Pharmacy Council Suspends 4 Pharmacists Over Ethical Misconduct

The disciplinary tribunal of the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) has suspended four pharmacists from practice over ethical misconduct.

The four pharmacists, Daniel Aghanemuzor, Fidelis Ogonna, Bukonla Temitope Odunbiro and Nwakpuma  Richard Nwophe were among the eight respondents that faced trial before the tribunal for different offences.

The tribunal ruled for the suspension of three of the pharmacists for 36 months and one pharmacist for a period of 12 months.

Their offences include making false statements to the PCN for the purpose of securing the registration of a pharmaceutical premises, obtaining money by fraud, misrepresentation or deception to conversion/diversion of funds and/pharmaceutical products.

The chairman of PCN, Prof. Ahmed Mora, who is also the chairman of the disciplinary tribunal, while delivering judgement during the tribunal’s sitting at PCN’s headquarters in Abuja, said the accused pharmacists deviated from the ethical standard of pharmacy practice.

He said “I am very happy that the tribunal in its wisdom have taken this decision because this is meant to sanitise the practice of pharmacy as it were so that the citizen is protected from harmful unethical, and unprofessional conduct.”

Assuring that the decision of the tribunal will be adhered to by suspended pharmacists, Mora said; “PCN is a regulatory body. We give you license and anywhere you go in this country if you want to practice, first and foremost they will ask for your license and this license is valid for 12 months.

“For the next three years or one year as the case may be, the suspended pharmacists will not have the license to practice.”

However, he said  the suspended pharmacists had room to appeal the tribunal’s judgement.

The registrar of PCN, Pharm. Ibrahim Babashehu Ahmed, said the cases bothered on professional misconduct which were reported and taken through investigation.