4th Annual WML Academic Symposium

Despite being “medication experts,” pharmacists who are at the forefront of dispensing medications remain vulnerable to substance abuse and dependence due to increased drug access, as well as personal and job-related factors. Each state’s Board of Pharmacy is tasked to protect public health and safety, which includes sanctioning pharmacists who have misused their position to obtain prescription drugs illegally. The majority of states have recovery networks for pharmacist rehabilitation and support for successful addiction recovery. This study examines four different states in the Southeastern region of the US: FL, NC, SC, and TN. Substance abuse cases among pharmacists and the respective sanctions by Boards of Pharmacies were evaluated, as well as the ability of these sanctions to deter future behaviors.

This is a retrospective observational study of violations committed by licensed pharmacists in the United States during the year of 2012. For the four states studied, there were a total of 180 pharmacists sanctioned for violations. The state of FL had the highest number of sanctioned pharmacists with 60 cases. Across all states, diversions accounted for 53 (29%) of the violations committed during that year. In terms of substance abuse, there were 31 cases that were part of the diversion group, out of which male pharmacists committed the majority of those violations. A total of 73 sanctions were imposed upon the diversion cases, among them fines and revocations were the most common. Harsher sanctions have not seemed to deter pharmacists from committing substance abuse violations. This study concludes that the problem is multifaceted and that pharmacists are not immune to substance abuse problems.