Pharmacist Disciplinary Action: What Do Pharmacists Get in Trouble for?

Abstract

This study aims to determine the reasons for disciplinary action and resultant consequences for Canadian pharmacists and any associations with demographic factors. Regulatory body disciplinary action cases from 10 Canadian provinces were coded. Demographic information was coded. There were 665 pharmacist cases from nine provinces between January 2010 and December 2020. The rate of disciplinary action was low (1.37 cases/1,000 practitioners/year). Professional misconduct was the most common category of violation. Male pharmacists were overrepresented in disciplinary action cases. Most cases involved community pharmacists. This study is the first, to our knowledge, in Canada to analyze the demographic factors of pharmacists subjected to disciplinary action. It updates a previous review of pharmacist disciplinary action (Foong et al. 2018).