Fitness to Practise Cases

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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:

  • Pharmacists & Pharmacy Technicians – to understand common regulatory pitfalls.
  • Employers & HR Teams – to learn about professional accountability and compliance.
  • Pharmacy Students – to prepare for real-world ethical challenges in pharmacy practice.

How to use this case summary database:

  • Search for specific cases using the search box above. You can search by keyword (e.g., "controlled drugs," "dishonesty," "suspension"), by sanction type (suspension, removal, warning) or issue type (dishonesty, prescribing errors, controlled drugs, etc.)
  • Alternatively, scroll down to browse the latest FtP case summaries.

Why it matters:

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.

Latest FtP case summaries:

Pharmacist Suspended for Unsafe Online Prescribing Practices Leading to Multiple Deaths

Date of Decision: February 4, 2025

Allegations: Prescribed medicines on 62,689 occasions using an online questionnaire-based model. Prescribed high-risk medicines on 4,859 occasions using an online questionnaire-based model. Failed to obtain adequate patient information and relied on online questionnaires. Did not access or attempt to access patients' GP records. Failed to request face-to-face consultations. Did not consider medication dependence and misuse. Prescribed in circumstances where the prescribing model was incapable of supporting safe decisions. Prescribed a significant portion of prescriptions without sufficient time for clinical evaluation. Prescribed propranolol and amitriptyline in unsafe circumstances leading to patient deaths. Transactional approach to prescribing, prioritizing commercial transactions over patient safety.

Outcome: Suspension for 12 months with review

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Pharmacist Suspended for Six Months Following Ozempic Theft and Self-Administration

Date of Decision: January 17, 2025

Allegations: Removal of Ozempic from the pharmacy without a valid prescription or payment Theft of diazepam from the pharmacy for personal use without a prescription or payment Self-administration of diazepam while at work Attending work while unfit to practice due to health issues Dishonest conduct in removing medication without authorization

Outcome: Suspension from the GPhC register for six months

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Pharmacist Struck Off for Large-Scale Unlawful Supply of Controlled Drugs

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

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Pharmacist Issued Warning for Misconduct in Medicine Management

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

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Boots Pharmacist Suspended for Nine Months for Theft from Employer

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

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