EDMONTON -- An Edmonton pharmacist has been suspended for two years and fined $20,000 after a hearing tribunal of the Alberta College of Pharmacy found him guilty of unprofessional conduct.
Mohamed Said Ibrahim owned and operated the Evergreen Pharmacy which has since closed and not re-opened.
According to an ACP hearing tribunal's ruling, he singularly dispensed over 800 prescriptions per day over a two-week period in 2018 without conducting required daily patient assessments, fully documenting those prescription or properly staffing his pharmacy.
"Mr. Ibrahim was the sole pharmacist and employed only one pharmacy assistant. It was not reasonable or appropriate for him to be dispensing over 800 prescriptions per day," the hearing tribunal's ruling reads.
"A pharmacist working in these conditions is not capable of adequately participating in quality assurance processes or programs. Adequate controls and checks cannot be maintained."
The tribunal also found Ibrahim failed to identify and respond to "numerous drug errors and discrepancies."
The ruling notes there was no harm to patients, but that without proper staffing "his conduct increases the risk of harm to patients."
It also ruled he improperly relied on patients’ physicians to determine what was being dispensed rather than doing so himself as outlined in the ACP code of conduct.
"A pharmacist has a duty to determine the appropriateness of a prescription prior to dispensing it and cannot simply rely on the assessment by the physician."
Apart from the fine and licence suspension, the panel banned Ibrahim from owning a pharmacy for five years. He is also responsible for covering $25,000 in ACP investigation costs.
The ruling notes Ibrahim had voluntarily not practiced for nearly two years, had owned the pharmacy for less than 14 months and had co-operated with investigators.
In October of 2018, Ibrahim was reprimanded by an ACP hearing tribunal that ordered his practice to be suspended for two months.
That ruling documents a dispute between Ibrahim and an ACP field officer over the number of prescriptions dispensed per day as well as documentation issues at the Evergreen Pharmacy.
