Harpreet

Nature of Action: ​The Inquiry Committee of the College of Pharmacist of British Columbia (the “College”) conducted an investigation into the practice of Harpreet Deol (the “Registrant”), pursuant to section 33(4) of the Health Professions Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 183. The Inquiry Committee and the Registrant have agreed to resolve all matters arising from the investigation by way of a Consent Agreement under section 36(1) of the Health Professions Act.

Effective date: February 5, 2020

Name of registrant: Harpreet Singh Deol​

Location of Practice: Abbotsford, BC

Admissions and Acknowledgements:

Between February 2018 and August 2019, the Registrant took unauthorized medications for his own personal use from the pharmacy for which he was director and pharmacy manager. The medications taken included, but were not limited to, 11,000 tablets and 116,000 millilitres of narcotic drug substances and 200 tablets and 7 vials of controlled drug substances, both of which require an authorized prescription.

The Registrant did not process or bill these medications on PharmaNet and these medications were reportedly not provided to any other persons. All narcotic and controlled drug inventory was ordered and managed under the Registrant’s credentials and may have contributed to these losses going undetected.

A College inspection conducted on August 7^th, 2019 identified additional deficiencies in the Registrant’s management of the pharmacy and the pharmacy’s overall practice which included, but were not limited to, inaccurate dispensing of Methadone, inadequate/incomplete documentation, a lack of policies and procedures, inadequate record keeping and management of narcotic inventory, and inadequate pharmacy security

Disposition:

The Registrant entered into a Consent Agreement with the College’s Inquiry Committee, wherein the Registrant consented to terms that include (but are not limited to) the following:

1. To suspend his registration as a pharmacist for a total of 90 days, ending September 9, 2020;

2. To not be pharmacy manager, director, or officer of a pharmacy for a period of three years from September 10, 2020 to September 9, 2023;
    

3. To not be a preceptor or supervisor of pharmacy students or international pharmacy graduates for a period of three years from September 10, 2020 to September 9, 2023;

4. In relation to narcotic and controlled drugs, to not place and receive orders, destroy expired inventory, or have signing authority relating to the ordering of such substances for a period of three years from September 10, 2020 to September 9, 2023;

5. To complete and successfully pass an ethics course for healthcare professionals;

6. To complete and successfully pass training courses pertaining to the provision of Opioid Agonist Treatment (OAT) to patients and the management of a community pharmacy; and

7. To pay a fine of $2,500.

Rationale:

The Inquiry Committee considered that in this case, in addition to the serious misconduct, the Registrant placed himself and his patients at significant risk of harm when he took unauthorized medications for personal use and continued to practice in the capacity of a pharmacist. His actions were a serious contravention of standards in the Code of Ethics, and compromised the public’s trust in the pharmacy profession as a whole.

The Inquiry Committee therefore determined that the Registrant required serious remediation and deterrence regarding his conduct. After also considering significant mitigating factors, the Inquiry Committee considered the terms of the Consent Agreement appropriate to protect the public, as well as send a clear message of deterrence to the profession.