A Vancouver pharmacy has been shuttered after inspections found multiple violations of federal drug laws and provincial legislation, as well as evidence of criminal activities and public safety risks related to its delivery service, according to the College of Pharmacists of B.C.
The licence of Health Hub Pharmacy on Fraser Street and the college registration of pharmacist Sukhpreet Singh Sidhu are suspended, effective Friday, pending completion of an investigation and any resulting disciplinary proceeding. The pharmacy began transferring its patients out last week. The college said Health Hub had about 300 patients.
Health Hub was alleged to have unsecured narcotic drugs, improper narcotic drug prescription preparation, improper drug dispensing, incomplete patient records and a lack of patient consultations, according to a public notification from the college. It was also allegedly in non-compliance with opioid agonist treatment (addiction medicine) standards, and improperly used non-college registrants in the delivery and administration of those treatments.
The college’s inquiry committee – which investigates complaints and determines a course of action – has yet to prove the allegations. However, the committee determined that “the evidence shows there is a real risk of harm to patients, pharmacy professionals or other members of the public” if the interim suspension order is not made. Further, the notice said Mr. Sidhu had been investigated for similar concerns in 2020.
The disciplinary actions against the pharmacy are the first since the B.C. government warned that it would be taking action against problem pharmacies that are flouting regulations and putting patients at risk.
A Globe investigation in March revealed that dozens of B.C. pharmacies are accused of participating in a scheme that involves paying patients forbidden cash incentives for their prescription business, maximizing the amounts that the pharmacies can bill the province’s publicly funded drug plan.
The Globe spoke to 28 doctors, nurses, pharmacists, patients and social-service providers to learn the scope of the kickback scheme, and watched as a delivery agent for a different pharmacy handed a patient $50 cash and a handful of medications, in violation of protocols.
The pharmacies appear to target economically vulnerable patients – largely those with substance-use disorders – and are accused of compromising their health. Some patients have reported that pharmacists will counsel them on which medications to ask for, to maximize the number dispensed daily and resulting billable fees; others say they have had medications marked as dispensed despite never having received them.
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Social-service providers, doctors and patients have also told The Globe of powerful medications that pharmacies are supposed to hand-deliver to patients, sometimes with a requirement to witness ingestion, instead being left on doorsteps, or with neighbours, in congregate housing. This is a violation that risks theft, diversion and the health care and privacy of the patient.
Reached for comment, Mr. Sidhu said that Health Hub has never offered cash incentives to patients and that the pharmacy did not intentionally violate rules. “As soon as I knew about any issue, I took action to fix it right away,” he said. “I am complying with everything that the college has requested of me.”
Health Canada first inspected Health Hub on April 25, 2023, found a number of violations of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and made a referral to the college for follow-up actions, the federal department said Wednesday in a statement to The Globe.
While it said it could not provide details on what prompted the inspection, Health Canada added that it takes a risk-based approach based on factors such as potential risk of diversion and/or non-compliance with federal drug laws.
In January and February, 2024, Vancouver Police officers working in the city’s Downtown Eastside interacted with a man the department described to The Globe as “engaging in activity that was consistent with dial-a-doping.” The term is used in reference to drug trafficking.
The man was observed driving in the neighbourhood with a variety of prescription medications, cash, drug paraphernalia and weapons and said he was a pharmacy employee doing deliveries.
“However, the man’s behaviour was not consistent with what we know to be a legitimate delivery driver,” Sergeant Steve Addison told The Globe Wednesday in an e-mail. The evidence did not meet the threshold for arrest and criminal charges, he said, but police forwarded information to the college.
On Feb. 28, 2024, both Health Canada and the college conducted concurrent, independent inspections. The federal department said it reassessed Health Hub’s compliance and implementation of corrective actions, and the pharmacy was found to be non-compliant. College inspectors identified “what appeared to be multiple breaches of provincial legislation and college practice standards,” the public notification said.
The college confirmed that Vancouver Police provided information regarding traffic stops of Health Hub’s delivery vehicle and evidence of criminal activities and public safety risks. The college would not provide further details, or a timeline, of its investigative process.
Mr. Sidhu said he believed that the allegations relate to a non-pharmacist delivery driver who did not have appropriate pharmacy identification and failed to properly secure the medications in a narcotics safe in the vehicle.
He said that there are not enough pharmacists to do this work, and that it is challenging to find reliable non-pharmacists to deliver in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The 2020 investigation was related to something similar, he said, without providing details.
Mr. Sidhu said the recent inspections also found a discrepancy in inventory, which he attributed to the pharmacy serving a high volume of patients. The pharmacy manager said he has fired the delivery driver and taken steps to remedy outstanding issues, and was surprised to see the public notification.
