As a licensed pharmacist working in Southwest Florida – the region around Cape Coral, Fort Myers, and Naples – you know better than anybody how much time, effort, study, and expense you have devoted to being able to work as a licensed pharmacist in the state. You’ve spent years in undergraduate and graduate school to earn your doctorate, thousands of hours at your internship, and then more time studying for and passing the NAPLEX as well as the MPJE. And even after earning your pharmacist license, you still need to meet Florida’s continuing education requirements if you want to be able to renew it.
All of this time, effort, and expense means that your pharmacist license is probably your most valuable personal credential. That’s why you need to take it seriously if you learn that you’ve been accused of misconduct. Whether you work in one of Southwest Florida’s larger cities, such as Cape Coral, a medium-sized one such as Bonita Springs, or a small town such as Fort Myers Beach, you need to protect your license if you want to continue to be able to work as a pharmacist. The LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team is here to help you when that happens. Call us today at 888.535.3686 or fill out our contact form, and we will schedule a confidential consultation to learn more about your case – and to explain how we can help.
Pharmacists in Southwest Florida
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were more than 21,000 pharmacists working all across Florida in 2023, with Southwest Florida being home to more than 800 of them. As many pharmacists are aware, the profession pays well, with an “annual mean wage” in Southwest Florida of more than $137,000 per year. That is well over twice the annual mean wage for all other professions in that area that the BLS tracks.
Of course, there are a number of chain pharmacies in the Southwest Florida area, such as Walgreens, CVS, and Publix but the region is also home to a number of independent pharmacies and smaller chains. With the many choices that consumers have when it comes to filling prescriptions, it’s clear that one major consequence of being publicly disciplined for misconduct is a loss of customers. This can have serious consequences not only for the prescriptions the pharmacy fills, but also for the sales of other, non-prescription products that it sells.
Even if your license is not suspended or revoked as a result of a Florida Board of Pharmacy disciplinary proceeding, being publicly disciplined can hurt your reputation as well as your business. It is thus important to take immediate steps, as soon as you learn that someone has filed a misconduct complaint against you, to protect your rights and defend your license. One thing is for certain, if you ignore the notice you receive from the Florida Board of Pharmacy, the issue is not going to disappear.
The key is to take active steps as early as you can to address the situation. Working with one of the experienced attorneys from the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team will make that happen. We can be on your team from day one, making sure you provide the Board with the information it may request in a timely fashion; protecting your rights throughout the investigation and any disciplinary proceeding; and defending the license you have worked so hard to earn.
No matter where in Southwest Florida you are working, from Fort Myers, to Lehigh Acres, to Cape Coral, to Immokalee, the best thing you can do as soon as you learn that someone has filed a misconduct complaint against you is to reach out to the LLF National Law Firm Professional License Defense Team. Pharmacist misconduct investigations can take months, if not longer, and can be extremely stressful. Having someone by your side who knows what’s going on, what’s likely to happen next, and what steps to take to defend your license can help with not only reducing that stress, but also with the defense of your license.
Disciplinary Actions Against Pharmacists in Southwest Florida
The Florida Board of Pharmacy is responsible for enforcing the state’s laws, rules, and regulations that apply to pharmacists in the state. Pharmacists all across Florida, including in Southwest Florida, can be disciplined for many reasons, including:
- Fraud or misrepresentation in the course of obtaining their pharmacist license
- Practicing pharmacy while under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- Having an “abnormal mental or physical condition” that could result in harm to those for whom the pharmacist is dispensing drugs
- Being convicted of or pleading guilty (including no contest) to a crime that “directly relates to the ability to practice pharmacy or to the practice of pharmacy”
- Preparing a prescription using an ingredient that is different than what was prescribed, except as may be authorized by law
- Being disciplined by a licensing agency in another state for a violation that would be prohibited in Florida as well
- Compounding, dispensing, or distributing a “legend drug, including a controlled substance” outside of the normal practice of pharmacy
- Making or filing a false report or record required by federal or state law
- Failing to make prescription price information readily available upon request
- Returning to the stock of a pharmacy any part of medication returned by a patient, except under certain circumstances involving care facilities and individually-dosed medication
- Being unable to practice pharmacy safely because of any mental or physical condition
- Violating a rule of the Board of Pharmacy or an order of the Board
- Failing to report any licensee who has committed misconduct
- Disclosing patient confidential records without authorization
- Dispensing prescription drugs based on a “communication that purports to be a prescription” that is not valid
- Committing any number of errors in connection with prescription drug processing
Anybody can file a complaint about a pharmacist for any reason – even a reason not listed in the statute. Not every complaint covers conduct that the Board regulates, however. Billing disputes, for example, may not have anything to do with the conduct of the pharmacist, and personalities can clash without the pharmacist violating any practice requirements. When that happens, the complaint may be dismissed.
In situations where the Department of Health receives a misconduct complaint about a pharmacist that does appear to cite conduct that the Board of Pharmacy regulates, it may forward the matter to its Investigative Services Unit (ISU). The ISU will assign the matter to an investigator, who may be located in a field office close to the location of the pharmacist named in the complaint.
Investigations can take months. The investigator will, in most cases, interview the pharmacist, and in many cases will also interview the person who filed the complaint, as well as co-workers of the pharmacist or other witnesses. The investigator may also seek medical and pharmacy records as well as texts, emails, and other communications that may relate to the misconduct alleged in the complaint.
You should not fool yourself: the investigation is an extremely important stage in the disciplinary process. Depending on the information uncovered, it could lay the groundwork for your pharmacist license to be suspended or revoked. If you are working with one of the experienced attorneys from the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team, you will benefit from their years of experience helping other pharmacists and professional license holders through similar investigations. We know what it takes to protect your rights at every point during the disciplinary process – including the investigation. We will be there for you, looking out for you and your future.
Help During Disciplinary Investigations
One of the most stressful situations that can happen during any investigation is when you become the target of the investigator’s questions. Most of us are not used to a situation where someone whose job it is to uncover potentially bad information about us is sitting across a table and asking us one question after another.
It’s a very difficult experience, one that you probably are not prepared for. The LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team, however, can change that. We will explain how the interview process works; the types of questions you can expect; how to listen to the questions to make sure you understand them; and how to focus your answer so that you are just answering the question you’re asked. When you are more comfortable during the interview process, you are less likely to stumble over your words and to forget important information that could help your case.
Investigations are about more than just interviews, of course. In many cases, the investigator may also want documents and even things like texts and emails. When you work with the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team, we will make sure you meet your obligation to provide documents to the investigator as requested, and that you do so in a timely way.
After the Investigation
When the investigation is complete, the investigator will prepare a report that will be sent to the Department of Health’s attorneys, who will review it and determine whether to take additional steps to discipline the pharmacist. If the investigation does not support the allegations made against the pharmacist, the matter will be dismissed. If it does support the allegations, then a formal administrative complaint will be filed against the pharmacist.
Many, if not most, administrative complaints are settled with an agreement between the Board and the pharmacist. The LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team can help negotiate these settlements, which have the benefit of resolving the matter without the uncertainty of a hearing.
Cases that do not settle will proceed to an administrative hearing before an administrative law judge. These will resemble court trials, with witnesses giving testimony and documents admitted into evidence. The judge will issue findings of fact and conclusions of law after the close of the hearing and will make a recommended order to the Board of Pharmacy. The Board can accept, modify, or reject the order; as a practical matter, the Board will, in most cases, accept it and impose any sanctions recommended by the judge on the pharmacist. Board orders imposing sanctions can be appealed, and the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team can advise whether there are issues that are likely to help if you are in a situation where you are considering appealing a Board order.
Potential Outcomes
There are a number of different sanctions that the Board can impose on a pharmacist. These include:
- Ordering the pharmacist to take remedial educational coursework in one or more subject areas
- Issuing a reprimand
- Issuing a letter of concern
- Placing the pharmacist on probation, with conditions such as requiring the pharmacist to undergo treatment; to attend continuing education courses; to work under the supervision of another pharmacist; or other conditions as may be appropriate
- Restricting the pharmacist from certain types of practice
- Fining the pharmacist, up to $10,000 for each offense
- Suspending the pharmacist’s license
- Revoking the pharmacist’s license
When the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team works with a pharmacist who is being investigated or disciplined for alleged misconduct, our focus is on resolving the matter with as little impact on the pharmacist’s license as possible. We understand how important it is that our clients continue to be able to work in their chosen profession.
The LLF National Law Firm Can Defend Your Pharmacist License in Southwest Florida
Whether you are working as a pharmacist in Cape Coral, Naples, Fort Myers, Marco Island, Bonita Springs, or a nearby town, the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team is here to help you if you are facing a disciplinary investigation or proceeding. We understand how important your pharmacist license is to you, your career, and your livelihood, and we are ready to fight to protect your rights and to defend your license.
Our experienced attorneys understand the laws, regulations, rules, and procedures that apply in disciplinary investigations and proceedings in Florida. We regularly help pharmacists and other licensed professionals protect their licenses and their careers all across the country, including in Southwest Florida.
Call the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team today at 888.535.3686, or fill out our contact form, and we will schedule a confidential consultation where you can tell us about your case, and we can explain how we can help. You have worked hard to earn your pharmacist license; let the LLF National Law Firm help you protect it.