3 Vancouver pharmacists ordered not to provide 'safe supply' pending investigation outcome
Three Vancouver pharmacists have been ordered not to provide patients "safe supply" medications pending the outcome of an investigation prompted by complaints about the provision of opioid treatment services at a pair of East Vancouver pharmacies.
B.C.'s College of Pharmacists took the extraordinary step of announcing interim measures against Charanjit Pal, Jennifer Van Bui and Mamteshwari Ravnita Latchman this week. In a related case, the regulator also announced the suspension of a fourth pharmacist — Karandeep Singh Chohan.
Chohan — whose suspension is set to begin May 27 — is the former manager of Fraser Outreach Pharmacy, where Bui and Latchman worked as staff pharmacists. Pal — whose suspension begins May 12 — is the manager of Fraser Neighbourhood Pharmacy, a few blocks away.
The college claims health-care providers voiced concerns last spring about the pharmacies' handling of Opioid Agonist Treatment — the use of medications like methadone to manage opioid withdrawal symptoms.
The complaints allegedly prompted on-site inspections at both pharmacies.
According to the college, the allegations relate to "narcotic inventory control and management, prescription checking requirements, PharmaNet record keeping, patient consultations, supervision of non-pharmacist staff, and compliance with ethical standards."
In a statement, college registrar and CEO Suzanne Solven noted that the investigation is not complete and disciplinary proceedings have yet to happen.
"Our responsibility is to make sure pharmacy care in B.C. is safe and ethical and we take this mandate extremely seriously," she said.
"In this case the preliminary evidence and the allegations are so serious that the Inquiry Committee decided the extraordinary step of interim actions were necessary to protect the public while the investigation is underway."
Order challenged in B.C. Supreme Court
None of the allegations against any of the pharmacists named by the college have been proven, and the two staff pharmacists — Bui and Latchman — filed petitions in B.C. Supreme Court Thursday seeking to overturn the interim measures against them.
According to court documents, both of the pharmacists want an order quashing the decision to impose conditions on their registration as they claim the college's pharmacy inspections were done without proper statutory authority.
The interim restrictions follow widespread concern in B.C. about the administration of the province's safe supply program — which provides patients addicted to opioids a prescribed alternative..
Critics have complained about the diversion of safe supply drugs into the toxic drug supply, allegations the province denied until leaked Ministry of Health slides showed officials believed a significant portion of the prescription pills were being trafficked nationally and internationally.
Last February, the province overhauled the program, forcing safe supply users to take their medication under the supervision of a pharmacist or health-care provider.
The CBC has also reported extensively on concerns about pharmacies in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside paying customers a share of the money they claim from B.C.'s PharmaCare program.
In 2013, the college established professional practice standards to prohibit pharmacists from providing incentives to patients, a decision upheld by the B.C. Court of Appeal in 2016.
WATCH | Take-home safe supply no longer allowed in B.C.:
B.C. ends practice of take-home safer supply drugs
2 months ago
Duration 2:30
B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne announced that people who rely on prescription opioids must now take those safer supply drugs under the supervision of a pharmacist. It comes after revelations the drugs were being diverted into the hands of organized criminals. As Katie DeRosa reports, critics say the move is long overdue.
Investigated for 'similar concerns'
In addition to being ordered not to "provide any services related to 'safe supply' in any form or capacity," Bui, Latchman and Pal are ordered not to provide "any Opioid Agonist Treatment services in any form or capacity."
In affidavits filed in the B.C. Supreme Court, Latchman said she started working at Fraser Outreach Pharmacy in May 2023, while Bui said she started working in June 2023.
Both pharmacists claim inspectors from the college observed them working in May 2024 and asked questions regarding their practice as pharmacists. They said they were not present for a second inspection in August 2024.
Neither said they were aware of any formal complaint against them.
The college says Chohan was investigated "for similar concerns on five previous occasions between 2016 and 2023," and Pal was investigated "for similar concerns at a different pharmacy in 2021."
On Friday, the Fraser Neighbourhood Pharmacy was closed. A sign on the door said the business was only open half an hour a week because of staff shortages.
A pharmacy with a slightly different name now operates out of the unit where the Fraser Outreach Pharmacy used to be located.
A man who claimed to be the new owner of the business called CBC to say he bought the pharmacy from the old owners a week ago and was told nothing about the allegations.
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