate acceptable resolutions to professional misconduct claims. Our experience helps us in those negotiations. Being familiar with the disciplinary laws, rules, and procedures as well as outcomes that have worked for our clients in past cases means we are able to defend your license from a position of strength. We can often suggest acceptable outcomes that licensing boards have not proposed, ones that leave your license and your ability to make a living intact.
In situations where a negotiated settlement isn't possible, the disciplinary matter will proceed to a hearing. Hearings are conducted according to Arkansas's Administrative Procedure Act. The process will be very similar to a civil trial, and will include:
- Notice of the complaint against the pharmacist. This will state the time and place for the hearing; the legal authority under which the hearing is being held; and a “short and plain statement” of the facts asserted against the pharmacist and the law that applies to those facts.
- The BOP must also, upon request, provide a list of witnesses it intends to call at the hearing; copies of any written or oral statements made by the license holder that the BOP has; any expert reports or statements made in connection with the case; copies of all documents the BOP has in connection with the matter (not including BOP attorney “opinions, theories, or conclusions”).
- At the hearing, each side will be able to present witnesses and evidence, and to cross-examine witnesses and object to evidence produced by the other side.
- The hearing will be “on the record,” meaning that records will be kept of all of the pleadings, motions, rulings, evidence received or considered, statements made during the hearing, and other materials received and considered by the hearing officer.
- The decision will be in writing or will be read into the record (and will then appear as part of the transcript of the case). It will include findings of fact and conclusions of law.
- If the decision is not in favor of the pharmacist, the pharmacist can appeal it. This is also called “judicial review.” The petition for judicial review is filed in the circuit court of the county where the pharmacist lives or does business, or it can be filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court. There are specific standards and procedures that apply to judicial review petitions.
The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team understands what's at stake if your disciplinary matter proceeds to the hearing stage. Our attorneys have the experience to aggressively and fairly defend your rights and your license in an administrative hearing. We also understand the appeal, or judicial review, process, and can help you even in cases where we did not represent you at your hearing.
What Happens if You Are Disciplined by the Arkansas Commission of Pharmacy?
The Arkansas BOP maintains a Roster Search page on its website that allows anyone with access to the Internet to look up the status of a pharmacist's license. The search results will indicate whether the pharmacist's license is active, and whether the pharmacist has been disciplined in the past. In addition, minutes of BOP meetings will also note disciplinary actions taken by the Board.
The specific affect that discipline can have on you depends on how severe it is. In cases where your license is suspended or revoked, of course, you will not be allowed to work as a pharmacist. Other types of discipline, such as restricting your ability to dispense certain types of drugs, can make it more difficult for you to work. In other cases, you may be required to take and pass certain courses before your suspension or restriction is lifted.
In any license discipline case, the goal is for the outcome to be a fair one that has as little impact as possible on your ability to practice as a licensed pharmacist. The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team understands this, and we consistently strive to help our clients defend their licenses and their livelihoods.
How the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team Can Help
At the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team, we understand how critical your pharmacist license is to your career and your ability to make a living. Whether you are working in Little Rock, Bentonville, Hot Springs, Fort Smith, Jonesboro, or another part of the state, we are here to help.
Our experienced attorneys will help you understand the disciplinary process for pharmacists in Arkansas and how it applies to your particular case. We can conduct our own investigations in cases where it may be helpful to do so. We'll prepare you for any interviews with BOP investigators, and can negotiate on your behalf with the BOP to resolve your case in as favorable a way as possible. Where matters proceed to a formal hearing, we will use our experience to protect your rights, defend your license, and argue forcefully on your behalf.
When your license and your livelihood is on the line, contact the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team for help. Call us today at 888.535.3686 or schedule a confidential consultation with one of our experienced professional license defense attorneys. We are here to listen and to help!
