Pharmacists and Illegal Activity Term Paper

Criminal Behavior and Healthcare Professionals: An Examination of Pharmacists

When it comes to health care professionals like doctors, nurses, pharmacists or nurse practitioners, it's hard to picture them engaged in actions that are not helping-focused, as these professional have ultimately devoted their lives towards helping other people. However, the reality is that these health care professionals are people too and still subject to weaknesses, temptation and even criminal activity. This paper will examine the reality of pharmacists becoming addicted to the controlled substances they are responsible for along with the phenomenon of rogue pharmacists who help facilitate the illegal drug trade.

When it comes to pharmacists and prescription drug abuse, many people are unaware of just how common this actually is. As one pharmacists explains, "According to statistics, many of us do take part in self-medicating. A study by McAuliffe et al. reported that 46% of pharmacists use prescription drugs without a prescription. Sixty-two percent of pharmacy students surveyed had used a prescription drug with no prescription. Also, 20% of pharmacists reported they had used a prescription drug without a prescription at least five times or more in their lives" (Combs, 2009). Given these statistics there needs to be a greater impetus of regulation of pharmacist behavior and a better and more effective means of assisting pharmacists who are high-risk when it comes to addiction. Essentially, these healthcare professionals need more resources. They need more resources to regulate their behavior and they need more resources to help them prevent engaging in prescription drug abuse.

If patients or consumers think that their pharmacist is engaging in drug abuse or other illicit acts concerning the abuse or misuse of prescription pills, then there is a civil complaint process which does exist. For example, the consumer would want to immediately contact the Board of Pharmacy for the particular state where the pharmacist practices.Generally, going to the official website of that particular state board of pharmacist should be adequate. There, one can file a complaint online or print out the complaint form and complete it by hand and mail it in. The website also provides guidelines for what qualifies as pharmacist misconduct and other issues.

The board of pharmacists is truly a crucial regulatory entity, as pharmacists are essential when it comes to preventing drug abuse. "Pharmacists are supposed to be a last line of defense against misuse of prescription medications. By law, they are required to scrutinize prescriptions, size up customers and refuse to dispense a drug when they suspect the patient has no medical need for it" (Glover, 2012). Thus, this particular regulatory agency has a pretty extreme role: they have the responsibility to take swift and immediate investigative action against any rogue pharmacists who might be dispensing prescription drugs illegally or who might be abusing drugs themselves. This board has the power to revoke the license of any pharmacist who is found to be doing exactly that, and also have the ability to apply swift disciplinary action to such pharmacists, such as by suspending their licenses.

Abuses perpetrated by pharmacists who use drugs or who illegally dispense drugs to others are viewed as criminal acts, rather than mere professional misconduct. These are pretty serious criminal liabilities as they are seen as the key enablers of drug abuse and a crucial source of supply for the illegal market. While state official who license and regulate pharmacies are there to do their jobs and to ensure that this abuse and illegal activity doesn't occur, the scale of the problem is intense. Rogue pharmacists are the ones who provide massive amounts of painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs to addicts and dealers with no questions asked (Glover, 2012). "California's 42,000 pharmacists filled.....