Shuswap pharmacist fined $25K for selling stolen prescription drugs, supplies

A Salmon Arm pharmacist was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine after buying medication and supplies stolen by a hospital employee.

Between at least 2011 and 2018, Laurent Pierre Roy purchased pharmacy supplies, including prescription medications, from a hospital employee for cash, according to a consent agreement.

“The hospital alleged the hospital employee diverted the supplies from the hospital,” reads a complaint outcome from the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia. “Evidence in the form of communication suggested the (Roy) was aware of the diverted nature of the supplies he purchased, and that some of the cash he paid for the supplies to the hospital employee were diverted away from hospital accounts.”

Roy may have benefited financially by purchasing the supplies from the hospital employee and then reselling the supplies from his pharmacy, the college said.

“(Roy’s) decision to continue making purchases was likely based on financial gain, and this indicated a pattern of poor judgment,” the college said. “His actions were a serious contravention of standards in the Code of Ethics and compromised the public’s trust in the pharmacy profession.”

The college has suspended Roy’s registration as a pharmacist for one year and banned him from managing a pharmacy or supervising pharmacist students for three years.

In addition to the $25,000 fine, Roy will also have to take an ethics course and exam.

He will also have a letter of reprimand placed on the College of Pharmacists of B.C’s register indefinitely.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Kathy Michaels or call 250-718-0428 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.