Pharmacist banned from practising in N.L. for 5 years for ethics violations, falsifying records
CBC
Newfoundland and Labrador's Pharmacy Board has banned a St. John's pharmacist from practising in the province for five years for professional misconduct and ethics violations involving two patients from 2007 to 2019.
The ban follows the board's investigation of Susan Gillingham, the pharmacist-in-charge at the Shoppers Drug Mart on LeMarchant Road over an allegation filed in January 2020.
In a June 23 decision released on the board's website, according to an agreed statement of facts jointly submitted by Gillingham and the board, Gillingham had a "personal relationship" with a patient of the pharmacy between 2007 and 2019, while she was involved in his care. Gillingham provided the patient methadone but didn't properly document the provision of doses and in some cases didn't witness the patient taking the methadone, as required by board standards for opioid treatment.
Several times, according to the statement, Gillingham left the patient's methadone on his doorstep or with a family member, or in a lockbox for him to retrieve.
The statement of facts also says Gillingham had a personal relationship with a second patient of the pharmacy in 2019 while she was involved in his care.
On Jan. 14, the pharmacists' board registrar filed a complaint against Gillingham over the personal relationships. Gillingham then falsified administration logs for the first patient and had him sign them, then provided copies of the falsified logs to the board.
The board then received information that Gillingham and the patient had falsified the logs. Gillingham then supplied the original hard copies of the falsified logs, passing them off as authentic documentation, leading to a second complaint filed against her by the registrar in November 2021.
Gillingham pleaded guilty to both complaints. In lieu of a suspension — since Gillingham is not currently registered to practise pharmacy in the province — the board has banned her from applying for reregistration for five years from the date of the decision.
Before being registered, she must complete at her own expense an ethics course approved by the board, and she won't be allowed to act as pharmacist-in-charge for at least three years if she is reregistered. She has also been ordered to pay $4,900 toward the cost of the investigation within three years.
Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
The driver wanted in connection with a fatal hit and run on Highway 401 earlier this week has been identified, police say.
There are mixed feelings about the proposed Grays Bay road and port project, among people who live in nearby communities.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse and includes graphic content.
Provincial police in Lambton County have charged a 23-year-old man with second degree murder following a death investigation that began this past Saturday.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government is forming a working group to tackle what it calls systemic issues in the justice system, but answers or solutions could still be months away.
A woman has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in a 2024 fatal hit and run in Truro, N.S., where the victim was dragged down the street, a case that went unsolved for more than six months.
A stream of people showing up to a brightly lit front porch, each holding up a bottle of wine, spirits, or beer.
Sona Lakhoyan Olivier has been excluded from Quebec’s Liberal caucus for the duration of an investigation led by the National Assembly’s ethics commissioner, the party announced Thursday.
The head of the William Whyte Neighbourhood Association hopes a city plan to crack down on vacant properties leads to a transformation in his community.
Saskatchewan's justice minister is rejecting the latest legislative proposal from the NDP Opposition, one that the NDP says is a necessary check on government power.
The provincial government is proposing sweeping changes to citizen-led referendum questions that could put a stop to an active court case about whether it’s constitutional to ask Albertans if they agree with separating from Canada.
A proposal for a hydrogen-powered passenger rail connecting Calgary and Banff has been submitted to the federal government in the hopes of having it fast-tracked.
The P.E.I. Green Party is calling on government to release the fall fiscal update. The checkup on the province's finances is typically released sometime in October.