As a pharmacist, you help children and adults access life-changing and life-saving prescription medicine. You provide information on pharmaceuticals, guidance on drug interactions, and advice on the safe and effective use of medications. Within the scope of your practice, you may give immunizations and help patients understand their medications and potential side effects. Within your community, you have a critical role in the healthcare system.
In Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, and throughout the Research Triangle, you collaborate with physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers to help patients improve their health, fight disease, and ease pain. Your customers and community depend on you and your expertise.
As medical costs climb and prescription drug shortages continue, you show up for your patients every day. Whether you work in a large medical center, such as Duke University Hospital, UNC Hospitals, UNC Rex Hospital, WakeMed Cary Hospital, or a retail or other community setting, you provide critical healthcare and treatment resources to your community members.
When you are a pharmacist, deeply committed to the care of your customers, it can be devastating to learn a license complaint has been filed with the Board against you.
If you work in Raleigh or the surrounding area and face a license disciplinary investigation or hearing, the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team is ready to help. Regardless of the circumstances or allegations, our experienced attorneys can fight to protect you and your pharmacist license. To discuss your case with the Lento Law Firm, call our offices at 888-535-3686 or contact us online.
The North Carolina Board of Pharmacy and Pharmacist Practice in Raleigh-Durham
Your education, training, and experience may guide your dispensing and customer care decisions; however, the North Carolina Pharmacy Practice Act (NCPPA) and the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy (the Board) also regulate your daily practice.
The Board is responsible for protecting the public health, safety, and welfare of North Carolinians in pharmaceutical matters. The Board has the authority to develop licensing standards for pharmacists and to investigate misconduct allegations made against pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
The Board consists of five pharmacists and one member of the public.
Common Allegations of Misconduct Made Against Pharmacists in Raleigh-Durham
The Lento Law Firm defends pharmacists facing disciplinary investigations, hearings, and sanctions in Raleigh and its surrounding communities, including Durham, Cary, and Chapel Hill. We know that your license is the foundation of your profession and your livelihood. Any threat to your license is a threat to your future.
You help your patients and customers navigate the complex landscape of modern medication and pharmaceuticals. Our experienced attorneys can help you navigate North Carolina's license disciplinary procedures for pharmacists.
For you and your colleagues, your career as a pharmacist is the foundation for your life. When a disciplinary investigation or hearing threatens your license, you must take decisive action to defend yourself by contacting the Lento Law Firm. Regardless of where you practice, our experienced attorneys can advocate on your behalf. We are committed to protecting your license.
The NCPPA describes the types of misconduct that can lead to license disciplinary investigations and hearings. The grounds for disciplinary action are wide-ranging and often involve fraudulent conduct, criminal activities, the abuse or misuse of drugs or alcohol, the mishandling or misuse of drugs, or professional incompetence.
In North Carolina, common grounds for license discipline include:
- Making false representations or withholding material information in connection with a license application.
- Dispensing an incorrect medication or an incorrect quantity of the prescribed medication.
- Providing incorrect directions for taking medication.
- Dispensing medication to the wrong patient.
- Fraud in dispensing medications.
- Abuse of alcohol or other substances.
- Employee theft of prescription medication.
- A conviction, guilty plea, or nolo contendere plea to a felony involving pharmacy practice or drug distribution.
- Making false representations in connection with the practice of pharmacy that endanger or are likely to endanger the public or defraud any person.
- Developing a physical or mental disability that renders the pharmacist unfit to practice with reasonable skill, competence, and safety to the public.
- Failure to comply with laws governing pharmacy practice and drug distribution.
- Failure to comply with the NCPPA or related regulations.
- Demonstrating negligence in the practice of pharmacy.
If you are a pharmacist accused of committing misconduct, you may feel isolated, embarrassed, or confused. Don't let your fear limit your response. Let the Lento Law Firm challenge any complaint made against you.
North Carolina Board of Pharmacy Disciplinary Processes
The Board has developed a complex and adversarial license discipline process to investigate and adjudicate complaints against pharmacists in the Raleigh-Durham area and throughout the state. The disciplinary process includes:
- A Complaint: In North Carolina, anyone can file a complaint with the Board. Complaints are often filed by patients, former patients, family members of patients, co-workers, supervisors, insurers, and colleagues. If you believe a complaint may have been filed against you, contact the Lento Law Firm. It is never too early to take steps to protect yourself and your license. Our experienced professional license defense attorneys may be able to pursue informal negotiation and achieve a resolution to the complaint before an investigation begins.
- An Investigation: If the complaint is evidence-based, the Board begins an investigation. The accused pharmacist will be asked to provide a statement in response to the complaint in most cases. This is a critical opportunity to tell your side of the story. Importantly, any information you provide to the investigator could be used against you during a disciplinary proceeding. The Lento Law Firm can help you strategize and prepare your statement as part of a broader license defense strategy.
- Hearing: If warranted, the Board will hold a hearing. Before the hearing, depositions may be scheduled. As part of the discovery process, evidence may be shared and records subpoenaed. At the hearing, the accused pharmacist has the right to testify, introduce evidence, examine and cross-examine witnesses, and make opening and closing statements. A license discipline hearing is no place for the inexperienced. The stakes are high, and the rules are complex.
- If you are preparing for a professional license disciplinary hearing, let the Lento Law Firm develop and implement a comprehensive license defense strategy for you. From evidence collection and presentation to the identification of exonerating witnesses, our experienced attorneys can provide guidance and assistance before, during, and after the hearing.
- Decision: If the Board finds you responsible for misconduct, a sanction will be issued. Possible sanctions range from a letter of reprimand or the requirement to complete remedial education courses to license restriction, suspension, or revocation.
- After an adverse decision, an accused pharmacist may file a judicial review request before a Superior Court judge. In some cases, a pharmacist may be able to seek reinstatement of their license.
As a pharmacist, you play a critical role in protecting the health of your community. If you are accused of professional misconduct, the life and license you need to protect are your own. When you need to save yourself, your license, and your career, you want the experienced attorneys from the Lento Law Firm on your side.
The Far-Reaching Consequences of License Disciplinary Sanctions
You want to work in your chosen profession in Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, and the surrounding area. To do so, you need a license. A disciplinary investigation or hearing with the Board is a potential threat to your license and livelihood.
An adverse decision may lead to the suspension or revocation of your license. Without a license, you cannot work in your current position. With a suspended or revoked license, your future employment opportunities may be limited.
Without the ability to advance in the pharmacy career you chose and invested in, you may find that your financial security is in jeopardy.
Many pharmacists pay a tremendous personal cost if they are targeted with a misconduct allegation. An investigation and hearing are adversarial and stressful. The stigma of losing your license can be isolating.
Many pharmacists facing allegations of misconduct avoid coworkers, colleagues, and mentors and lose the support of their professional community. Accused licensees often withdraw from their friends and family. Too often, pharmacists experience anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges when confronted by the threat of a potentially career-ending disciplinary process.
At the Lento Law Firm, we protect pharmacists and their licenses. We can help bring order to the complexity and uncertainty of a disciplinary hearing and sanction. Partner with the Lento Law Firm. Let us help you protect your pharmacist license.
If You Are a Pharmacist in Raleigh-Durham, the Lento Law Firm Can Help Defend Your License and Your Future
If you are the target of an investigation by the Board, it is time to focus on protecting yourself and your pharmacist license. Disciplinary investigations and hearings are adversarial. You don't have to face them alone.
Instead, assemble a defense team to protect you and your livelihood. The Lento Law Firm can partner with you to challenge the allegations against you. We are ready to collaborate with you to create and execute a comprehensive license defense strategy in response to any disciplinary threat.
Your license is our priority.
The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team can defend you and your license before, during, and after a disciplinary investigation or hearing by:
- Advocating on your behalf for a resolution to the complaint without an investigation.
- Ensuring the Board meets its notice and due process requirements during any investigation and hearing.
- Performing our own investigation to identify mitigating evidence and exonerating witnesses.
- Preparing your initial statement and any other correspondence and documentation for submission to the Board or as evidence during a hearing.
- Representing you during pretrial negotiations or hearings, including examining and cross-examining witnesses on your behalf.
- Partnering with you before you participate in any deposition or give testimony to ensure your proper preparation.
- Providing legal guidance and information to you before and during a hearing to ensure you understand the process and potential outcomes.
- Developing a judicial review or license reinstatement strategy, if necessary.
Let our Professional License Defense Team serve as your legal advisors, applying our knowledge of North Carolina's law, regulations, and administrative procedures to advocate on your behalf during disciplinary investigations and administrative hearings.
The disciplinary investigation and hearing process can be long and arduous. The sooner you contact the Lento Law Firm, the sooner we can partner in your defense. Every step of North Carolina's investigation and adjudication process requires careful attention. A missed deadline or a careless statement can unnecessarily complicate your case, be used as evidence against you, or be treated as an admission of a violation.
It is never too late to discuss your case with a member of the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team. We can help.
Protecting Pharmacists in the Raleigh-Durham Area
We understand that as a pharmacist, your work is profoundly challenging and rewarding. You can provide accurate information. You can provide excellent care. However, you cannot control the health of your customers, the progression of their disease, or the effectiveness of treatment. Despite these circumstances, you continue to show up for your patients. Now, let the Lento Law Firm show up for you.
After years of education, clinical internships, and professional practice, you have a career that you love. The work you do helps others and provides the financial foundation for your life and future. You can count on us to manage your license defense, just like your clients depend on you.
If you are under investigation in Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, or the surrounding area, the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can partner with you to protect your license, your career, and your livelihood.
In Raleigh and the surrounding area, we've helped pharmacists navigate license investigations, hearings, and sanctions. When you are ready, we can help you. Call the Lento Law Firm at 888-535-3686 or contact us online.
