The lawsuit asserts that the pharmacy could have transferred Strader to a role that would not require her to be in situations where she might have to prescribe birth control, instead of keeping her in an "essential" position where providing religious accommodation directly conflicted with the function of her job. More than 50 independent pharmacies have filed a class-action lawsuit against OptumRx, alleging . The alleged cornerstone of the scheme was a code used by the pharmacy employees in their internal computer system: BBDF or Bill But Dont Fill. Verree, Spivack and their co-conspirators allegedly used BBDF as a means to cover their losses on other drugs and further line their pockets with illicit profits by falsely claiming to insurers, including Medicare, that they had dispensed a drug to a patient, when in fact they had not. Immediately, her supervisors behavior toward her changed as he began to harass her. In this article, we'll discuss situations in which a pharmacist might be liable for negligence and professional malpractice and subsequently sued. The complaint seeks civil penalties and civil damages, which could total in the millions of dollars, as well as injunctive relief. But, in August 2021, CVS Health revoked a previous policy regarding religious accommodations that ensured all employees' needs would be met, the suit says. A pharmacist should have a reasonably good sense of what different pills look like, especially for the more common medications. As a fast-growing industry with a six-figure salary for most, the gender pay gap is considered one of the smallest. Sometimes a court will grant a plaintiff leave to amend the complaint, meaning that it can be revised and resubmitted. Roger Morris, RPh, JD, of Quarles & Brady LLP, and William J. Stilling, BS, Pharm, MS, JD, of Parsons Behle & Latimer, provided an overview of the kind of legal cases pharmacists have been involved in both as the plaintiffs and the defendants over the past year or so. The court determined that trypanophobia was a neurological impairment and also found that providing immunizations was not in the essential job functions of a Rite Aid district manager. Dr. Fink is a professor of pharmacy law and policy and the Kentucky Pharmacists Association Endowed Professor of Leadership at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy, Lexington. The jury agreed with Roger and awarded him $400,000 in back pay and $400,000 in damages. If a pharmacist accepts a doctor's judgment and fills a valid-looking prescription written by a state licensed and DEA-approved doctor, then under the plaintiffs' theory, she and the pharmacy still face civil liability based on plaintiffs' experts' hindsight assessment that the prescription should not have been filled. Pittsburgh: 412-626-5626 Should a pharmacist-in-charge be held liable for a technician's theft? The complaint alleges that CVS terminated Strader's employment illegally, arguing that the company's decision dismissed protections outlined in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Many Floridians ask us if they can file a lawsuit against a Florida pharmacy for giving them the wrong medication or making any of another dozen (listed below) potentially deadly errors. Speed is particularly important considering the time-sensitive nature of emergency contraception and of many other medications, wrote Judge Susan Graber who authored the panels opinion. Strader claims in the new lawsuit that her Christian faith prevented her from prescribing contraceptive or abortion-inducing drugs to patients at the CVS where she worked. "As we continue to enhance our MinuteClinic services, educating and treating patients regarding sexual health matters - including pregnancy prevention, sexually transmitted infection prevention, screening and treatment, and safer sex practices - have become essential job functions of our providers and nurses," the statement continued, adding, "We cannot grant exemptions from these essential MinuteClinic functions unless it is required by state law.". Patient's lawsuit against hospital pharmacy reveals necessity of documentation. Depending on your state's law, a pharmacist might be responsible for the following additional tasks other than just accurately dispensing the medication that is called for in a prescription: Let's look at some of these tasks and responsibilities in more detail, and in the context of things that could go wrong and lead to a pharmacist's liability for medical negligence. My Office will use every resource it has to pursue and hold these individuals accountable. Instead, the pharmacist would be required to either contact the patient's physician him/herself or instruct the patient to go back and see the physician again. Pharmacists play an integral role in our health care system. The federal trial court dismissed his suit because the matter was not "ripe" (ie, the hearing had not yet occurred). May 12, 2022. However, Amarin argued that because its promotion was truthful and not misleading, the First Amendment protected the manufacturers ability to promote this use. The board made a motion for dismissal of the lawsuit for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.. However, pharmacists still face a good deal of discrimination from their management for legally protected characteristics such as age, disability, race, pregnancy, andgender. The United States seeks civil penalties under the CSA, as well as treble damages and penalties under the FCA. Pharmacists deal with a lot of different types of discrimination, especially since this job role usually is open to a diverse group of people. After several courts went back and forth on whether this was allowed, a federal appeals court determined in 2015 that the states pharmacists could not use religion as a reason to not sell emergency contraception. An official website of the United States government. The case is being investigated by the Philadelphia Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, HHS-OIG, and the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, with additional assistance from the Office of Personnel Management Office of Inspector General, the Defense Health Agency, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. By Jan Hoffman. Mr. Lin said he had seen no evidence that Ms. Ms. "As we continue to battle a national health emergency involving opioid abuse, we rely heavily upon pharmacists to do their part in ensuring prescriptions for controlled substances are filled and dispensed for legitimate medical purposes," said Inez Davis, Diversion Program Manager of the Drug Enforcement Administration St. Louis Division. 0:48. Edith Fuog, a breast cancer survivor who lives with trigeminal neuralgia, lupus, arthritis and other chronic pain conditions, filed . Pharmacists play an integral role in our health care system. That dwarfs the CICP's roughly $6 million in paid benefits over the . It divided them into 19 counts. The son of Bernice Bond filed a statement of claim June 15, 2017 a year after the 90-year-old woman's death against pharmacist Alexandra Willson, Canso Pharmacy and an unnamed pharmacy . When Stilling mentioned how much the tech had stolenat least 216,630 tablets of Norco—APhA attendees erupted in chatter. Strader's legal complaint is similar to two other suits filed in Kansas and Virginia against CVS Health last year, where former employees alleged that they were unlawfully terminated for refusing to prescribe birth control because of their religious beliefs. The lawsuit against Walgreens pharmacy was filed on behalf of the family of Beth Hippely. Edith Fuog, a 48-year old Florida woman and breast cancer survivor, lives with trigeminal neuralgia, lupus, arthritis and other chronic pain conditions. The FDA's decision came just days after a Justice Department ruling confirmed that U.S. The District Court of Central California on Oct. 20 awarded $27.5 million to Afrouz Nikmanesh, PharmD, after she filed a class-action lawsuit against Walmart, her former employer. The plaintiff, 61-year-old Joseph Zorek, has two lawsuits pending against CVS - the wrongful termination suit in the federal court of Pennsylvania, and another alleging that CVS harassed him and attempted to move him to another location is in Pennsylvania state court. J. Robyn Strader, a nurse practitioner and Texas resident, worked at a CVS MinuteClinic for six and a half years, according to the lawsuit, which she filed through her attorney in U.S. district court in Forth Worth on Wednesday. last month. Anderson, who filed the civil lawsuit against pharmacist George Badeaux in 2019 after she was forced to make a 100-mile round trip to get the contraceptive, said she intends to appeal the jury . The owners of Stormans Inc did not want to stock emergency contraception like Plan B because of religious reasons. If Dembo is found liable for violating the CSA, she could face civil penalties of up to $67,627 for each unlawful prescription filled. Also, whether the court which hears it considers the refusal to fill prescriptions tantamount to a denial of service. A pharmacist in a southern state who was co-owner of a community pharmacy had his license to practice suspended, as was the permit for operation of the pharmacy, following an administrative hearing. One reason these lawsuits are so wrong-headed is because no law . One reason the Department's lawsuit is wrong-headed is because no law tells a pharmacist how to decide whether to fill a prescription. The complaint that initiated the suit was very long and included a great deal of information that appeared to the court to be copied and pasted into the document. Male pharmacists and female pharmacists have faced employment discrimination for age, race, gender, and disability. Six privately owned pharmacies and six registered pharmacists filed the class action complaint against CVS Caremark and CVS Pharmacies, alleging the group engaged in unfair business . The jury was not deciding what the law is, they were deciding the facts of what happened here in this particular case. Livestreaming on Facebook, a man known online as the "vaccine police" harassed pharmacists at a Walmart in Springfield saying the workers would be "executed" for administering the . What Defenses Would a Pharmacist Have against a Malpractice Lawsuit? Badeaux informed her that there would be another pharmacist working the next day, who might be willing to fill the medication but that he could not guarantee that they would help, the complaint stated. Eli Lilly, $1.42 billion. Ms. Some employees receive special protections from the law if they belong in the category of protected classes. We will appeal this decision and wont stop fighting until Minnesotans can get the health care they need without the interference of providers putting their own personal beliefs ahead of their legal and ethical obligations to their patients.. Morgan's state medical license was suspended for over-prescribing . 8 For this error, the board found him responsible for misbranding and mislabeling a drug in violation of Ohio law. 5 min read. This incident took place around September 26, 2019. The case worth could e over $250,000 if you were out of work as a result of the medication and required numerrous medical treatments. CNN . A pharmacist's specific responsibilities to patients are a matter of state law, and those obligations differ from state to state. "Walgreens' calculated total revenue potential for Dr. Morgan in 2016 was $1.7 million.". Kevin Martian (Image: Alliance Defending Freedom) Mayo Pharmacy, an independent pharmacy run by Catholic pharmacist Kevin Martian, joined a lawsuit filed earlier by Texas against the abortion drug mandate. The refusal to fill prescriptions tantamount to a denial of service most, the board found him for! 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