As a licensed pharmacist working in the Greater Cleveland area, you know better than anyone how hard you've worked to earn your license. On top of years of education and training, you've spent countless hours studying for the NAPLEX and MPJE exams, and once you've earned your license, you've stayed current by meeting Ohio's continuing education requirements. When all of this time, effort, and expense is threatened by a misconduct complaint, you need to take strong steps to protect your license and your future.
That's where the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can help. Our experienced attorneys regularly represent pharmacists and other professional license holders whose licenses are in jeopardy because of misconduct complaints. No matter where you work in and around Greater Cleveland – whether it's Cleveland itself, a nearby suburb such as Lakewood or Cleveland Heights, or cities in the area such as Akron or Canton – your pharmacist license is vitally important to your livelihood and your future. Call us at 888.535.3686 or complete our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation with a member of the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team to learn more about how we can help.
Pharmacists in the Greater Cleveland Area
The Ohio Board of Pharmacy reported more than 23,000 active pharmacist licenses in Ohio in 2023. When it comes to licensed pharmacists who are actually working, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there are almost 14,000 licensed pharmacists working across the state of Ohio, with more than 2900 of them in Cleveland, over 800 in Akron, and almost 400 in Canton. Pharmacists are relatively well-paid: where Ohio's annual median wage for all professions listed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics was $48,060 in May of 2024, for Pharmacists that figure was $134,440.
With chains such as Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, Walmart, and others operating pharmacies in Greater Cleveland as well as across Ohio, and with the many smaller chains and individually-owned pharmacies active in the state, consumers in Ohio have many choices when it comes to choosing where to purchase their prescription and over-the-counter drugs. This is the case whether they are living in one of the area's larger cities, or in smaller ones such as Cuyahoga Falls, Lorain, Stow, Kent, Elyria, or elsewhere in the region.
That's why it is so important to pay close attention and to take action if you receive a notice that someone has filed a misconduct complaint against you. Don't ignore it, because it's not going to go away. When the Board of Pharmacy advises you that a complaint has been filed against you and an investigation is beginning, it will continue whether you participate in the matter or not. And in most cases, if you ignore it, you're likely to face sanctions – sanctions that can result in your license being suspended or revoked, as well as becoming part of your public license record that anyone can look up.
And because pharmacists tend to be well-paid, you'll have a lot to lose if your license is suspended or revoked, and you can no longer work as a pharmacist. While it's great to be able to make a good living at your job, if the ability to do that job is taken from you because your license is suspended or revoked, it can be very difficult to find another position that doesn't require a license and will pay as well.
If you are a pharmacist in the Greater Cleveland area – including Akron and Canton, as well as surrounding suburban areas – and you're notified that a misconduct complaint has been filed against you, one of the first things you should do is to contact the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team to discuss your situation and learn how we can help. A strong defense begins during the investigation stage, and our attorneys know what to do from day one to protect your rights and defend you and your license throughout the Board of Pharmacy's investigation and disciplinary process. Simply put, your best chance of protecting your license and your future is to contact the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team as soon as you learn you're the subject of a misconduct complaint.
Disciplinary Actions Against Pharmacists in the Greater Cleveland Area
The Ohio Board of Pharmacy enforces Ohio's laws and regulations that apply to licensed pharmacists in the state. When it comes to pharmacists accused of misconduct, there are a number of potential grounds that the Board can use as a reason for imposing disciplinary sanctions. These include:
- A felony conviction
- Conviction of a “crime of moral turpitude,” which is defined by Ohio law and includes sexual and violent offenses or attempts to commit sexual or violent offenses
- A misdemeanor conviction that is related to the pharmacist's practice
- A violation of any federal or state law, regulation, or rule (except for minor traffic violations)
- Dishonesty in the practice of pharmacy
- Allowing someone who is not licensed to practice pharmacy
- Allowing someone who is not licensed to use the pharmacist's name to illegally practice pharmacy
- Abuse of or addiction to alcohol or drugs
- Failing to meet the prevailing standards of care for pharmacists
Complaints against pharmacists can cover any issue that the person filing the complaint wants to raise with the Board, which is why not all complaints result in investigations or disciplinary actions against the pharmacist named in the complaint. The Board will only pursue complaints that potentially reflect the pharmacist's violation of the laws, rules, or regulations that apply to their work. A pricing dispute, or a complaint that the pharmacist was rude to the customer, for example, may not result in the Board investigating the complaint because generally speaking, pricing issues and the politeness (or not) of pharmacists are not matters that the Board regulates.
In some cases, the Board may investigate a complaint only to discover information that may result in the Board deciding not to pursue discipline against the pharmacist named in the complaint. This is where working with an experienced attorney from the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can be enormously helpful. Depending on the circumstances, we may be able to provide the Board's investigator with information that will explain the situation raised in the complaint, to the point where the Board may decide that there is no basis to file formal disciplinary charges against the pharmacist.
By anticipating the kinds of issues that are important to the Board, and where possible providing information about those issues, we are sometimes able to end the disciplinary matter at the investigation stage. This, of course, is a best-case outcome. Even if this doesn't happen in your case, you will benefit from knowing that your rights are being protected by your attorney from day one, and that your attorney is focused on defending you and your license from sanctions that could leave you unable to work as a pharmacist, either temporarily or permanently.
Help During Disciplinary Investigations
In almost every case where a disciplinary investigation is opened based on a complaint filed against a pharmacist, the Board's investigator, who is often an attorney affiliated with the Board, will want to interview the accused pharmacist. Investigative interviews can be very stressful – most of us are not used to the experience of sitting down across from someone whose job it is to uncover facts about misconduct allegations that have been made against us. When you're working with one of the experienced attorneys from the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team, however, we can prepare you for this uncomfortable experience.
We can work with you so that you understand what kinds of questions to expect, know how to listen carefully to the question to focus on what the investigator is asking you, and practice how to take the time to consider the question and focus your answer on what was asked. We can also be with you when you're interviewed, to help make sure you're only asked questions that are fair and clear, and that if you have important information to provide that could help your case, that information is disclosed to the investigator along with the answers to the investigator's questions.
If the investigator asks for documents in addition to your interview, our attorneys can help you gather the requested information and provide it in a timely way so that you can't be accused of failing to cooperate with the Board's investigator. We can be the main point of contact with the Board and with the Board's investigator, so that you don't have to worry about fielding emails or phone calls. We'll also make sure you meet any deadlines that may arise during the course of the disciplinary process, so that you don't have to worry about doing so.
After the Investigation
The Board will review the results of the investigation and will decide whether to file formal charges against you. If it does so, the notice will include what you're being charged with and what laws or rules the Board believes you have violated. Once you receive the notice of the charges being filed against you, you have the right to request a formal hearing, provided you make the request within the 30-day time period after the charges are served on you.
During this time, there is typically the opportunity to negotiate with the Board to resolve your disciplinary matter. Most cases, in fact, do not go to the hearing stage but instead settle on terms that both the pharmacist and the Board will accept. When you work with the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team, you will benefit from having an attorney on your side who is experienced at negotiating favorable outcomes to license disciplinary matters. While each case is different, in many cases it is possible to negotiate a result that will preserve the pharmacist's ability to continue to practice pharmacy. Our attorneys regularly use their knowledge and experience to help resolve matters fairly, without the uncertainty of a formal hearing.
The Formal Hearing
If you have requested a formal hearing within the time limit for you to do so, a hearing will be scheduled where both sides can present evidence and witnesses, and they can have the chance to contest evidence and cross-examine witnesses. The hearing takes place before a hearing officer, who will submit a written report within 30 days of the hearing being complete. When the hearing officer's report is complete, both sides will have 10 days to submit their objections to it. The Board will review the report and any objections submitted before it issues its decision. That will typically happen within 90 days of when the hearing report and objections were submitted (unless the hearing is reopened in response to any objections, in which case the result will be delayed further). Board decisions will include findings of fact and conclusions of law, so that each side can understand how the Board arrived at its decision.
Appeals from Board decisions are possible, though typically on limited grounds. Whether a Board decision may be subject to challenge on appeal is something that your attorney can review with you when the Board decision issues.
Potential Outcomes
Of course, the best result in any disciplinary case is for the matter to be dismissed. When that doesn't happen, the Board has a range of possible sanctions that it can impose on the pharmacist. These include:
- Reprimand: essentially, a written condemnation of the pharmacist's actions that typically does not include any other sanctions, but will still appear on the pharmacist's record
- Probation or Limitation: the pharmacist may be required to take certain steps, complete certain remedial courses, and limit their practice until such time as the Board says they no longer have to do so
- Suspension: the pharmacist's license is suspended and may not practice for a set period of time, or until the pharmacist meets certain requirements (such as remedial training)
- Revocation: the pharmacist's license is taken away, and the pharmacist may no longer practice pharmacy
Obviously, our goal when defending against any disciplinary allegations is to resolve the matter in a way that allows the pharmacist to continue to practice pharmacy. The best chance for this to happen is if we are involved as soon as you learn that a complaint has been filed against you.
The Lento Law Firm Can Defend Your Pharmacist License in the Greater Cleveland Area
Whether you're working in one of the larger cities in the Greater Cleveland Area, such as Akron, Canton, or Cleveland itself, or you are in one of the surrounding suburbs such as Shaker Heights, Parma, Berea, Tallmadge, or any of the other many towns in the region, if you are a licensed pharmacist facing misconduct allegations, you need a strong defense. The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team is made up of attorneys who have years of experience helping pharmacists and other licensed professionals in Ohio defend themselves from misconduct allegations.
We understand the laws, rules, and regulations that apply to pharmacist licenses and know what it takes to protect your rights and defend you and your license if you've been accused of misconduct. As a firm, we protect the rights of pharmacists and other professional license holders all across the country. That experience means we understand what issues are important to licensing boards such as Ohio's Board of Pharmacy. We use that experience every day to help our clients when they are facing disciplinary investigations and proceedings, and to fight to protect their licenses and their livelihoods.
If you have learned that the Ohio Board of Pharmacy is beginning an investigation against you based on a misconduct complaint, call the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team for help. The sooner we are involved, the more help we can provide. You can reach us at 888.535.3686 or by filling out our contact form. We'll get back to you and schedule a confidential consultation so that you can tell us about your case, and we can explain the various ways we can help.
