INSIDE: - Ontario College of Pharmacists

DECIDING ON
DISCIPLINE
C A S E 1
Practising while suspended/Failure
to pay costs ordered by the Discipline
Committee/Criminal conviction
(making a false statement to obtain
a passport)
Member: Nagy Riad, Toronto
Hearing Date: September 26, 2006
The hearing proceeded in the
absence of Mr. Riad, once the Panel
was satisfied he had been personally
served with two Notices of Hearing
which included the date and time for
the hearing.
The Facts and Findings of Professional
Misconduct
Practising While Suspended
Mr. Riad had been found guilty of
professional misconduct in April
2002. The penalty imposed at that
time by the Discipline Committee
included a suspension of his Certificate
of Registration from May 15 to
November 14, 2002.
The College called a number of
witnesses. A College inspector testified
that she attended at Mr. Riad’s
pharmacy shortly after his Certificate
of Registration was suspended. The
inspector testified that she made a
purchase on that occasion, and that
he came from the back room of the
store to assist her, although he was
not observed to dispense any medications
at that time.
An investigator was subsequently
appointed under s.75 of the Code. He
testified that he attended Mr. Riad’s
pharmacy after the suspension had
ended. The investigator reviewed and
took possession of certain records
pertaining to dates during the period
of Mr.Riad’s suspension. These
records were prescriptions or requests
for prescriptions, with handwritten
notations regarding communication
with physicians and patients.
A forensic handwriting expert testified
that she had examined these
documents taken from the Mr. Riad’s
pharmacy, and had concluded that
the handwriting on them was in fact
his.
The Panel found Mr. Riad guilty
of professional misconduct for practising
pharmacy while his Certificate
of Registration was suspended, which
is a breach of the standards of practice
of the profession, a contravention
of the Regulated Health Professions
Act and the Drug and Pharmacies
Regulation Act, and conduct that
would reasonably be regarded by
Members as disgraceful, dishonourable,
or unprofessional.
Criminal Finding of Guilt
A transcript of the criminal proceedings
was put into evidence, showing
that the Mr. Riad had been ordered
by the Ontario Court of Justice to
surrender his passport in connection
with certain criminal proceedings
(discussed further below). Mr. Riad
surrendered his passport, but then
applied to receive a new one, explaining
to Passport Canada that his passport
had been lost. Mr. Riad was
subsequently charged and convicted
of making a false statement for the
purpose of procuring a passport, and
of obstructing justice by falsely
reporting his passport to be lost.
The Panel found that this offence
was relevant to Mr. Riad’s suitability
to practise pharmacy in that it
showed a lack of honesty, a lack of
integrity, and an inability to be governed
by authority. Therefore, the
Panel found Mr.Riad guilty of professional
misconduct.
Failure to Pay Costs
An allegation was also made that Mr.
Riad’s failure to pay costs pursuant to
an order resulting from the previous
disciplinary proceedings constituted
professional misconduct. The previous
Panel had ordered Mr. Riad to
make a number of payments to the
College, totalling $10,000, to defray
its costs in prosecuting him. The
Member paid the initial amount of
$2,000 on schedule, but a subsequent
cheque he gave the College for
$1,000 came back from the bank
unpaid because of “Not Sufficient
Funds” (NSF).
The Panel found that the College
had not provided adequate evidence
that Mr. Riad had been made aware
of the fact that his cheque was
returned “NSF.” It was also not clear
whether he had already provided
other post-dated cheques, which the
College had simply not tried to cash,
on the assumption they too would be
returned. Therefore, the Panel did
Pharmacy Connection January • February 2007 37