Your guide to Pharmacy Law and Ethics
This archive contains General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) Fitness to Practise (FtP) case summaries, detailing regulatory decisions affecting pharmacy professionals in the UK.
Each case provides insight into professional misconduct, errors, and ethical breaches that led to sanctions such as suspension, removal, or warnings. These summaries are valuable for:
The decisions in these cases shape the legal and ethical landscape of pharmacy practice. Staying informed can help pharmacy professionals avoid similar mistakes and maintain high professional standards.
Date of Decision: February 20, 2025
Allegations: Supply of a controlled drug (Class C) on multiple occasions Making an implement for forgery with intent
Outcome: Removal from the GPhC register
Date of Decision: February 11, 2025
Allegations: Possession of an extreme pornographic image portraying assault by penetration Making indecent photographs/pseudo-photographs of a child
Outcome: Removal from the register
Date of Decision: February 18, 2025
Allegations: Conviction for the unlawful supply of controlled drugs (Class C): Between December 2013 and December 2015, unlawfully supplied 24,194,245 tablets of Diazepam. Supplied 3,910,376 tablets of Zopiclone over the same period. Conviction for distributing medicinal products by wholesale dealing without a licence: Distributed 1,456 tablets of Diazepam without proper authorisation. Distributed 616 tablets of Zopiclone without a wholesale dealer’s licence. The pharmacist was convicted at Southwark Crown Court on November 6, 2020, and sentenced to 24 months in prison (suspended for 24 months), 200 hours of unpaid work, and a confiscation order of £606,247.71, payable by May 2025.
Outcome: Removal from the register
Date of Decision: February 4, 2025
Allegations: Misconduct involving the unauthorized taking of Co-codamol tablets from the pharmacy for personal use without a prescription or employer's consent. Dishonesty in taking medication without permission or a valid prescription.
Outcome: Suspension extended for 6 months
Date of Decision: February 14, 2025
Allegations: Failed to safely and effectively manage the dispensing of medicines, including at a distance. Oversaw purchases and sales of large volumes of codeine linctus, promethazine products, and asthma inhalers without sufficient controls. Failed to ensure robust identity checks for patients before prescribing or supplying medicines. Allowed pharmacy medicines to be dispensed based on a simple questionnaire. Failed to ensure that distance services, including prescribing, were fully risk assessed and audited. Failed to maintain detailed records explaining decisions on high-risk medicines. Allowed inducements to be offered to a patient to buy high-risk medicines.
Outcome: Warning
Date of Decision: February 18, 2025
Allegations: Referred to Patient A as a 'nutter' during a phone call. Denied using the term 'nutter' when challenged by Patient A. Declined to apologize to Patient A when asked.
Outcome: Suspension – 1 month
Date of Decision: September 14, 2021
Allegations: While working as a pharmacist at Boots Pharmacy, Berkhamsted, the pharmacist: Stole £6,291.83 in cash and stock from the pharmacy over a nine-month period in 2018. Conducted unauthorized transactions using her staff discount card. Admitted to stealing “probably thousands of pounds” over the course of 2018. Accepted a conditional police caution for theft on 26 January 2020. Failed to disclose the police caution and ongoing fitness to practise proceedings when applying for new roles.
Outcome: Suspended for nine months
Date of Decision: November 9, 2023
Allegations: While working as a locum pharmacist at Asda Pharmacy, Morley, Leeds, the pharmacist: Made inappropriate comments to a female colleague (Witness A) on 20 May 2020, including asking whether she had intimate piercings and about the location of her tattoos. Touched her arm while saying, “Feel the relaxation running through your body” or words to that effect. Engaged in inappropriate behaviour towards Witness A between 20 May 2020 and 1 June 2020 by: Standing too close to her. Physically touching her. Allegedly blocked Witness A’s movement and refused to move out of her way. The GPhC considered whether the pharmacist’s conduct was sexually motivated but did not find sufficient evidence to prove this claim.
Outcome: Formal warning
Date of Decision: September 7, 2023
Allegations: While working as a locum Clinical Pharmacist at Hollins Grove Surgery, the pharmacist: Conducted an internal vaginal examination on a female patient (Patient A) without clinical justification or appropriate consent. Failed to offer a chaperone or inform the patient that she had the right to request a female practitioner. Did not adequately explain the procedure before carrying out the examination. Failed to record key aspects of the consultation, including the examination itself. Admitted that he had no formal training in conducting vaginal examinations and had only learned about them from reading and watching training videos. The examination was not sexually motivated but was outside his professional scope and competency.
Outcome: Suspended for six months (no review required)
Date of Decision: November 2, 2023
Allegations: While working as the owner and Responsible Pharmacist at F.F. & R. Stevenson Pharmacy in Hull, the pharmacist: Failed to adequately manage the risks associated with selling codeine linctus between July 2017 and September 2020. Supplied large volumes of codeine linctus without proper safeguards, including: Not keeping records of invoices or monitoring purchases. Failing to track or restrict sales to repeat customers. Not offering alternative treatments or referring customers to doctors. Supplied excessive quantities of codeine linctus to two individuals (Persons A and B), despite knowing or suspecting they were misusing or addicted to it. Allowed these customers to purchase up to two 200ml bottles every few days or weekly over several years. Did not attend the GPhC hearing and submitted only a short written response admitting to selling codeine linctus to an inspector.
Outcome: Imposed conditions on practice for 12 months