Pharmacist struck off over addict’s death
The registration of an Auckland pharmacist who gave a drug addict a deadly mixture of medication without a prescription has been cancelled.
Park Ung Wong (Terrence) was a registered pharmacist at Wong’s Birkenhead Avenue Pharmacy, which he owned and operated. In 2016, Wong pleaded guilty to five charges relating to the sale and supply of prescription medicines, restricted medicines and forgery in the North Shore District Court.
He was sentenced to 10 months of home detention, 200 hours of community service and ordered to pay $30,000 in reparations to the family of the man he prescribed medication.
In a Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal decision released on Thursday, Wong’s registration was cancelled and he was banned for reapplying for a two-year period. The tribunal said Wong’s offending, which took place between September 2013 and July 2015, was ‘‘amongst the most serious for a pharmacist’’.
According to the tribunal, one of Wong’s male customers was addicted to zopiclone and was on a nation-wide pharmacy alert to prevent retailers giving him the drug.
Zopiclone, a prescription drug used to treat insomnia, is typically only prescribed in the short-term due to its addictive nature.
It is also known to pose various risks to the health of patients, including a risk of fatal overdose.
In an effort to obtain the drug, the man went to Wong’s pharmacy in February 2014 with a fake prescription.
Wong made a call to the doctor named on the prescription but was told by that doctor that no prescription had been made. The doctor also reminded Wong that the man was on a restricted list.
Nonetheless, Wong filled the prescription and sold the man zopiclone that day and on other occasions.
He also admitted selling the man more than 5000 Nurofen tablets that contained codeine and ibuprofen – which can prove a deadly mixture if taken with zopiclone.
Each Nurofen packet contained 30 tablets, and 176 packets had been sold to the man without a prescription, the tribunal said.
In January 2015, the man was placed on life support after overdosing on zopiclone and codeine. He died days later.
Despite being made aware of his patient’s death in January 2015, Wong ‘‘did not cease his unsafe dispensing practice but continued to dispense unlawfully to other patients’’, the tribunal said.
He tried to cover his tracks by forging a prescription in the name of a doctor dispensing drugs to the dead man.
Wong also provided patients his personal bank account details for payment, and hid dispensing records.
His overzealous prescribing also saw a woman hospitalised with ‘‘life threatening health conditions’’ due to excess Nurofen Plus consumption.
Nurofen Plus is a combination of ibuprofen and codeine.
The woman told hospital staff she was consuming two packets a day given her easy access to the medicine.
The tribunal found Wong’s repeat offending over a sustained period displayed a ‘‘serious lack of insight’’.
He continued to dispense excessive quantities of medicines, often unlawfully, and made multiple attempts to cover up what he was doing.
The tribunal did not accept Wong’s conduct could be explained as that of a ‘‘young and naı¨ve practitioner’’.
‘‘In our view, Mr Wong has taken advantage of his professional position for financial gain and failed in his duty to act as a gate keeper for patient safety,’’ they said. The tribunal recognised Wong presented mitigating features, including his potential for rehabilitation and that it was his first offence.
However, ‘‘patient safety and the need for professional standard setting’’ must take precedence, they said.
Wong’s registration was cancelled, but it would be possible for him to reapply with the Pharmacy Council after at least two years, on the condition he undertake a competency review and is not permitted to work alone. He was also ordered to pay costs of $7700.
‘‘In our view, Mr Wong has taken advantage of his professional position for financial gain.’’
Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal