You have a good thing going as a pharmacist licensed for practice in Utah. The state’s strong economy, substantial population, and comprehensive healthcare system provide abundant pharmacy practice opportunities. If not handled right, though, your criminal issues can quickly derail those opportunities, leading to Utah State Board of Pharmacy license disciplinary charges followed by license suspension or revocation. If you face criminal issues threatening your Utah pharmacy license, your best move is to retain the LLF National Law Firm’s premier Professional License Defense Team. We are available in Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Provo, West Jordan, Orem, Sandy, Ogden, St. George, Layton, South Jordan, Lehi, Millcreek, Taylorsville, Herriman, Logan, Draper, Murray, Eagle Mountain, Bountiful, Riverton, Spanish Fork, or any other Utah location to preserve and protect your Utah State Board of Pharmacy license. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now for our premier license defense representation.
Utah Pharmacist Criminal Arrests
Utah may have a favorable criminal arrest and conviction rate, but a lot of crime still occurs in Utah according to the latest state statistics. Those statistics show crimes of all kinds occurring across Utah, of course, more prevalent in the larger metropolitan areas, but statewide nonetheless. Utah pharmacists are not immune to criminal conviction. See, for example, the American Pharmacists Association report of the Utah pharmacist convicted for obstruction of justice relative to the investigation of missing controlled substances. Pharmacists commit other practice-related crimes like causing disease outbreaks, government agency and private insurer fraud, drug distribution, and diverting opioid prescriptions. Pharmacists also commit non-practice-related crimes that Utah State Board of Pharmacy officials may construe as practice-related risks, worthy of license discipline. You are not alone in facing licensing risks related to your criminal issues. Get our skilled and experienced license defense help.
Utah Pharmacist Licensure Authority
Section 58-17b-201 of the Utah Pharmacy Practice Act gives the Utah State Board of Pharmacy the responsibility and authority to license pharmacists for practice in the state. The Act’s Section 58-17b-301 requires every individual intending to practice pharmacy in the state to first obtain a Utah State Board of Pharmacy license and to keep that license in good standing while practicing. Section 58-17b-501 makes it unlawful to practice pharmacy in the state without a license, while Section 58-17b-504 makes it a third-degree felony crime to practice pharmacy in Utah without a license, punishable by up to five years in jail and a $5,000 fine. You must not practice without your current license. Let us help you defend your license against disciplinary charges relating to your criminal issues.
Utah Pharmacist Licensure Requirements
Getting your Utah State Board of Pharmacy license isn’t your only challenge. You must also show the State Board of Pharmacy that you continue to meet the qualification requirements as long as you practice in the state. Your criminal history is relevant both to your initial qualification for a pharmacy license and your renewal of that license. Utah Pharmacy Practice Act Section 58-17b-303, stating the general education and examination qualifications for licensure, also requires you to disclose your criminal history, including authorizing a criminal history background check. Both the initial and renewal license application processes will generally require you to disclose criminal history and authorize background checks, which the State Board of Pharmacy may also continually undertake through monitoring on its own. Beware of the risks to your pharmacy license from your criminal issues. Let us help you with your license issues.
Utah Pharmacist License Discipline
The Utah State Board of Pharmacy not only has the power to refuse to renew your pharmacy license over criminal issues but may also suspend or revoke your license in a disciplinary proceeding. The Act’s Section 58-17b-401 authorizes the State Board of Pharmacy to deny a license, refuse to renew a license, or revoke a license on any of the disciplinary grounds in the general professional discipline statute Section 58-1-401. Section 58-1-401 authorizes the State Board of Pharmacy to refuse to issue or renew a license, or to discipline a license, based on a criminal conviction that “bears a substantial relationship to the applicant’s or licensee’s ability to safely or competently practice the occupation or profession….” You could lose your pharmacy license due to criminal issues. Let us help you address those issues before the State Board of Pharmacy to preserve and protect your license.
Utah Pharmacy Board Disciplinary Discretion
Discipline on the above criminal conviction grounds is largely discretionary with the Utah State Board of Pharmacy, not mandatory. Section 58-1-401 states what the State Board of Pharmacy must consider when exercising its discretion. The State Board must “provide individualized consideration to the applicant or licensee” and decide whether the conviction “bears a substantial relationship” to the pharmacist’s safe and competent practice. In making that determination, the State Board may consider any of the following statutory factors:
- the pharmacist’s age when committing the offense;
- the time since the pharmacist committed the offense;
- whether the pharmacist completed the criminal sentence;
- whether the pharmacist completed rehabilitative drug or alcohol treatment;
- testimonials or recommendations from others, including a probation or parole officer’s progress report;
- the pharmacist’s education and training;
- the pharmacist’s employment history; and
- any other relevant information the pharmacist provides.
Our attorneys can identify, gather, and present your exonerating and mitigating evidence in support of these and other factors at your State Board hearing on the disciplinary charges and in other conciliation conferences and meetings.
Differences Between Criminal Case Stages
In reaching its decision on your disciplinary charges relating to your criminal issues, the Utah State Board of Pharmacy should also consider the different stages of a criminal proceeding, and what stage your matter reached. We can advocate in your defense at each stage, as follows.
License Discipline Effect of Utah Criminal Investigation
The Utah State Board of Pharmacy should not give any significant consideration to your criminal investigation if no criminal arrest or charges result. If you face a disciplinary investigation triggered by a criminal investigation, we can help you identify and present your exonerating evidence. Police may base criminal investigations on rumor, speculation, or deliberately false and retaliatory reports. Let us help you show the State Board that you committed no wrong related to the criminal investigation.
License Discipline Effect of Utah Criminal Arrest
The Utah State Board of Pharmacy should also not give significant weight to a criminal arrest on which no criminal charge resulted. Police need only probable cause for an arrest, meaning a reasonable inference that the suspect may have committed a crime, which is a much lower standard than the proof necessary for a criminal conviction or even for license discipline. Let us help you show the State Board that your arrest was mistaken, as the absence of a criminal charge would indicate.
License Discipline Effect of Utah Criminal Charge
A criminal charge may trigger greater Utah State Board of Pharmacy concern, but it still carries no significant weight if the prosecutor abandons the charge or the court dismisses it for lack of evidence or constitutional violations. Let us help you show the State Board that you committed no misconduct related to the dismissed or abandoned charge, which the charge’s abandonment or dismissal would indicate.
License Discipline Effect of Utah Criminal Conviction
The Utah State Board of Pharmacy should only give your criminal conviction presumptive effect that you committed the crime. We may still be able to show that a court set aside, overturned, or expunged your conviction, or the executive pardoned it. We may alternatively be able to show that your conviction did not bear a substantial relationship to your fitness for safe and competent pharmacy practice.
Disciplinary Differences Among Specific Crimes
The Utah State Board of Pharmacy is also likely to consider the specific crime for which the criminal court convicted you. Here’s how we may be able to defend State Board disciplinary charges based on various criminal convictions.
License Discipline Effect of Utah Crimes Relating to Pharmacy
The type of crime most likely to lead to discipline under Utah Pharmacy Practice Act Section 58-1-401 is a crime bearing a substantial relationship to pharmacy practice. Pharmacy practice crimes can include fraud of government or private insurers, unauthorized drug dispensing or diversion, disease exposure, and customer identity theft. While these crimes may clearly implicate discipline, we may be able to show the conviction’s reversal or discharge, that the conviction was not for a pharmacy-related crime, or your completion of sentence and rehabilitation, among other defenses.
License Discipline Effect of Utah Safety Crimes
Utah Pharmacy Practice Act Section 58-1-401 also authorizes discipline for a crime bearing on the pharmacist’s safety to practice. Crimes implicating a pharmacist’s character for safety may include violent crimes like homicide, assault, kidnapping, false imprisonment, and domestic violence. We may be able to show that you did not commit a crime relating to safety, that your committing of a safety crime was a heat-of-passion crime that would not occur in pharmacy practice, that your safety crime did not result in serious injury, and that you have rehabilitated your character for safety.
License Discipline Effect of Utah Competence Crimes
Utah Pharmacy Practice Act Section 58-1-401 also authorizes discipline for a crime bearing on the pharmacist’s competence to practice. Crimes implicating a pharmacist’s character for competence may include crimes of dishonesty like drug diversion, insurance fraud, and identity theft. Crimes relating to competence could also include drug and alcohol crimes implicating substance abuse and dependency, and the risk of impaired practice. We may be able to defend disciplinary charges based on competence-related crimes by showing that you did not commit a crime reflecting incompetence, the court set aside, reversed, or expunged your conviction, no one suffered any financial or other harm related to your acts, or you have rehabilitated your character for competence.
License Discipline Effect of Utah Crimes of Moral Turpitude
While Utah Pharmacy Practice Act Section 58-1-401 does not expressly authorize discipline for crimes of moral turpitude, these crimes may fall under safety or competence concerns. Crimes of moral turpitude include things like corruption of a minor, solicitation to prostitution, and indecent exposure or public lewdness. We may be able to show that you did not commit a crime of moral turpitude, the court set aside, overturned, or expunged your moral turpitude crime, you present no risk to any pharmacy customer, or you have rehabilitated your moral character.
Utah Pharmacist’s Duty to Report Criminal Issues
When you renew your pharmacy license, Utah State Board of Pharmacy renewal forms will almost surely require your disclosure of your criminal conviction. The State Board will likely construe any omission to report your conviction as your deliberate intent to conceal your disqualification and as credential fraud worthy of discipline. Do not attempt any concealment. The State Board may, in any case, discover from your criminal history, background check, or other routine searches and reports exchanged among state agencies. Instead, let our attorneys advise you as to your duty to timely report and fully disclose your conviction, and let us help you make that disclosure in the accurate manner most helpful to your disciplinary defense.
Utah Pharmacist Licensing Procedures
Utah Pharmacy Practice Act Section 58-17b-401 requires that any discipline the State Board of Pharmacy imposes be according to the procedures of Section 58-1-401. Section 401 refers to adjudication procedures. Those procedures must comply with your constitutional due process rights to fair notice and a hearing. We can invoke those procedural protections to present your best defense at the hearing. We can also pursue your administrative appeal and seek civil court relief if you have already lost your formal hearing.
Premier Utah Pharmacist License Defense
Your best move when facing Utah State Board of Pharmacy disciplinary charges relating to criminal issues is to retain the LLF National Law Firm’s premier Professional License Defense Team for your license defense. We have helped hundreds of pharmacists and other healthcare professionals in Utah and nationwide successfully resolve their disciplinary charges. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now for our premier attorney representation.