Training as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician in California takes time, effort, and money. Even after acquiring the best skills, you must go through a lengthy, rigorous, and tedious application process to obtain a license to offer legal services within the state. The permit requires renewal every so often to make it valid, which is expensive. Yet, even after all that, you can lose it all, including your entire career, if someone files a complaint against you with the California Board of Pharmacy.

At the Law Office of Sara L. Caplan, we help professionals like you defend their licenses in Los Angeles. We understand how important your career is, especially after spending so much time, effort, and money to obtain skills and a permit. We also know how easily all that effort can go down the drain following a report of unprofessional conduct to the board. We can work with you to ensure you obtain a fair outcome.

The Critical Services of Pharmacists and  Pharmacy Technicians

The pharmaceutical sector is critical in ensuring that people needing medication for themselves or animals can access quality and effective medicines. People working in this industry, including pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, are critical in ensuring easy, timely, and effective access to safe and quality medications across the state. However, serving your role well in this industry requires training, experience, and dedication. It also involves a lot of discipline to discharge quality, effective, safe services throughout your career.

The Board of Pharmacy ensures that only highly qualified, experienced, and dedicated professionals are licensed to serve in this industry. It does this to protect the public from unsafe and ineffective practices. Licensed pharmacists are expected to discharge correct dosages according to the prescriptions they receive from healthcare professionals. They must also consider dosage recommendations, side effects, and drug interactions warnings to protect their patients from harm. This great responsibility requires a lot of professional training and dedication.

After spending years training, retraining, and obtaining a license, pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians can work in various areas, including healthcare facilities, drug stores, and dispensaries. Their work entails more than dispensing drugs over counters. Sometimes, patients depend on them entirely for advice on the proper medication or dosages for specific results. Even in such cases, you are required to demonstrate competence and professionalism.

Sadly, you can make mistakes or disagree with a patient or colleague. Other times, your personal life and pleasures can get in the way of your service delivery. This can result in a complaint against you to the board. If the board initiates an administrative process against you, you need help to protect your license and career. A license attorney who understands how hard you have worked to build your career and the importance of keeping your license is the right one to contact. Doing so at the start of the administrative process improves your chances of receiving a favorable result.

The Function of the California Board of Pharmacy

Issuing licenses is one of the tasks the Board of Pharmacy in California performs. However, issuing licenses is not the board’s primary role. The board was established to ensure that the public is safe and satisfied with the services of certified pharmacists and technicians. Technically speaking, the board exists to regulate how these professionals work for the sake of the public. Thus, everything it does, including interviewing, licensing, and disciplining licensed professionals, is geared towards this primary mandate.

To achieve its mandate, the board ensures that anyone intending to become a pharmacist or technician in California receives quality training and experience before obtaining a license. The board also ensures that only highly qualified individuals qualify to serve patients within the state. Additionally, it ensures that these professionals understand their role, the code of ethics that should govern their service delivery, and the laws by which they must abide when discharging their service. The board also ensures licensed pharmacists understand the importance of offering safe, reliable, and effective service throughout their careers.

The Board of Pharmacy has developed a list of dos and don’ts for licensed professionals in this field. These are actions or inactions that could result in disciplinary action. You must familiarize yourself with these regulations and continue reminding yourself of them to avoid legal and administrative problems during service delivery. For example, you cannot serve your clients effectively if you are addicted to alcohol or drugs. You also risk your patients’ lives if you fail to dispense medication according to doctors’ prescriptions. A violation of any of these regulations triggers disciplinary action by the board.

Here are examples of violations that can lead to discipline by the Board of Pharmacy:

  • Demonstrating incompetence or being negligent while discharging your services
  • Obtaining your pharmacist or technician license through fraud
  • Over-dispensing drugs to patients
  • Failing to follow a doctor’s prescription when dispensing medication
  • Going beyond the limitations of your license in service delivery
  • Issuing drugs to a patient who is already addicted to the drugs
  • Sexual misconduct with a patient or colleague
  • Committing a criminal offense that affects your credibility as a pharmacist or technician
  • Hiring or supervising unlicensed or unqualified assistants in your practice
  • If you are under the investigation of another government agency or a licensing board from another state

Although the board does not investigate all complaints and allegations it receives from the public, it helps to prepare your defense if you receive a notice of a pending investigation. Sometimes, the board takes stern action that can affect a career where you have invested time, effort, and money. Defending your license increases your chances of retaining it and being able to do what you enjoy the most. It also ensures you and your dependents have a means of livelihood.

Disciplinary Measures by the Board of Pharmacy

The Board of Pharmacy in California has disciplinary guidelines that guide the board and administrative judges on the course of action against a licensed professional found culpable of unprofessional conduct. The guidelines are set according to the details of the violation, with the gravest violations receiving the harshest penalties and the lenient ones only receiving a citation or reprimand. Although these disciplinary guidelines are only intended to keep the industry safe for the public, they affect the professionals who receive the penalties in various ways. Some disciplines affect the professional’s reputation, and others impact their career and license.

Thus, you must plan your defense well to avoid losing a reputation or career that has taken you a long time to build. Working with a license attorney who understands your career and reputation's importance will improve your chances of success. An attorney will use the right defense strategies or mitigating factors to compel the administrative judges to drop the allegations or give you reasonable discipline. They will also fight against any discipline that will cause you to lose your patients, job, or license.

Remember that the Board of Pharmacy does not act on every claim it receives from the public. It first determines the credibility of a claim and decides how to act. If the board cannot substantiate a particular complaint, it will dismiss it without taking action. However, if there is some truth in the claim against you, the board will start investigating it. This is when it notifies you of the investigation and gives you a hearing date to appear before the administrative committee. You should prepare for the hearing even if you have not committed the violation or it was only an accident.

Here are some of the ways the board disciplines its licensed professionals:

Through Citations or Fines

If the allegation against you is lenient and no one was injured through your actions or omissions, the board can use a citation against you through its website. Sometimes, citations are accompanied by an order to pay a fine to the board, according to the gravity of the allegation. Citations only notify you that the board knows your violation to ensure you act better.

Although citations are very lenient and do not affect your career in any way, they can damage a professional’s reputation, mainly because they are issued publicly. Anyone who comes across the citation, including your patients or employer, will know about the violation.

Through Letters of Reprimands

This, too, is another less severe way in which the Board of Pharmacy disciplines professionals who violate their code of ethics. Instead of a citation, the board can reprimand your actions or omissions through an online letter. Again, this is posted on its website and accessible to the public, including your employer, patients, colleagues, and family members. This can also be damaging to your reputation. However, your attorney can fight it to protect your reputation and career.

Through Interim License Suspensions

Sometimes, the board suspends a professional’s license during an investigation to prevent any interference that could make the investigation impossible. If the board suspends your license in an inquiry, it will affect your livelihood and reputation. Remember that such investigations can take weeks or months. It means you will be out of work until the investigation is over and the final verdict is out. An aggressive attorney will not allow this to happen. They can use irrefutable evidence or mitigating factors to compel the board to reconsider its decision.

Through License Suspensions

License suspension can happen after the investigation is over. This mainly applies in cases where the board needs to give you time to correct your conduct before you can serve more patients. For example, if you are addicted to drugs or have anger issues, the board can suspend your license for a few months or years to allow you to receive treatment and rehabilitation. After that, you can reinstate your license.

Although license suspension sounds good, it leaves professionals out of work for months or years. Since you cannot work on a suspended license, you cannot earn a livelihood until you reinstate your license. A skilled attorney can fight a license suspension to keep you working as you undergo treatment or rehabilitation.

Through License Revocations

Revocations are a permanent cancellation of your pharmacy or technician license. This is a significant blow to a profession that has trained for years and dedicated time and money to building a career in the pharmaceutical industry. Sadly, you can lose your license permanently if you put your patients’ lives in danger. For example, if you over-dispense drugs to a patient or demonstrate negligence or incompetence, the board can terminate your license. This means you will no longer work or earn a living as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician in California.

Although license revocations are rare in California, you should be prepared for any eventuality if facing an administrative process. Depending on the gravity of the claim against you, your skilled attorney will know best how to plan your defense.

They can use your excellent performance record to convince the board to reconsider revoking your license. They can also demonstrate how critical your career is to you, your patients, and your dependents. If this works, you could retain your license. However, the board can use another disciplinary measure, like suspending your license.

Find a Brilliant Los Angeles License Defense Attorney Near Me

Making a mistake that risks your career or reputation as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician in Los Angeles can trigger an administrative process. The Board of Pharmacy will likely take disciplinary action against you to protect the public against unsafe or ineffective service. Depending on the gravity of your violation, you could receive a citation, reprimand, or lose your license to suspension or revocation. All these disciplines affect your career, reputation, or license.

We can help you fight any disciplinary actions that impact your profession at the Law Office of Sara L. Caplan. We have extensive knowledge and experience in administrative processes and possible outcomes. We can help you fight your allegation or introduce evidence or mitigating factors to compel the administrative judges to dismiss it or reconsider their disciplinary action. Contact us at 310-550-5877 to learn more about your case and our services.