Pharmacy Board gets strict with pharmacies

The Board recently initiated legal action against an Arima pharmacy which continued business although it was given notice to cease dispensing medication after the resignation of its pharmacist in October 2003.

A judgment against the pharmacy was given on June 8 at the Arima Magistrates’ Court when the pharmacy was ordered closed for two years. Additionally, its owners were each fined $2,000 for illegal display of a pharmacy sign, $2,500 for operating an unlicensed pharmacy and $2,500 for operating a pharmacy without a responsible pharmacist. In addition, $25 a day from the day the board was notified that the pharmacist left the pharmacy. In default of payment, the owners could face a two-year jail term.

Pharmacy Board president Wazir Hosein said he was heartened by the decision and expressed confidence that "more charges" would follow against other pharmacies in breach of the law. Hosein said the board intended to "enforce the law in order to protect the public."