What are the most common mistakes that cause you to lose your license or get fired in retail?

[Amphetamine Salts]

recently they had to let 2 techs go at the cvs that i work at. the techs were committing some type of fraud and this was ongoing for 2 months before they were finally caught.

it raised a question for me: what are the most common mistakes that would lead to a retail pharmacist losing their license? what are common mistakes that can cause you to get fired in retail?

i hope i don't have to come across losing a license in my career, or getting fired. ty in advance for the replies

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[Rouelle]

Narcotic diversion

 

[Rouelle]

Or lying on materials (application or otherwise) that you submit to the state board.

 

[genesis09]

It is really hard to lose your license. You need to divert narcotics or get convicted of any felony.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Repeated mistakes, i.e. selling the wrong med to the wrong patient can also get you fired.

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[steveysmith54]

In a chain, if you get on someone's bad list, watch out.
1. working off the clock
2. using someone's else register code
3. not doing incident report on misfill within 24 hours or per chain QA policy

 

[owlegrad]

As for licenses, go to your state BOP website and review the meeting notes to see what people have lost their licenses for. It's probably mostly diversion and repeated errors with some CE issues thrown in for good measure.

For losing your job, just pay attention to what gets people fired by your pharm sup/DM/whatever. Probably mostly stealing and repeated tardies/absences.

 

[Sine Cura]

It's pretty hard to lose a license in the actual course of "practice" unless you are proven to be negligent, i.e., you are dispensing narcs and stimulants willy-nilly

In chain retail they can fire you for pretty much any contrived reason related to policy or performance metrics (it's up to you if you want to litigate). Does it happen a lot? Depends on how motivated your particular regional or district manager is. Most recent occurrences that I am personally aware of are related to allowing unlicensed practice to occur or LP issues.

Most recently I've heard of a pharmacist being fired for giving a tech an aspirin from the OTC section. Like how do you even get motivated to track that ****... unless someone is a snitch

 

[rxdawg21]

In a chain, if you get on someone's bad list, watch out.
1. working off the clock
2. using someone's else register code
3. not doing incident report on misfill within 24 hours or per chain QA policy

Unfortunately as a salaried position, there is no such thing as working off the clock.

Some other ways to get fired:
Using cell phone at work
leaving pharmacy unattended (even if answering patient question about OTC if you lose sight)
Doing work under another's name (inputting or filling in technicians name)

 

[steveysmith54]

Unfortunately as a salaried position, there is no such thing as working off the clock.

In CA, most chain jobs are hourly meaning clocking in and out for lunch etc. Unfortunately, I have heard of pharmacists who would clock out and continue to check RX, counsel, clean up off the clock.Working off the clock if you're caught is almost immediate discipline up to termination..

 

[rph3664]

Narcotic diversion

This, or insurance fraud, or assaulting co-workers or customers, or any number of other things.

A pharmacist in my state was disciplined (he lost his job and IIRC also had his license suspended) because he was arrested for exposing himself to women in the parking lot of the Walgreens where he worked. You'd think he would at least have gone across the street to CVS. Another lost his license in two states because he was an idiot; in our state, he was the youngest franchise owner ever for his chain, at age 24, and it soon became obvious why he was self-employed; it was because he couldn't work with people, and knew it. Among other things, he was removed as preceptor for sexually harassing female students, and in addition was a volunteer firefighter and would leave the store if he was called out. Last I heard, he had opened a store that sold licensed college merchandise, and his reputation preceded him to the extent that the store just plain old didn't last very long.

 

[rph3664]

I Googled the man I mentioned in the last post, and he's STILL doing things to get himself in trouble. Last year, he bought a small-town bar, and his liquor license was denied by the city council due to his past history AND because he had been serving alcohol without a license. He said he didn't know he needed one. (Really?)

 

[RxPreceptor]

Hmmm trading one "poison" trade for another. Maybe he was dumb enough to think a suspended license meant he got demoted to just dispensing EtOH

 

[Chodronfan]

Co-mingling error--like having the wrong pill in with the right ones in a bottle--not your license but will lose your job at the chain I work for per the rumor mill.

 

[SoylentGreen]

Losing license: Being a drug addict

Getting fired (stuff I've seen): Leaving the building without closing the pharmacy. Making ridiculously bad errors. Treating your female staff as your harem. Not actually opening the bottle to visually check a prescriptions. Taking medications off the shelf and taking them (not a controlled substance, it was a floater who left his bp med at home).

Being a pain in the ass may make it more likely that you actually get fired for stuff like this.

 

[lord999]

Illegal reasons that aren't mentioned but happen: Union organizer or abuse of corporate communications to broadcast problems in the company (especially the two companies that start with Wal) annoying your supervisor (they will find a reason to fire you if motivated enough), and being old to the point where the company has to pay special benefits (looking at you, Rite-Aid).

 

[Digsbe]

Most loss of pharmacist licenses I've seen are due to illegal activity involving controlled substances (diverting meds or charged with personal illegal drug use).

 

[PharmD.girl]

It is extremely difficult to lose your license, at least in my state. You would have to be involved in something illegal that is deliberate or be suspended multiple times. While many dumb mistakes may get you terminated by your employer, you will not be sanctioned by the BOP (exception may be if a patient, physician or someone in your company files a complaint). Even pharmacists that do something illegal will likely be put on probation. If you are found to have been involved with controlled substances such as diversion, you are sanctioned by the board and must enroll in a state "pharmacist rehab program" (ours is PAPA) and earn your full unrestricted license back after a few years. During that time you cannot work directly with controlled substances and must have another pharmacist on duty. As long as you make sound decisions in the best interest of your patients and are not involved in illegal activity, you should not have to worry.